“Abida Parveen is more important than ever,” says Riz Ahmed

One thing every Pakistani can unanimously agree on is Abida Parveen. Parveen has been captivating Pakistani audiences since forever with her majestic vocals and serene personality. However, her popularity transcends boundaries and she now has a global fan-following.

That’s why it was a huge deal that Parveen finally performed in London after ten long years. She performed at the Southbank Centre in London as part of the annual Alchemy Festival, which showcases the best of music, dance and art forms from the UK and South Asia.

Parveen took the stage to deliver some of our favourite compositions, including ‘Mahi Yaar Di Gharoli’, ‘Jab Se Tune Mujhe Deewana’, ‘Aray Logo’  and ‘Chaap Tilak’. While we wish we had been there to see Parveen do what she does best and to see the effect she had on the crowd, there was one very famous person seated in the audience who watched her performance and reminded us of what we were missing.

Pakistani-British actor Riz Ahmed managed to catch the show and we know this because he tweeted his appreciation for the singer: “As Islamophobia & misogyny rise, iconic Sufi singer Abida Parveen is more important than ever. Blessed to witness her greatness.”