ATIF ASLAM: Exclusive interview

ATIF ASLAM: SOFT ROCK WONDER BOY SUPER HIT SINGER'S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
He is No 1...
Atif Aslam is a mega star and no one knows this better than the crooner himself. He descends Brando style from his heavy bike to meet for this interview. While I couldn't take my eyes off his tan suede boots lined with fur, Atif took off his gear in slo-mo, savoring the buzz his arrival was causing.

Riding high on the success of Doorie, Atif is still upset as to how his Doorie effort has been inviting brickbats from music critics in Pakistan. Even though Pakistanis love all things Bollywood, our alternative music scene is a different ball game altogether. Atif Aslam, for his Pakistani music fans will always be the definitive voice that made 'Aadat', 'Woh Lamhay' (as he sang it on Jalpari) and 'Mahi Vey' songs an entire generation continues to sing. To his legions of Pakistani fans, Doorie remains a wishy-washy Bollywood juke box churn (which we will dance to, nonetheless).


Ultimately, Doorie is not what die hard Jalpari fans expected from Atif. While his powerful vocals make the album a chart topper on both sides of the border, his cult following here at home feel betrayed by Atif's switchover from his classic raw sound to club remixes. Then there are the terrible videos directed in India which have done nothing to aesthetically project Atif's potential. He is our soft rock wonderboy and the Indians have reinvented him as a chocolate hero. Give us the edgy Atif any day!

Atif insists that Doorie isn't exactly targeted for his fans who know him even before Jalpari but is rather the launch of Atif on an international (read Indian) level. Released worldwide by a telecom conglomerate, Atif has made a conscious effort to establish himself as a singing sensation for a wider audience. But why not be true to his original sound?

"I started off when I was 17 and I never thought I would be this big," Atif confesses. "When Jalpari came out, its raw sound was revolutionary. When I was in India, I received a fantabulous response performing in cities like Pune, Mumbai etc which was a great experience. They (the Indians) respect talent but they cannot understand what I had been doing here. Even here, only a select audience actually understands what I am singing, not the masses. Touring internationally made me think that I should take my music global by releasing it worldwide. I collaborated with a lot of people and thought up a plan for a commercial album, which is not my type of music; which is not ATIF. I just wanted to explore that side of the music. When I composed and wrote these songs for Doorie, I kept in mind that this album has to be commercial," he explains with the ease of an artist genuinely hungry for a wider audience. Atif strived for mass appeal and recognition and via Doorie, that is exactly what he got.

"Doorie is a commercial hit in the UK, Canada, and USA; it's everywhere now. So the first Pakistani artiste is basically out there in the world. Not just in India," he says.

Enjoy.....

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Jalpari