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Nazia Hassan may be gone but her music is eternal

On her death anniversary, we remember Pakistan's princess of pop
Updated 13 Aug, 2018


This article first appeared on IMAGES in August 2016.


I can’t remember when it was that I first heard Nazia Hassan’s voice. You could say I came out of the womb with the lyrics to Disco Deewane and Aap Jaisa Koi memorised.

I grew up in London more than two decades after she first appeared on the scene. It was here — in London — that her star began to rise.

As I musically came of age some years ago, Nazia's eclectic sound permeated my taste. In an effort to aurally classify the genres I was exposed to, I wasn’t able to place her in any distinct category.

Her brand of pop was unlike the Belinda Carlisle anthems of love on the mixtape my sister and I obsessively listened to, or the Abrar-ul-Haq cassettes my father kept in the car for long road trips.

Her songs bore little resemblance to the Bollywood ballads of the early 2000s (more often than not, from romcoms starring Uday Chopra or Vivek Oberoi), and were a world away from the post-Britpop scene that filled my childhood with moody tunes and pensive boy bands.

There was something inherently Pakistani about Nazia and Zoheb.

Yet, there existed an otherworldly element in their music that caught native ears accustomed to Noor Jehan or Farida Khanum completely off-guard.

For me, Nazia existed at a juncture, where the two worlds I occupied, neatly and perfectly, overlapped.

She bridged the chasm between my understanding of the old country — that strange and romantic land constantly inhabiting my family’s imagination — and the cultural immediacy of my surroundings at home in Britain.

Sixteen years ago on this day, we lost a trailblazing pioneer to lung cancer. In life, she was feted as the queen of a new movement in Pakistani music.

In death, she continues to inspire.

But to pigeonhole and remember her solely as a singer does not do justice to her legacy.

No, Nazia Hassan was so much more than her voice.

Beginnings

In the beginning, there is Karachi, and Sohail Rana. Nazia was born in the city by the sea, in April of 1965. She was the first child of Muneeza and Basir Hassan, followed by a younger brother Zoheb and a younger sister Zahra.

Zoheb and Nazia Hassan with their parents, Basir and Muneeza Hassan. —Photo provided by Zoheb Hassan
Zoheb and Nazia Hassan with their parents, Basir and Muneeza Hassan. —Photo provided by Zoheb Hassan

Zoheb tells me that Nazia was quiet by nature, but when it came to singing, she would shine. "A star, from day one," he says.

When both brother and sister were taken to Sohail Rana’s PTV children’s program for an audition, the composer told their mother: "Nazia is perfect…Zoheb looks nice, but he can't sing." (He failed the audition because he refused to sing).

"I was an introvert, not into music at all," he remembers. It was Nazia’s coaxing that eventually convinced him to join her on the show.

Soon, the Hassan siblings were sent to England to live with their grandmother and uncle. In Manchester, they discovered a vibrant music scene, and, by consequence, pop and rock music. When they were caught in their uncle’s room with his guitar, he encouraged them to play, ultimately giving it to them a month later on Zoheb's birthday.

Nazia and Zoheb Hasan. — Photo provided by Zoheb Hasan
Nazia and Zoheb Hasan. — Photo provided by Zoheb Hasan

It was on that guitar that they started writing music. The siblings were inspired by the likes of Johnny and Marie, Jackson 5, The Carpenters.

Around the time they met Indian composer Biddu, who propelled Nazia to the ultimate heights of fame with Aap Jaisa Koi. The brother and sister duo were already writing songs that blended the pop and rock of their Western surroundings, and the beats and sounds of their Eastern upbringing.

See: Biddu – the (un)sung hero of Pakistan

Without knowing it, the two were well on their way to becoming the world’s first fusion artists.

Then, there was a dinner party in London. Zeenat Aman, who had already heard Nazia, introduced the siblings to Vinod Khanna and Feroz Khan.

When Khan first heard the 14-year-old sing, he cried:

"This is the voice I’ve been looking for!"

