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[Prashant Pandey]

ICE PEOPLE: Ali Zafar

by

Abhilasha Ojha / New Delhi October 05, 2005



Music director Himesh Reshammiya must be a content man. While his
soundtrack for the film Aashiq Banaya Aapne is topping the charts,
he's also managed to make a decent debut as a singer for the same
movie. Meanwhile, a conference call to Pakistan from Indian music
company Universal Music has artiste Ali Zafar reeling in a state of
shock.

His popular track Rangeen has been plagiarised and used in Aashiq
Banaya Aapne — for which Reshammiya is grabbing the credits — without
his consent. Released in June 2005, Rangeen was the first music video
from his debut album in India called Huqa Pani.

Rangeen made Zafar very popular and the Indian music industry can't
seem to have enough of him. Ad film-maker Prahlad Kakkar calls him the
Shah Rukh Khan of Pakistan — he has directed him for a Pepsi
commercial and rumours are rife that Mahesh Bhatt is keen to cast him
in one of his films.

Born in Lahore, this 25-year-old has also done modelling assignments
that helped him make some pocket money. But his heart was in music and
Zafar continued with his classical training. Huqa Pani that was
released in 2003.

The album sold a whopping five million copies and Zafar toured 11
different countries. Now, with the international release of the same
album by Universal Music, Zafar is clearly here to stay.