Singer Atif Aslam, who gave a new dimension to music in Pakistan film industry, has turned 41 today. Atif, who became a sensation in India with his YouTube songs, was given a place in the Bollywood industry by filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and with his initial songs Aadat and Woh Lamhe, Atif Aslam became a star in India overnight.
However, reaching this point was not easy for Atif. Atif’s father, who once dreamed of becoming a fast bowler, was against his dream. To forget his sorrow when he broke his relationship with cricket, Atif started his relationship with music, but it is also true that Atif himself was scared after hearing his voice for the first time. Today, Atif has been honored with Pakistan’s most prestigious award, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, by the Pakistani government.
There was a time when Shahrukh Khan wanted Atif to sing songs for him, but when things did not work out, Shahrukh got angry and said that Atif Aslam was so busy that he could not sing for him. There was also a bad phase when India-Pakistan relations deteriorated after the Pulwama attack and all Pakistani artists were expelled from India. However, now after years, Atif is going to make a comeback in the Indian film industry.
Atif Aslam was interested in cricket from an early age, but his father was against it. In such a situation, during the summer season, his friends who played with him used to secretly call him home every morning. All the friends used to wait outside the house for Atif’s father to come out in the morning to offer Fajr Namaz and they would take Atif to play.
Atif was so adept at playing that he decided that he would become a fast bowler when he grows up, but when this matter reached his father, he vehemently refused. Said to concentrate only on studies, because there is no scope in cricket. Atif accepted his father’s advice, but the grief of breaking his first dream was very big for him.
When he diverted his attention from cricket, he started forgetting his sorrows by listening to Atif Aslam songs. While living alone, he used to sing songs while playing his elder brother’s guitar. 3 out of 6 chords of that broken guitar were broken, but Atif had no idea of this. He thought that the guitar had only 3 chords.
Atif started singing with the dissonant tune of the same broken guitar. He used to sit alone and make tunes with that guitar. After about a year passed, Atif came to know that the guitar has 6 strings and a tuner. Despite becoming a star, Atif Aslam has still kept his first guitar.
Atif Aslam was just 8 years old when his father was transferred from Lahore to Rawalpindi. One day all the household stuff was going away and Atif was alone in the house. Sitting alone in an empty house, Atif started singing. As soon as Atif sang loudly, he got scared hearing his voice echoing in the room, but this was the moment when Atif came to know that his voice was quite different from others.
Atif graduated from Computer Science after completing his studies from Kimberley, Lahore and St. Paul’s Cambridge School, Rawalpindi. During college days, it was said that if you want to find Atif, then find a place where a lot of girls are sitting. In his free time, Atif used to sit with the girls and listen to them.
During college days, one of Atif Aslam’s seniors used to play excellent guitar. One day Atif went to him and said how great it would be if we played guitar together. Their seniors immediately agreed and both of them formed a small band. Atif used to share his compositions with his senior, on which both of them used to make songs. Both of them used to play together in college. Atif Aslam gave his first professional performance in McDonnell, Pakistan.
After a few songs, Atif Aslam left Jal Band due to some differences, however Gauhar Mumtaz and Farhan Saeed continued the band. After leaving Jal Band, Atif released the album Jalpari as a solo artist with Sound Master Records. It was Pakistan’s best selling album from 2004-2005. It received the Best Album Award at Pakistan’s biggest Lux Awards.
Gauhar Mumtaz of Jal Band alleged that she had composed these songs with Atif, but Atif used them alone. The copyright case went on for a long time, but then the Pakistani court ruled in favor of both of them and the rights of this song are still with both of them.
Two songs of the album Jalpari, Aadat and Woh Lamhe, released on 11 July 2004, were huge hits. These songs became an internet sensation, which started being heard a lot in India including Pakistan. Due to his popularity, Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt contacted Atif Aslam and gave him his first opportunity to sing in his films Kalyug and Jahar.
Atif Aslam’s song ‘Aadat’ from the film ‘Kalyug’ and ‘Woh Lamhe Woh Baatein’ from the film ‘Jahar’ became popular in India overnight. 14 lakh units copies of the music album of the film Kalyug were sold.
After gaining recognition through singing, Atif Aslam made his acting debut with the 2011 film Bol. This film was the highest grossing film of Pakistan till 2011. Popular actress Mahira Khan was also in it. Along with acting in this film, Atif also gave voice to the song Hona Tha Pyaar, for which he received 4 nominations. Apart from Pakistani films, Atif Aslam has also been a part of many Indian music albums.
Due to the increasing popularity of Atif Aslam, Shahrukh Khan wanted Atif to lend his voice to the song Gerua from his film Dilwale (2015). For this his team contacted Atif, but things did not work out. After some time, Shahrukh had said in an interview that he wanted to work with Atif, but Atif Aslam was too busy.
Later Atif had told that Shahrukh had never contacted him. Shahrukh’s team itself had talked to him and asked him to send a demo recording. Atif had recorded the song and sent it as per his request, but Shahrukh’s team did not send the recording to Shahrukh and Arijit Singh was finalized for the song. Atif had said, ‘I can never be busy to sing for Shahrukh Khan. I would love to sing for him any time.