But Muneeza and Basir were initially not too keen on letting their daughter sing for Qurbani because it would take time away from her schoolwork and exams. Eventually, they agreed, and Nazia took one day out over the weekend to record Aap Jaisa Koi.

“She went on a Sunday and sang the song,” Zoheb tells me.“ And the rest, is history.”

Culture warriors

In a July 1980 interview, Nazia, in reference to her sound, told the Herald:

"Yes some people don’t even consider it music; well it’s the kind of the music we dig, take it or leave it. They say classical music is the only real music. Whenever I’m attending a classical music recital, I feel like I’m attending a funeral. You have to sit grim and still — no coughing, no talking lest people think you are being impolite."

Nazia and Zoheb Hasan. — Photo provided by Zoheb Hasan
Nazia and Zoheb Hasan. — Photo provided by Zoheb Hasan

The fusion sound that came naturally to Nazia and Zoheb was subject to intense scrutiny in the early years. The old school didn’t like it because it couldn’t understand it, Zoheb believes. Eastern melodies with Western orchestration did not go over well with the academy.

But even more than the music itself, the pair came under attack for offending certain local sensibilities.

"See, the thing is, we never pretended to be somebody we were not. We were Pakistani, we were very rooted," Zoheb says.

"It’s just that when we came to London, we imbibed that other culture at the same time. It wasn’t a commercial stint either, like, for the sake of commercialism we were trying to act Western, or trying to do something which was not us. It was us."

Things, however, got out of hand. Effigies were burnt, fatwas were passed. With less going on politically, Zoheb tells me, “[the mullahs] needed a scapegoat situation, and they thought who better than this brother and sister, who the whole nation is watching…[they thought], this will really get people’s interest, and they can twist it and turn it, redirect it to their cause. It was unfortunate, but at the end of the day, you can never put something down which the people themselves want. The masses loved it. They understood it."

Yet, support and advice came from the man occupying the highest office in the land.

"[General Zia] called us at home, and said: 'Nazia and Zoheb...bachon, aap log nikal jain,'" Zoheb remembers. "We were so young, we hardly knew anything, we were literally babes in the world — not that young, but very naive. So I think he felt a bit protective, and he told us to leave [the country], which I think at that time was the best thing for us to do."

With fatwas and effigies behind her, Nazia persisted. In this way, she was at the forefront of a culture war, one fought not only between highbrow music aficionados who turned their noses up at fusion music, and those willing to accept the joie de vivre that the two teenagers espoused in their songs, but also one between religious zealots and the rest of the nation, who wholeheartedly embraced her edgy beats.

The battle lines were drawn.

Voice of the youth

What was perhaps most striking about the Nazia and Zoheb phenomenon, was the pair’s ability to convey the frustrations, desires, and aspirations of a whole generation of young people growing up in the 1980s.

Within that polarising cultural environment, the two emerged as youth icons — our very own Beatles, minus the crazy haircuts. They were radical, profound, a summation of our potential: who we could be as a nation, and all that we already were.

At the height of their success, the siblings had seven number ones in South America, where they were outselling artists like Duran Duran.

In the Soviet Union alone, the two sold almost 250,000 records. When they were signed on by EMI World, the CEO told them, "I can’t understand your music, I can’t understand the language, but it’s selling by the truckloads."

Nobody could understand the mass appeal of Urdu pop.

During the apartheid in South Africa, the pair were one of the first non-white bands to have a song reach number one on the charts.

"[We were] invited by some very big companies at the time to sing for Nelson Mandela," Zoheb tells me. "We didn’t know who he was, but there was a lot of acceptance for this [type of music] worldwide."

At home, the success of the siblings created not only a sense of newfound respectability towards, and awareness of the music industry as a worthy field, it offered validation to stifled youngsters disillusioned by limited creative opportunities.

Doctors suddenly picked up guitars; bands in urban centers mushroomed. If Nazia and Zoheb can do it, people thought, then so can we.

For the first time, "young people felt like they had music of their own," Zoheb says.

"[They said] it is our own music, in our own language, and we love it, and it’s cool also. They wanted something to be cool, and they wanted something they could also be proud of."

