Atif Aslam has been given a new lease on stardom with his spiritual song for Ramadan. He talks to Instep about the new song and falling over at concerts.
Instep: One minute it’s Coke Studio and the next you’re in a Ramadan advertisement with Dawud Wharnsby. From rock to religious anthems, how do you balance the two very different genres without shaking up a doodh soda?
Atif Aslam: I am a Muslim and I feel I don’t have to wear the shalwar kameez or fold my trousers high to prove that. This is as much part of me as my pop star image. For me religion is primarily about peace and having compassion for other people.
No one could’ve foreseen Michael Jackson’s death. As the new Coke Studio episode hit airwaves last Sunday, one heard Atif belt ‘Billie Jean’ while performing his own composition of ‘Wasta Pyar Da’. When Atif was recording this song, it was in March earlier this year and Michael Jackson was still alive. Three months later as the song went on air, Michael Jackson is no longer with us.