Rao Dilshad Hussain: …and now Hassan and Zahra

…and now Hassan and Zahra
Tuesday, October 5, 2010

It was long ago in the 1980s when the duo singers Nazia Hassan and Zohaib Hassan performed together. As a matter of fact both were pioneers of pop music and became the first sister and brother who burst into the music industry collectively. But music critics objected and gave statements against them that forced them to leave the country for a time being.

After the demise of Nazia Hassan, her brother Zohaib could not keep up her legacy. Now almost after a decade, a duo of another sister and brother named Hassan Haider Khan and Zahra Haider Khan have emerged who give us a reminiscence of the Nadia duo. They sprung into this profession in 2004 after their debut album.

The budding duo of Hassan and Zahra has strong family background. Their father Sardar Noveed Haider Khan is currently serving as a Director Marketing for event management in Pakistan Football Federation. Due to his support, the siblings were able to complete their education from foreign institutions. After completing his schooling in from Aitchison College Lahore, Hassan pursued his further studies in Finance and Economics at the Pennsylvania State University.

While Zahra Haider Khan completed her schooling from Lahore Grammar School then she completed her graduate schools from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and University of Warwick, London.

After having varied backgrounds in finance, economics and management, the duo couldn’t evade their inner ardour for music. Hassan while talking to Sunday plus confessed, “I was ardent to sing in schools’ functions and always strived to participate in talent shows. I never ever took music classes but I am a great admirer of the Kishor Kumar, Muhammad Rafi and Adnan Sami Kahn. During my course in the USA, I performed at various music concerts. The music events were organised by the South Asian Student Association. But I decided to seriously pursue this as a profession more than passion was when watched my sister’s performances. It was 2004 when I started singing professionally along with my sister Zahra.”

Zahra on the other hand have had more serious inclinations and trainings. She told, “I came into this profession after learning music. In my school, my teacher Shahida Hussain and Shakir Sab taught me the basics of music. At that time I was really crazy to learn and sing. I loved to listen to legendary singers such as Madam Noor Jahan and Nazia Hassan. They both inspired me a lot. I wanted to sing but never ever thought to become a professional singer.”

Zahra has participated in various musical competitions that are organised under the banner of All Pakistan Music Conference and has won award in ghazal category in 1997 as well. She was also the president of music society at her school for many years.

“We are lucky to get full support from our parents and friends who have played a key role to mould our singing careers. We are doing everything but only under the guidance of our parents,” the duo commended on their parents and friends’ support.

Hassan and Zahra have mellifluous voices that remind us of the Nadia-Zohaib duo. They like to perform in live concerts and shows. Though they are pop singers, they also take keen interest in classical music. They love to sing with ragas like aiman, darbari and malky.

They are performing across the country in various concerts. They are also frequently invited in the morning and music shows of the different TV channels. Recently they performed at a celebrity camp show that was held in the Mall of Lahore for generating funds for the flood affected people. The charity show was organised by Ali Noor and Radio FM 91.

“We always prefer to compose quality music for the music enthusiasts. We focus to bring the combination of fascinating melody and lyrics for the music lovers. Only music can help us to project a softer image of our country before the western world. If all musicians including Abrar, Jawad and many others release their albums then the boom of the music industry is sure to take place. There is no doubt that the Pakistani music industry has a lot of potential,” they were of the view.

Talking about youth, the duo said that Pakistani youth are equally talented as the youths of the west but the lack of opportunities and privileges in Pakistan has lead to lack of exploitations of their talents as well. In fact youth is the future of our country and they should not be disappointed.

Hassan and Zahra deplorably said that most of the Pakistani music channels are favouring Indian music over the melodies of Pakistan. This trend should change and Pakistani channels should work to promote our culture rather than others.

Their debut album entitled ‘Hassan & Zahra’ was launched in July 2010 in collaboration with ARY musik. Hassan Haider and Mujahid Hussain made compositions; Sohail Javed was the director of the album while Shajjar Fakhar gave the music of this album. This is a beautiful combination of twelve genres of duet and solo tracks. The debut album is a beautiful fusion of feelings with the lyrics blending in well with the melody, which is both energetic and fresh. Their debut album comprises different genres of music pop and folk songs that are sung in Urdu and Punjabi languages.

They have made music videos of their songs like Ujla Kaajal, Ni Soniyeh, Kuch Kahaa, Pyaar Ki in Raahon, Choo Kar, Tujhay and also a solo national song ‘Ae Pakistan’ that have been aired in different music channels. Their songs reflect the aspirations of youth. Their performances remind us of the pop era of Nazia and Zohaib.

They are planning to tour to some western countries in the near future to perform at some musical events to project a softer image of Pakistan.

“We are really working very hard on the music videos in order to provide quality entertainment and quality pop music to the music lovers. No doubt music videos provide a platform to present the feel of the music and lyrics,” they maintained.

In fact they are extremely lucky to get opportunities in the world of showbiz world. Their endeavours and efforts of their debut album should be encouraged. This will help to set new trends in the music industry.

Labels: Hassan, Zahra