Rising Stars: 4 promising young singers to perform at PISA’21

The second edition of the Pakistan International Screen Awards (PISA) is just around the corner. With less than two weeks left to the glamorous evening, there are a lot of expectations from the show, and momentum is building on expectations. Other than seeing a steady string of testimonials from everyone attending, we keep hearing exciting things about the show itself.

Latest is that the young blood of Pakistan’s music industry, including Aashir Wajahat, Hadiya Hashmi, Mustafa Khan and Urooj Fatima have been roped in to work on an anthem for PISA’21.

Aashir Wajahat is the son of Pakistani film and TV director Wajahat Rauf and is a budding actor and musician. He has previously sung songs for films like Chhalawa and Lahore Se Aagey, and has released singles. Hadiya Hashmi is a talented girl who rose to fame with her performance of Bol Hu with Soch the band in Nescafe Basement. Mustafa Khan is also an upcoming musician, who’s been singing since the age of 11 and has millions of views on his YouTube channel, MK Music. Mustafa has performed at several award shows in Dubai and he has collaborated with several big record labels in India. He’s the son of founder of PISA, Faisal Khan, and already has a great following. Last but not the least, Urooj Fatima is known for her songs Laila O Laila and Allay with Ali Zafar.

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We managed to get hold of Aashir Wajahat for some key details about this collaboration.

“We had a great experience at PISA last year,” Aashir says, in conversation with SH. “Originally, the idea originated at that time that we would do something big together, whenever PISA will take place again. Then, last month I was approached by Faisal Khan regarding a performance at PISA’21 and when he told me about the other talented individuals performing with me, I was sold,” he said.

While Aashir remained tight-lipped about the anthem, he gave us a hint: “It’s a patriotic performance. Basically, a tribute to our beautiful nation. It’s going to be a rendition of an old iconic milli naghma [patriotic song] or maybe a medley of 5 to 6 songs. I think this aspect should be kept a surprise for the audience.”

About their performance on stage, Aashir seems excited to perform with different singers.

“Yes, it’s going to be fun performing together since all of us have a very different genre and to merge our different styles in one song or performance is going to be fun,” he said.

Sharing his experience on working on this anthem, Aashir shared that he is also nervous as he is performing iconic songs.

“Obviously, there is some nervousness attached to the performance, at least for me. Our milli naghmas are definitely very iconic and people have been listening to them for years and years. So, we really need to get it right. I’m hoping that people will like it,” he concluded.