Muhammad Shahram Bhutto
THE whole nation marks the 20th death anniversary of Pakistani musician Nazia Hassan, a pop icon who endeared herself to millions across the Indian subcontinent.
Nazia burst on to the scene when she provided vocals for the song ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ in the Bollywood film Qurbani in 1980, making her hugely popular across India. She subsequently worked with her brother, Zohaib Hassan, to release four more albums Star/Boom Boom, Young Tarang, Hotline and Camera Camera. She was one the first South Asian performers to perform disco-inspired dance music, helping to shake up the then-moribund popular music scene. The new music and attitude that the London-educated singer is credited with paving the path for popular 1990s acts such as the Vital Signs and the Jupiters.
Like no one else – that’s what Nazia Hassan, the nightingale of Pakistan, is remembered as magic that the melody of her voice brewed in the heart of every person who listened to her singing, still resonates. And it resonates even powerfully today, as we lament her gapping absence on what would have been the singer’s 20th death anniversary. Her voice left a void in pop music, that even after years of her young death, hasn’t been replenished. She is remembered and mourned, like no other singer. The biggest fan of Nazia Hassan, Muhammad Shahram Bhutto, pays a tribute to Pakistan’s first female pop sensation by looking at her illustrious achievements, unforgettable legacy, her life and the fateful trails of the youngest musical diva Pakistan music industry has ever had. The year 1980 went down in the musical history as the pioneering age of Pakistani pop, with the duo’s formation of the band ‘Nazia and Zoheb’. Nazia made her singing debut by providing lead vocals to the song, Aap Jaisa Koi, from the Indian film Qurbani. The song was on the group’s debut album Disco Deewane released in 1981 and was produced by Indian producer Biddu. The third album ‘Young Tarang’ was the first of its kind in Pakistan to feature music videos. It sold over 40 million copies, leading a glittering path to the stars in South East Asia’s mainstream audience. Ankhien Milaney Waley, Zara Chehra and Dum Dum Dee Dee became the most popular songs of the album. Not only was Nazia talented, she was a genius. While her work as a philanthropist has been largely known and has left a mark on many, what may surprise her fans is the fact that she was also a lawyer and a political analyst. She was a top graduate from the well-reputed Richmond, American International University and University of London. Early 90s ushered darkness in the celebrated singer’s life. A becoming gloom, which soon blanketed the entire musical industry, loved Nazia. She was diagnosed with malignant lung cancer at a startling young age. On 13 August 2000, eventually, she succumbed to her cancer but the melodic voice that crooned beauties like Ankhein Milaney Waley silenced forever at the age of 35. The queen of pop in South Asia was finally laid to rest in the Muslim Hendon Cemetery in London.
— The writer is a freelance columnist, based in Hyderabad.
