It is confounding how Taher Shah manages to attract attention. And he does so by grabbing those eyeballs, mostly, which are apparently not fans of his singing and song writing skills. His latest release Angel is proof of that. The moment it was released on the Internet, it went viral.

In fact, the word ‘viral’ doesn’t even begin to describe the way people started sharing and talking about it. It would be an understatement to say that the sharing had more to do with making fun of certain aspects of the song. To be honest, one needs a serious assessment of both what makes Taher Shah the way he is (oblivious or impervious to those who look at him disparagingly), and of those who unleash their humour and sarcasm salvos the moment he comes up with a video.

Isn’t it the duty of those in the media who waste so much time and energy on individuals like Taher S to look for genuine talent in the country, meaning those who don’t have the resources to come out with a video, but can sing without using an auto-tuner? Difficult question to answer, I guess.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, April 17th, 2016