MUMBAI: The track ‘Afghan Jalebi’ from the film ‘Phantom’ has been gaining a lot of traction.
Pakistani singer Asrar aka Syed Asrar Shah, who has sung the song said that the reason why he agreed to do the song was because it did not objectify women.
Asrar shot to fame by performing the track ‘Ishaq Hawa Mein’ on ‘Coke Studio Pakistan.’ The lyrics of ‘Afghan Jalebi’ are penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya and the film’s music has been composed by Pritam.
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Speaking about the song ‘Afghan Jalebi’, Asrar said, “Pritam sir heard my song on Coke Studio and then I got a call from his office to sing this song in ‘Phantom.’ The best part was that the song did not objectify women and that’s one of the reasons why I agreed to do the song. I believe that when you praise someone’s beauty, you are automatically praising the creator,” said Asrar.
He sent a couple of takes of the song to Pritam and the first version itself was selected.
The singer is elated with people’s responses even as the offers from India are nil.
Interested in music since childhood, Asrar learnt the art in Lahore, where he was born and brought up. According to him, art in Pakistan is not developed well and the music industry there is not growing. “In Pakistan, there are some people who think music is bad and it is due to people like these that the industry is not thriving. So many artists from Pakistan come to India and are doing well there,” he added.
Citing rock as his favourite genre, the singer also loves combining the thoughts of Sufi with it. “Sufism is not a genre but a thought, which teaches you a way of life. It is something that can be implemented on anyone regardless of the religion, caste, nationality or creed,” he elucidated.
The film ‘Phantom’ is set to release on 28 August, 2015.