The Hassans also did their part to promote the careers of artists who emerged during this new wave of pop.

Examine: Dil ko churanay wali — In memory of pop legend Nazia Hassan

In the twilight of their career together, Nazia and Zoheb performed at the Music 89 show, where they introduced singers like Ali Azmat and Junoon.

But when they realised that they were eclipsing the newcomers and being given preferential treatment, Nazia put her foot down: "It’s not on. I’m not going to sing in a program like this. Everybody should be together; everybody should be equal. That’s my prerequisite, if it’s not done that way, I don’t want to do it."

"They didn’t even give them a hotel room," Zoheb remembers.

"They only gave it to us, but Nazia insisted that everybody should get a hotel room, everybody should get the same treatment. She was a real advocate for [people’s] rights. Maybe that’s why she did law, later on in her life."

Listening to her music now, one is struck by its timelessness. Telephone Pyar, Koi Nahin, Aankhein Milaney Waley, and countless other songs that the siblings sang together, are best understood as expressions of young love, youthful defiance, staunch individuality.

Pakistan and the rest of the world has changed since the 1980s, but there is something hauntingly eternal about the music she created.

Epitaph

London, where part of Nazia’s story began, is also her final resting place.

The Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium is in a quieter part of the city. It is leafier, suburban, slightly removed from the tachycardia of London’s chaotic heart.

She is buried in the Muslim section here. The headstone reads:

"IN LOVING MEMORY OF NAZIA HASSAN — Loving daughter, sister, and mother. Beloved and cherished by millions of people. Died in her youth. August 13th, 2000."

At the end of my conversation with Zoheb, I recall an interview Nancy Sinatra once gave, in which she described how it still hurts to hear her father’s voice.

It brings back too many memories, is difficult to process, the experience rendered even more painful by the ubiquitous and enduring nature of Frank Sinatra’s music. "It’s like constantly being bombarded, like somebody putting their fingers in the wound. No, it’s not easy."

Indeed, one doesn’t have to look too far for that immortal baritone voice, constantly poking out from the covers of commemorative magazine issues, or emerging from overused archival footage in documentaries and newsreels. It is the vocal currency of 20th-century American cultural life. It is resonant, it is everywhere.

To myself, I wonder if Zoheb feels the same way, or if 16 years since her passing has assuaged the grief of losing his sister.

As we say goodbye, he tells me that it now feels like everything happened over the course of a few days, that, in hindsight, it was an amazing journey. But there are some things he would change, redo, if given the chance.

"I would bring her back. That’s the first thing I would do," he says.

In his voice, I recognise the wistfulness of a brother who is still in mourning. It reminds me of a line from a song that Nazia herself once sang:

"Dil ko kaisay ab samjhaon yaadein chor dey?"
How can I tell my heart to move on, to leave its memories behind? —Kya Hua (Young Tarang, 1984).


Today marks the 16th death anniversary of Nazia Hassan.

