PESHAWAR: Young Pashto singer Hashmat Sahar after gaining fame in Pashto has started recoding ghazals of popular poets including Ahmad Faraz and Parveen Shakir to win over hearts of his fans.

Hailing from Hangu district, he has a refine taste for singing ghazal of Pashto poets Rahman Baba, Khushal Khan Khattak, Hamza Baba, Rahmat Shah Sail, Abaseen Yousafzai and Laiqzada. Launched his career in his early teens, he received proper training from expert musicians in the art of ghazal singing.

Years ago, Mr Sahar shot to fame when he sang popular number of Fazl-i-Subhan Abid, a noted Pashto poet from Malakand, ‘Pa Pekhawar Kay Parhar Ma Jorawa’ (Don’t bruise Peshawar any longer). He has numerous music albums to his credit and has also done playback numbers for over 100 Pashto movies and being a recipient of many awards he has been to Afghanistan and Gulf States for performing live music shows.

Hashmat Sahar says he wants to make name in Urdu ghazals

The artist said that despite absence of music academy there was no dearth of talent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Pashto film industry needs patronage, nobody but artists themselves have to do the job. Music helps in promotion the cause of peace and countering militancy,” he added.

Mr Sahar said that he had a base sound fit for light ghazal singing but he sung folk numbers too. “I want to do a new experience by recording a few Urdu ghazals especially of Ahmad Faraz, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Munir Niazi and Parveen Shakir. My Urdu accent is not that bad, may be my fans like it,” he said. He added he had already selected ghazal pieces for his new album.

Talking about his career, he said that he didn’t belong to a music family but looking at his elder brother, who was an ardent lover of music, he too fell in love with the art of music. He said that he started his music career from PTV, Peshawar way back in 2000.

The singer said practice for ghazal singing was a must. He said that live performance was impossible without regular practice.

“I have learnt a lot from Maas Khan Ustad, Nazeer Gul Ustad, and Master Ali Haider. I wonder how one can call himself a singer if he has no knowledge of basics of music,” he added.

On turning to Urdu singing, Mr Sahar said that doing different experiences was quite important in an artist’s career. He said that Urdu poets had sublime subjects and ghazals poets had transformed readers everywhere through their art.

“I just want to do an experience. I am of the opinion that a Pashto singer should not leave Pashto tinge in the name of modernism. I advise the aspiring singers not to depend on modern gadgets only because learning the intricacies of music would earn them a new vision and sound music base,” he said.

Mr Sahar said that ghazal singing would never lose ground if artists gave proper attention to that genre. He said that being national language; Urdu too should be sung and appreciated no matter what flavour one had. He said that Pashto was no more limited to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Afghanistan as it had already got an international repute but Urdu would also earn him a good name.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2018