Shah Rukh Khan once said Atif Aslam was too busy to sing for his film; the singer responds : The Tribune India

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, March 12

On Atif Aslam’s birthday, we revisit the time when the singer had candidly opened about his Bollywood journey, and a collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan that almost happened.

It is Pakistani singer Atif Aslam’s birthday and on his special day, let’s look back at his Bollywood journey and how he gained a dedicated fan base in the Indian subcontinent. Right from the start in 2013, when Atif was a part of band Jal, his voice had the power to create magic. Soulful, romantic tracks, some peppy numbers later, he decided to go solo and find his ground in the world of music.

Atif’s journey in Bollywood began with Mahesh Bhatt seeking his consent to include his track ‘Woh Lamhe’ for his production venture Zeher in 2005. From there on began an era in Bollywood that not has many hit tracks by Atif but also opened doors for other Pakistani singers to explore opportunities in Hindi cinema. In 2015, there was noise that Atif Aslaf was not available to sing for Dilwale, a Gauri Khan production starring superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

In an interview with BBC’s Haroon Rashid a while back, Atif Aslam opened up on what happened between him and Shah Rukh Khan. Apparently, Shah Rukh had claimed that he had approached Aslam to sing ‘Gerua’ for Dilwale, but it never panned out. When asked to elaborate upon it, Atif laughed and said, “I have just come across him once in my life, and he is a wonderful person. But he never said it personally. His team got in touch with us, and we recorded the song, and we had sent back the song. I don’t know what happened, his team did not put us through. Something happened which was not conveyed to him. And the next thing I see is him saying ‘Atif Aslam was not available for my song. Maybe he was too busy singing for a Chinese film.’ If Shah Rukh Khan watches this, (I want to say) I was not busy. I would never be busy for you. I would love to sing for you, any day.”

Enjoy the entire interview now:

It was in 2016 when the India-Pakistan tension escalated that things changed once again. This time, contemporary Bollywood music grew but without the presence of Pakistani artistes.

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