Meet Affaq Mushtaq, a young 24-year-old singer from the inner city area of Rawalpindi, who sings at a restaurant in Islamabad every night. He’s a shy, unassuming, dimunitive man who is gifted with an incredibly powerful melodious voice and you can’t help but fall in love with him. From the start of Ufone Uth Record’s third episode he has stars in his eyes, is eager to prove himself and seems unaware of his potential (but excited to discover it).
His father, the late Master Mushtaq, was a composer for the Pakistan Television (PTV) and taught him everything he knows.
Affaq’s family seems to share his gift—his brother plays the guitar in his demo video. They, along with another family member whose relationship isn’t mentioned, sing together on their way to the airport from where Affaq will be flying to Karachi to record his song at the LJP Studios.
Once there, he meets with musician Louis ‘Gumby’ Pinto. Affaq’s story is something Gumby mentions he can relate to as his own and is appreciative of his talent, “He’s a very rare individual and you get a sense of that when listening to his demo.” To help Affaq out, Gumby calls in Aamir Zaki with whom he has been associated since his preteens.
Aamir makes a rare appearance on TV in this show and we see him mentoring Affaq and helping him through the construction of the song. When it is recorded, Aangun is a soft, soulful ballad that displays Affaq’s vocal skills and at times appears too mature for him. The lyricist of Aangun is Sooraj Narayan who hails from Kohat while Affaq’s father composed the song that is heavy on sentiments.
Gumby and Aamir Zaki are featured on the song as guest musicians and they mostly keep in the background. This was one episode that had both a great story to tell and some pretty decent music.