Ahmed Jehanzeb's Interview - The Youth

AHMED JEHANZEB
Interviewed by Aqsa Hussain
Young and Melodious… A perfect blend!

The diversity of his vocals makes one wonder about the musical dynasty he has grown within. The Wonder Boy, as his fans call him, has proved that training in specific field you want to pursue, is extremely important and that’s the reason he stands amongst millions! Around seven years back it was “Ek bar Kaho”, a monster hit which made Ahmed Jehanzeb a household name, and since then there’s no looking back. Ahmed came out with a best selling album “Parastish” in 2003 and now is back with a big bang. Yes, he has come out with a brand new album, “Laut Aao”, which according to him would prove him as a more mature singer. Recently, Youth Magazinehad a one to one with this amazing singer who with his courtesy won our hearts. Interview took place at Ahmed’s funky studio.

It’s been five years since your last album? What are your expectations and how is it going to be different from Parastish?

It’s been a while and I am pretty much eager to take my album out in the market. Somehow it kept getting delayed for one reason or another. As far as the sound, packaging and effort goes, I would say I’m satisfied and hope that this new album stands out for it’s musical coherency and lyrical genius. It was first time for me to work in India. Also, first time in my life, someone else arranged all my compositions. It took me a while to get adjusted in India and get used to working conditions there. You see, video isn’t made in a day, nor an album is completed in a month. I’m pretty much satisfied though, it has turned out really well and I believe it would be worth waiting for.

What’s the difference that you feel in working here and working there?

There’s not much of a difference. But definitely Bollywood is a bigger market. We have greater talent and bigger musicians. After Hollywood, Bollywood is the biggest wood. Professionalism is very much there. Everything’s very well managed, organized and executed. They even made me get up at six in the morning for my video, because everything had to be executed as per plans. We Pakistanis have got to be focused. We are just a step behind. We should hunt local talent and let it come forward on merit basis and demolish parchi system, sources and references.

Tell us about the videos in your album? Have you made any so far?

We’ve so far made two videos from the album. Chandni has been completed and is all set to release soon. Wouldn’t reveal everything now but it’s on the way to reach television channels. It’s the most expensive video ever made in India and Pakistan.

Why is hype created when our artists go there?

You see music is not taken that serious here. Religious factors become hindrance at times, which according to me shouldn’t happen. In India all big shots are Muslims. I don’t mind our artists going there and working. You see if they don’t get work here, where would they go then? All an artist wants is work and appreciation, life becomes miserable for them to survive otherwise. If Madonna offers me to get shifted to Hollywood and work there, I might say yes at the very moment I get this offer. Why? Because artists move where they are provided with work and acknowledgement for their work, in terms of money, respect and fame.

Do we lack talent in terms of music or what? Why entertainment seems to have taken a back seat?

Well, we have hell loads of talent man. We are no less than any other nation when it comes to talented people, musicians. But see, here politics has taken over, 24/7 channels are flooded with saucy news, views which eventually tend to make us confused. Sometime back it was only entertainment and now there’s politics everywhere. Political unrest in the country has done a big damage to our entertainment industry.

What’s the thing about music industry here that pisses you off?

Everyone has made categories. If you want to succeed you have to sing pop. I mean why man? Why can’t we subcategorize it? Why am I forced to deliver pop when I’m not delivering it from the day one? There are different genres and an artist should only restrict himself to the genre he tends to follow and is very good at. I’m not a pop singer at all, but I’m advised to sing pop, if I wish to succeed. All the ones who’ve changed their track due to this reason have lost their identity.

Who are your favorite singers?

Favorite singer would be Rahat Fateh Ali in the contemporaries. Many kids in the business are not even near him. I mean NO WHERE near Ali. Even Aasha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar expressed the desire of singing with him and that is a great achievement and an honour for not only him but for Pakistan too. We should respect legends like Rahat. I personally, as a musician get frustrated when I think about how we dealt with a legend like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan during him lifetime. We should learn from this and should acknowledge legends like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. There’s another guy Adnan, who teaches at NAPA, can you imagine he’s the one who taught Faraz Anwar and Shallum. He has given us guitar masters and no one knows him. It’s frustrating. Other than the two, I like Shafqat bhai, Sheeraz Uppal, and Sajjad Ali. In bands I like Aaroh and Mekaal Hassan Band. MKB is the perfect example of a perfect band. Oh yeah, Junoon has really done justice to rock.

So, are you dancing in your video like most of our artists do in their videos-made-in-India? Is any actress featuring?

I’m not dancing but performing, that would be Ahmed Jahanzeb’s step two. And about the Bollywood actress being featured in the video, I would say, there’s so much glamour that you might end up finding resemblance of the model featuring in our video with some actress but no, not any actress featured.
Are you nervous of any criticism that might come along your way by the music industry gurus?
Yeah man…I’m very nervous. I have faith in Allah, so yeah satisfied too. Efforts and hard work wouldn’t go in vain.

How did you join hands with Shoaib Mansoor for Khuda kay Liye? How did it all happen?

Actually, Shoaib Mansoor knew my father since radio days. Papa introduced me to him back in 1996 when he was busy editing Alpha Bravo Charlie. I found Shoaib Mansoor to be very much involved in his work. One fine day, after many years, he called my father and asked about me. Let me tell you here that though I couldn’t follow his other directions but I was a big fan of Supreme Ishq. He came to Karachi, stayed with us for five days and worked here at my studio. He would get up early in the morning and sleep late night. He would only take one cup of tea and nothing else. He would just attend phone calls and work.