Comments

anwar siddique Aug 13, 2016 09:50am
Myself, Nazia, Zoheb were all stuck in Kabul in the late 1970s with President Daud was overthrown. I recall them being very down to earth and good people. Feels surreal to realize somebody you met is gone.
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Surya Kant Aug 13, 2016 10:18am
Aap jaisa koi meri jindagi mai aaye.. to baat ban jaye.... How many times I listened to it by inserting 25 paise coin in music box....
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Balakrishnan Kamesh Aug 13, 2016 10:24am
Nice Singer, i had listened all of her songs from Qurbani, Disco Diwane still i have those songs in my android Mobile and listen it while going to bed in the night. God had taken her back very soon from this world. i pray for her soul rest in peace.. .. a fan of NAZIA from INDIA
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syed Aug 13, 2016 10:47am
" Her music is eternal" ? I was great fan of her as well but eternal music?
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Prash Aug 13, 2016 10:51am
Oh man, I get nostalgic every time I listen to her, and it brings tears in my eyes. I grew up with her music. She had such an angelic voice, a legend indeed. Thanks to my homie Biddu for introducing her!. We miss you Nazia! :(
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Sangan Patil Aug 13, 2016 11:13am
Even after 3 decades, even today I listen to Nazia Hassan's songs. What a beautiful voice! I wish she was still alive and sang many more songs.
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zahbia syed Aug 13, 2016 02:27pm
Nazia hasan! a lady possessed with an instinct of captivity and features arousing interest.
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H. Khan Aug 13, 2016 03:57pm
Her music was very ahead of its time. Beautiful trend setting angel.... RIP.
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Shankar Aug 13, 2016 05:07pm
Those were wonderful times when Nazia's music filled the hearts of every young Indian. Her voice transcended the barriers of the two countries! She was one of the reasons why I used to love Pakistan those days, the others being Benazir and Zaheer Abbas!
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vasudevan Aug 13, 2016 06:32pm
What a voice! And Zeenat Aman beautifully carried it off. In my younger days I saw this film specially for this voice. It was in Chennai where Hindi those days was not favourably considered- yet, the theatre was always housefull. Those were the great days-before cable TV and mobile phones
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Agha Ata Aug 13, 2016 07:16pm
Nazia was in deep love with her culture and music. In her short life, she provided smiles and relaxation and entertainment to millions around the world, and we still enjoy them. She was a human being with a very very beautiful heart. Sha was a musical saint.
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Qamar Valliani Aug 13, 2016 08:49pm
Why good people like Nazia leave us so quickly?
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Shahid Aug 13, 2016 10:48pm
Princess of Pakistan. Music gave her fame but her charity work and her innocent personality made her every one's darling. May Allah grant her Jannah.
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tanvir Aug 13, 2016 11:25pm
Rest in Peace the pioneer of pop music May Allah sot give your soul a place in Jannat,
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STARZAN Aug 14, 2016 01:50am
*****-stars Lovely !
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FAWAD MALIK Aug 14, 2016 04:34am
totally had a crush on nazia growing up. Classy , elegant , beautiful , we miss you .
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s kumar Aug 14, 2016 10:30am
Iam a nazia fan - she was a Trend setter during our times with "disco " music when it started.when there were no mobiles , very few TVs . Nice flowing voice and had a huge fan following . Sad she left too young ..we still listen to her songs .
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Hindutavi Rakshas Aug 15, 2016 01:43pm
rest in peace.
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sri Aug 15, 2016 02:43pm
Great singer. Cannt forget those times of80s.
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Adnan 2 Aug 15, 2016 03:41pm
Nazia music is ok. Not wow.
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KT Aug 16, 2016 10:02am
Voice of Nazia ruled on hearts of Indians and Pakistanis
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Sara Aug 16, 2016 11:13am
I wish Pakistan could have more people who think like her. Pakistan should get out this religious cult that is only creating more problems. I am glad she is resting in England.
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KnowTheTruth Aug 16, 2016 04:21pm
It is unfortunate that Pakistan could not respect this gem of a singer, who had to flee her motherland and settle overseas to save her life.
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Asad Aug 16, 2016 06:11pm
@KnowTheTruth she left for a very short period of time and had to leave the country anyway for her legal studies and degree. The government of the time advised the family that that would be the best course of action given the circumstances - Nazia was settled abroad well before the controversy surrounding her music. She came and went freely and General Zia also lifted the ban on her music that some overzealous hardliners in his government had placed.
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JA-Australia Aug 13, 2018 12:27pm
We will forever be deewaney for her songs.
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Umar Makhdumi Aug 13, 2018 12:50pm
A Bollywood biopic should be made on Nazia Hassan's life.
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vijay Aug 13, 2018 01:25pm
She was excellent singer of pakistan origin ,but born and brought up in london. Bollywood was impressed by her singing and allof her songs have been incorporated in hindi films. Her voice was fresh and seemed to convey the feelings of her age group
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N abidai Aug 14, 2018 01:38am
Pop music is Pakistan best music, iconic Nazia,and all the pop singers and bands,! Why it is not a big industry, is mind boggling !
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