| Coordinates | 50°48′18″N21°25′29″N |
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| Name | Ali Zafar |
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| Background | solo_singer |
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| Birth name | Ali Zafar |
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| Born | May 18, 1980 |
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| Origin | Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan |
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| Instrument | Vocals, Multiple instruments |
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| Genre | Pop, Electronic |
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| Occupation | Singer-songwriter, musician, composer, actor, model, painter |
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| Years active | 2003–present |
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| Spouse | Ayesha Fazli (2009–present) |
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| Label | Fire Records |
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| Url | www.alizafar.net |
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| Notable instruments | Guitars, Keyboards |
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Ali Zafar (Urdu, }}; born May 18, 1980 in Lahore, Pakistan) also known as the Prince of Pop, is a Pakistani musician, actor, painter and model, popular in Pakistan for his music, including his hit songs like Channo, Rangeen, Chal Dil Merey, Dekha, Masty and Sajania. He started his singing career with the song Jugnuon Se Bhar Le Aanchal in the film Shararat, directed by Pakistani actress and director Samina Peerzada. He has sold more than seven million copies worldwide. Zafar made his acting debut in 2010 Indian film Tere Bin Laden by director Abhishek Sharma.
Biography
Early life and career
Zafar was born to two professors at the
University of the Punjab. He initially attended the C.A.A. Public School and later moved to the
Beaconhouse School System from where he topped in his matric examinations. He then went onto GC College and completed his FA. Later he graduated from the
National College of Arts as a painter in 2002 with honors. Before entering the Pakistani musical scene, Zafar worked as a model for several commercial advertisement besides acting in television. He worked in the Pakistani television
serial Lunda-Bazar,
Kanch Ke Par and in the teenage sitcom
Kollege Jeans. He was also in the music video of
Preeto sung by
Abrar-ul-Haq.
Music career
Zafar made his debut as a musician with the album
Huqa Pani, released in Pakistan in 2003 and worldwide in 2005. The album was an instant hit, selling over 600,000 copies worldwide and winning several major awards and nominations. It also put him into the league of the most popular artists ever to have come out of Pakistan with a massive fan following locally and internationally. He was described by
The Hindu as
"take a Kishore Kumar-like voice, club it with yuppie Ibiza-ish electronic beats, and add a bit of nostalgic lyrics".
His comparison to Kishore Kumar was frequently made initially but with time he proved to be perhaps the most versatile singer in the modern generation with a distinct vocal tone and qualities, specially during his folk and Sufi renditions in the "Coke Studio Sessions", where he surprised his audiences with live renditions of difficult notes with much ease and ranging his singing from pop to folk to semi-classical. His new songs, namely "Allah Hu", "Yaar Dhadhi Ishq" (a cover), "Nahin Ray Nahin" and "Daastan-e-Ishq" won the hearts of millions all over the world once again and earned him a new era of fan following.
He won the award for "Best Album" category at the Lux Style Awards in 2004 for his massive hit album Huqa Pani and also the "Best Male Artist" at the 2008 MTV awards. In addition to the album's popularity being reflected in the music stores and by critics, it has been widely claimed that Himesh Reshammiya plagiarized one of the most well-known tracks from the album, Rangeen, for the song Dillagi Mein Jo. Soon Pritam too copied his track "Channo" as "Chori ki Baatein" in the film Fight Club.
Zafar launched his second album "Masty" nationwide in November 2006. He has since released four videos from the album called "Masty", "Sajania", "Dekha" and "Aasmaan". A press conference for the release of the album was held in Lahore. The album was released under the banner of Fire Records. "Masty" was released in India in February 2007. The album contained two additional remixed tracks and was launched by "FrankFinn Records".
He released his third and long awaited video of the single, "Dekha", from his second album, which was the most expensive music video of Pakistan, costing more than seven million rupees. The video was shot in Malaysia, produced by the Lux Company, and had the famous Pakistani actresses/models, Reema Khan, Meera, and Amina Haq, starring in it. Zafar also won the "Youth Icon" award in the Lux Style Awards 2007, in Malaysia.
Besides being a singer, painter, model and an actor, Zafar has also produced and directed his music video Ek Pal from his first album Huqa Pani. His song "Dekha" of his album Masty was part of the soundtrack of American film which was released on September 24, 2010. He is the fourth Pakistani artist after Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Strings and Atif Aslam to have their song(s) featured in an American film.
In August 2010, Ali Zafar announced that he is working on his third album titled Jhoom, which he hopes to release at the end of November. The album will consist of him doing a duet with singer, Ahmed Jahanzeb. The music video of Jhoom will be directed by an Indian music video director and will be filmed in India.
Acting career
Zafar made his debut in Indian director Abhishek Sharma's comedy film,
Tere Bin Laden, which was a success both critically and commercially. The film released worldwide on July 16, 2010. According to several reports, Zafar will appear in his second Indian film, directed and written by Ali Abbas Zafar and produced by
Aditya Chopra of the
Yashraj Films. The film will also star
Imran Khan and
Katrina Kaif. On March 7, 2010, he became a father to a baby boy, who he named Azaan Zafar.
Filmography
Actor
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|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Other notes
|-
| 2010 ||
Tere Bin Laden || Ali Hassan ||
|-
|rowspan="2"|2011 ||
Mere Brother Ki Dulhan || Aryan || Filming
|-
|
Rockstar || || Filming
|}
Discography
Albums
Huqa Pani (Released on November 21, 2003)
Masty (Released on December 1, 2006)
Jhoom (To release on February 14, 2011)
Notable songs
"Channo"
"Huqa Pani"
"Rangeen"
"Chal Dil Merey"
"Jugnuon Se Bhar Le Aanchal"
"Dekha"
"Aag"
"Sajania"
"Aasmaan"
"Masty"
Single(s)
* Those For Truth
Awards
Indus Music Awards 2005 - Best Pop Artist.
Asian Bollywood Music Awards 2005 - Best Pop Music Album in Pakistan Huqa Pani.
Indus Music Awards 2004 - The Best Album Huqa Pani.
Indus Music Awards 2004 - The Best Debut Artist.
Lux Style Awards 2004 - Best Music Album Huqa Pani.
Lux Style Awards 2007 - The Youth Icon Award.
MTV Style Awards 2008 - Most Stylish Artist
MTV Style Awards 2009 - Best Male Singer
See also
Music of Pakistan
History of Pakistani pop music
References
External links
AliZafar.net - Official Website
Ali Zafar - Interview
Ali Zafar's Raw Magazine Interview
Category:1980 births
Category:Living people
Category:Pakistani actors
Category:Pakistani male singers
Category:Pakistani pop singers
Category:Pakistani Sunni Muslims
Category:People from Lahore
Category:Punjabi people
Category:Ravians