Khuda kay lye turned out to be a massive hit, do you still think there was something left to be fixed up in the movie?

Shoaib Mansoor had a clear heart about what he had to do with the movie. But somehow for some reasons, some people ditched him at eleventh hour, that’s why certain elements that needed to be fixed, remained untouched. Otherwise Khuda Kay Liye would have been a movie of the century. But I wouldn’t blame Shoaib Mansoor for that, because he had to compromise on a lot of things.

When did you actually start learning music? Who was your Ustaad?

I’m still learning, it continues forever. I started when I was 12 and my beloved ustaad’s name is Ustaad Raees Khan.

How has the journey been from Ek bar kaho till now?

The journey has been unbelievable. The feeling of being a chosen one by the God is inexplicable. Really!! But maintaining it is an equally uphill task.

We heard you’re Sonu Nigam’s big fan?

Yes – I like Sonu Nigam. We both respect each other’s work. His voice is versatile and has a big name and protocol. He has seen good and bad days and has come a long way.

You acted too, how did that happen? Plus, have you thought of taking it seriously?

Yeah, sometimes I think I should take acting seriously. But I don’t know somehow or the other my acting projects have been strong. There’s one project coming on HUM TV soon. The Ghost. Babar Javed does it. It has hundred episodes and will run for six months. I’m expecting people would like my acting in it. I’m playing opposite Sawera Nadeem. It happened a few times that I almost forgot all my dialogues when in front of her. And as for how did it all happen, I was sitting very casually, when the director of Laila Majnoo came and asked me if I was interested in acting for his play, for which I replied in affirmation but asked him to wait for papa’s permission. He said, only girls ask for permission and laughed at me. Anyway, papa had no issues and this is how I went on to start acting for a play named Laila Majnoo. It turned out to be a successful one and then Ek Bar Kaho followed, its theme song became a massive hit and all else is history.

What would you be if not a singer?

If I were not a singer, I would definitely be a cricketer. My father was a social person and there would be parties with legends like Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Zaheer Abbas and many more. So, by sitting amongst them I learned a lot about cricket and was pretty much talented at playing it..

What are your interests other than singing?

Singing is my passion. It’s not an interest. Other than that I love traveling. Though I feel a bit uncomfortable while traveling in plane but exploring the world, different cultures, meeting new people is my craze. I’ve been traveling right from my childhood. Father was in merchant navy so we’ve spent all our childhood traveling.

Which is your favorite country and city?

Favorite country would be South Africa and city would be Durban. I’ve spent six years of my life in South Africa, did my early schooling there and have lots of memories attached.

We do not get to see you much on TV shows, why?

Channels aren’t paying artists much. In fact, it really pisses an artist off when you see channels earning a lot and not paying an artist who drags audience to their shows because of his/her talent. The energy and time he/she gives to his/her performance goes unnoticed and unacknowledged in terms of money, which is unfair. And for that I took a stand and said NO to every offer that asked me to perform for free. And I’m happy that singers like Ali Zafar, Atif Aslam took stand as well and now when they pay, we perform.

Favorite movies?
Hollywood : Legend of the Soul
Lollywood: Khuda kay Liye
Bollywood: Black

What’s your desire as a musician?

I want to come up with an idea of a whole musical team. Somebody who can be huge and his/her diversity of music can be widely appreciated and listened by all age groups. I want to come up with the concept of 50 musicians performing on stage and I singing and directing them and dealing with everything. Something unusual and that can take music to the next level in Pakistan.

What about the contest about the name of album?

We were going through this contest and in the middle of it I got a call from India that my album has been named. “Laut Aao” is the name of the album. Surprisingly a fan suggested the same name in the contest, so we went for it. I had a “Mai aur Tum” like concept for the name, but my Papa, brother liked Laut Aao, so did I.

Is there anything else other than albums for your fans?

I’ve nearly twenty tele-films up my sleeves and I’m working on them these days. The whole concept of tele-films will be changed. Story lines would be very well conceptualized. Music, direction, acting, shooting everything would be perfectly done. By judging the pulse of the market and needs of the viewers, we’ve decided to change the whole scenario of tele-films.
Ahmed enthusiastically talked about tele-films and declared that they’ll be no less than feature films. So, it’s definitely going to be a treat to watch.

Do you have any message for Youth?

First understand and then do. What basically our youngsters are afraid to do is hard work. All we want is comfort and luxury without putting in any effort to get it. We run after short cuts. Can you imagine a traffic policeman was having tea under a tree (traffic ki waat lagi hui thi)! He was tension free, people damned and moved, he remained calm and cool and kept sipping one cup after another. Wow. This is how jobs are being done here.

For those who want to be Ahmed Jehanzeb…?

Read all the contracts before you sign. Never sign it before completely going through it. Don’t easily give your trust to anyone and be selfish at times when it comes to another person using you.
In the end to make this interview memorable Ahmed sang us a song and trust me, listening to his vocals and that too live, are a treat to listen!

Apology: Aqsa Hussain conducted Bushra Ansari’s interview in the month of May. Youth regrets interviewer’s name for being unprinted due to technical faults.