Malang, a Mohit Suri film, currently featuring in the top ten list in Pakistan on streaming giant Netflix, has a song that is sung by homeboy Asim Azhar.

The film, featuring Anil Kapoor, Aditya-Roy Kapur (now with six pack abs) and Disha Patani as protagonists, uses the same old tropes. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy thus goes on a rampage. He also informs senior policeman (Anil Kapoor) about the long night ahead. This policeman plays by his own rules and so begins the cat-and-mouse game. It’s not a very dynamic story to begin with. But the film’s music, released by Gulshan Kumar and T-Series, features Pakistani musician Asim Azhar as playback vocalist for the single ‘Humraah’. Asim originally sung the song but two videos exist on YouTube. One features Asim Azhar with his original track interspersed with scenes from the film while the other version gives credit for the music to The Fusion Project with vocals by Sachet Tandon.

However, if you read the comments section on YouTube, fans have already picked out this ridiculous lack of credit in the first place.

Asim Azhar has his own video of the romantic number with some simple use of electronic layers as well as acoustic guitars opening the song. The music is growth for Azhar, who composed and sung the song while moving out of his comfort zone; his version is superior to the film track. With 2.6 million hits so far, fans agree.

Perhaps the most popular solo artist to emerge in the decade, Asim Azhar is one artist who has scored huge numbers with his songs after Atif Aslam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. The young singer, whose vocals seem to have the same vibe as British-Asian act, Rajinder Singh Rai, better known as Punjabi MC, as well as Dutch-Pakistani singer Imran Khan, also recently covered Atif Aslam’s Coke Studio 12 rendition of ‘Wohi Khuda Hai’ with nothing but a guitar. And we have to say, this raw and unplugged version shows the real range of Asim Azhar. He doesn’t restrain himself and is miles away from his bubble gum pop hits. It’s a pure rendition. For this very personal effort, he must be applauded. To find the unplugged, raw Asim Azhar, give ‘Wohi Khuda Hai’ a chance before writing it off. 

Abdullah Qureshi releases ‘Kitni Dair’

Singer-songwriter Abdullah Qureshi, who first made a mark with Nescafe Basement in its early seasons, has grown by leaps and bounds since then. Following the new normal, releasing singles seems to be Qureshi’s motto. It is, however, the frequency with which he drops good songs.

After beautiful originals including ‘Laapata’, ‘Dastaan’ and ‘Baat Adhuri’ and strong covers like ‘Wohi Khuda Hai’ and a rendition of ‘Ilahi Teri Chokhat Par’, as a tribute to Junaid Jamshed, Abdullah Qureshi is building his narrative with his power to pay tributes and do originals.

His latest original ‘Kitni Dair’ is as impressive as some of its predecessors. It is a spiritual elegy about God being merciful and kind.

With the song produced by Saad Sultan, the song is also the search for an answer to a question as Abdullah performs, “Khuda jo khud muhabbat hai/Wo kitni dair dekhay gai”. The recent track is just one in a series of recent works that showcase how promising Abdullah Qureshi is. Available on all platforms, the video for the song is directed by Ahsan Mahmood and is perhaps meant to calm people in the time of coronavirus (Covid-19). It is a soothing song – unlike many others – and addresses our fears and anxieties.