Atif Aslam gave voice to the song Chalte Chalte from the film Mitron, released in the year 2018. This song was a recreation of the song from the film Pakeezah, which was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. When Atif’s song was released, Lata Mangeshkar had said about Atif in an interview to an agency, ‘I don’t want to listen to his songs. The trend of remixing old songs disappoints me. Where is the creativity in teasing classic songs? I have also heard that the lyrics of some songs are also changed, but with whose permission? The original poets and composers wrote what they should have written. No one has the right to tamper with his lyrics and composition.
Atif Aslam gave voice to the song Dil Diyan Gallan from the 2017 film Tiger Zinda Hai, which was filmed on Salman Khan. Seeing the popularity of this song, Salman Khan signed Atif Aslam for the song Main Taare of his production film Notebook (2019). Atif Aslam had also recorded a song for the film, however, even before the release of the film, India-Pakistan relations deteriorated after the Pulwama attack on 14 February 2019.
After this attack, the Indian government banned all Pakistani artists working in India. In such a situation, despite the recording, Salman Khan removed Atif Aslam’s song from his film and then sang it himself. However, later the song with Atif’s voice was released on unofficial YouTube.
After the martyrdom of 40 soldiers in the Pulwama terrorist attack, Pakistani artists were completely banned. However, before the attack, Atif Aslam was scheduled to perform a concert in Lucknow. As soon as the attack took place, Atif’s concert was also cancelled.
Atif Aslam sang the song Kinna Sona in the 2019 film Marjaavaan, however, due to the ban, Atif was removed from that song and Jubin Nautiyal’s voice was used. A year after the release of the film, T-Series uploaded the song ‘Kinna Sona’ sung by Atif on the official YouTube channel of T-Series.
The controversy started as soon as the song was uploaded. Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena strongly opposed this and warned that if the song is not removed then it will have to suffer losses. As the controversy escalated, T-Series removed the song from YouTube and apologized by giving an official statement. In the apology, T-Series also wrote that they will never upload songs of Pakistani artists, nor promote them.
On 13 February 2019, just a day before the Pulwama attack, T-Series had released the song ‘Baarishane’ in the voice of Atif Aslam. This song is still on YouTube, which has received 52 million views.
Atif Aslam sang Tajdaar-e-Haram in Coke Studio in 2015. In the year 2020, the video of this song achieved 285 million views on YouTube. This is the first song of Pakistan to get so many views. Atif Aslam is the only singer to make this record. This song has been heard and seen in 186 countries.
Atif Aslam gave voice to the song Chalte Chalte from the film Mitron, released in the year 2018. This song was a recreation of the song from the film Pakeezah, which was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. When Atif’s song was released, Lata Mangeshkar had said about Atif in an interview to an agency, ‘I don’t want to listen to his songs. The trend of remixing old songs disappoints me. Where is the creativity in teasing classic songs? I have also heard that the lyrics of some songs are also changed, but with whose permission? The original poets and composers wrote what they should have written. No one has the right to tamper with his lyrics and composition.
Atif Aslam gave voice to the song Dil Diyan Gallan from the 2017 film Tiger Zinda Hai, which was filmed on Salman Khan. Seeing the popularity of this song, Salman Khan signed Atif Aslam for the song Main Taare of his production film Notebook (2019). Atif Aslam had also recorded a song for the film, however, even before the release of the film, India-Pakistan relations deteriorated after the Pulwama attack on 14 February 2019.
After this attack, the Indian government banned all Pakistani artists working in India. In such a situation, despite the recording, Salman Khan removed Atif Aslam’s song from his film and then sang it himself. However, later the song with Atif’s voice was released on unofficial YouTube.
After the martyrdom of 40 soldiers in the Pulwama terrorist attack, Pakistani artists were completely banned. However, before the attack, Atif Aslam was scheduled to perform a concert in Lucknow. As soon as the attack took place, Atif’s concert was also cancelled.
Atif Aslam sang the song Kinna Sona in the 2019 film Marjaavaan, however, due to the ban, Atif was removed from that song and Jubin Nautiyal’s voice was used. A year after the release of the film, T-Series uploaded the song ‘Kinna Sona’ sung by Atif on the official YouTube channel of T-Series.
The controversy started as soon as the song was uploaded. Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena strongly opposed this and warned that if the song is not removed then it will have to suffer losses. As the controversy escalated, T-Series removed the song from YouTube and apologized by giving an official statement. In the apology, T-Series also wrote that they will never upload songs of Pakistani artists, nor promote them.
Atif Aslam sang Tajdaar-e-Haram in Coke Studio in 2015. In the year 2020, the video of this song achieved 285 million views on YouTube. This is the first song of Pakistan to get so many views. Atif Aslam is the only singer to make this record. This song has been heard and seen in 186 countries.
Atif Aslam is ready to make a Bollywood comeback soon. According to Box Office India, he will make a comeback with the film Love Story of 90s. The producers and distributors of this film are Haresh Sangani and Dharmesh Sangani. However, as soon as the news came out, controversy started once again. Raj Thackeray’s party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Amey Khopkar has warned that Pakistani artists will not be tolerated in India, no filmmaker should ignore this warning.
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