Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 6, 2019)

She would have turned 54 on April 3 had death not snatched her away 19 years ago, but for many Nazia Hassan is still a star. “Jab Bhi Miltay Hain Hum Aur Tum, Aankhon Aankhon Main Hotay Hain Gum, Dil Bolay Boom Boom, Haan, Boom Boom ” echoes in the collective consciousness of those who grew up in the ’80s when the brother-sister duo of Nazia and Zoheb made us disco deewane. “We were very young then, barely into our teens, and had no idea what music we were creating. We were just being ourselves, growing up in London, the East-West fusion happened naturally and caught the attention of (composer) Biddu,” Zoheb reminisces from London.

The trio’s 1981 Disco Deewane was the best-selling Asian pop album, charting in 14 countries worldwide. “We had recorded eight songs but HMV wanted one more, a title track with the word ‘disco’ in it. While brainstorming, the words ‘disco deewane’ came up and Biddu asked, ‘What’s deewane?’ When told it translated as ‘crazy’ he said, ‘Let’s go with it!’ I suggested the ‘ah ha’ which became an integral part of the song,” he recounts. A revamped version, titled ‘The Disco Song’, was used in the 2012 campus romance, Student Of The Year.

While Biddu has become synonymous with Nazia and Zoheb, not many are aware that Bappi Lahiri who would meet them whenever he was in London, coaxed the siblings to fly to Mumbai towards the end of ’85, after Nazia’s sensational debut in Feroz Khan’s Qurbani with “Aap Jaisa Koi”, and during their week-long stay, recorded “Main Aaya Tere Liye” with them for Pahlaj Nihalani’s Ilzaam (right, above). “Nazia had a great voice and a distinctive style, the song was created specially for her. They came around 7 pm and by 11 pm we were done. It was filmed on Anita Raaj and Govinda became very popular but they never visited again. She was such a pyaari bachchi with such a beautiful voice,” sighs Pahlaj.

Zoheb informs that living in UK, they were used to working in western studios with multi-tracking systems and were astounded when told the song would be recorded in one go with a live orchestra. “We had never seen anything like this before but everyone was so well-coordinated and I was thrilled to be told I was giving the playback for Govinda, the hottest actor of the time,” he reminisces.

Soon after, his sister nervously told him that that she would be singing with the legendary Kishore Kumar (right) and was clearly rattled. Zoheb reassured her that she would fine and accompanied her to the studio for the recording of “No Entry” (left; above) for Main Balwaan. “Kishore Kumar had such an amazing voice, so much strength, clarity and control,” he raves. Bappida adds that his Kishore mama who usually sang with Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle at the time, was astounded when introduced to Nazia. “Such a young girl and so famous,” he marveled and was very encouraging, also collaborating with her on “Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

The brother-sister duo recorded one last song, “Aap Ka Shukriya” for the Shatrughan Sinha, Poonam Dhillon starrer Saaya with Bappida before returning home. “We were young kids from Wimbledon, Nazia, the star, and I her sidekick, yet India showered so much love and appreciation on us, shukriya,” says an emotional Zoheb who still can’t believe how stardom dawned on them.

Feroz Khan was filming Qurbani when he bumped into them in London. “Who does this guitar belong to?” he asked. Zoheb (left) picked it up and started strumming while Nazia sang. And suddenly, the actor-filmmaker from India was saying this was the voice he was looking for and asking their parents if Nazia could sing for his film. “We had exams and they were reluctant but he was able to persuade them. We went to the studio for the first time, Nazia recorded 'Aap Jaisa Koi', it was done in an hour, we returned home and forgot all about it. Then, the film released, the song and Nazia were a sensation. I guess good things happen unexpectedly, just like this,” he muses.

Bappida informs me that they were working on an album when she fell ill and passed away. “Except for one song, 'Dil Ki Lagi', it remained unreleased. Nazia was a lovely girl, she went away too soon,” he trails off even as words of her first song resonate within me, “Aap Jaisa Koi Mere Zindagi Mein Aaye, To Baat Ban Jaaye, Baat Ban Jaaye.”

Nazia Hassan with brother Zoheb; Zeenat Aman grooving to ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ in Qurbani

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 5, 2018)

I didn’t need a Google doodle to remind me of Nazia Hassan on April 3 on what would have been her 53rd birthday. The sweet, shy 15-year-old school-going singer had become a household name in 1980 with the Qurbani chartbuster, “Aap Jaisa Koi” and not just because a sexy Zeenat Aman was crooning it in a night club on screen. There was something about this teenager from across the border, who grew up in London and exploded in Bollywood with the Biddu composition in Feroz Khan’s action-drama, that made her a star, albeit a reluctant one.

It was a sensational debut for the young singer and I was surprised to learn from her brother Zoheb, who later became her singing partner, that it almost didn’t happen. “Nazia didn’t really want to sing and had to be persuaded by Feroz Khan to show up at the recording studio where the track Biddu had composed in a rush was played for us and we realised that it was a knockoff of the popular Boney M hit, 'Rasputin'. We were already writing, composing and singing our own music and she didn’t want to be a part of anything that wasn’t original. Biddu stomped out in anger and Feroz Khan sighing over his decision to go against the golden rule to never work with animals and kids, asked Nazia why she was blowing her big chance,” reminisces Zoheb, adding that his sister stuck to her stand despite the filmmaker’s pleas.

Eventually, Biddu returned to the studio and Feroz took him aside, trying to placate him. After a while, the composer walked up to them and asked to listen to their music. Nazia sang, an adolescent Zoheb whose voice was breaking played the guitar. Biddu was impressed. “He told a worried Feroz Khan who didn’t want to delay his film, that between us we would come up with something new and the rest, as they say, is history,” he laughs across the wire from London, going on to add that the filmmaker had been prepared to be diplomatic when “Aap Jaisa Koi” was played for him, but like everyone else he was also bowled over. Nazia was the first Pakistani to take home Filmfare’s Black Lady, the youngest recipient in the best playback (female) category.

A year later, the siblings collaborated with Biddu on their first album, Disco Deewane, which was on the charts in 14 countries to become the best-selling Asian pop record at the time. Over the next decade, the duo released four more albums — Boom Boom, Young Tarang, Hotline and Camera Camera (Nazia’s last solo album) in 1992. “We were very young, still in school, and our parents were determined for us to acquire a degree first before pursuing a career in music. So, we were only allowed to record during summer holidays,” Zoheb points out.

He adds that he also had to turn down all the movie offers he was flooded with at 17 from big filmmakers like Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra and Gul Anand because his parents did not want him to move to Mumbai. “Nazia also got her share of movie offers. Raj baba (Raj Kapoor) was really close to our family and for years he tried to coax a nod out of Nazia for his dream project Henna but she was not interested in acting,” he reveals. The cross-border love story was eventually made by Randhir Kapoor after his father’s death with Pakistani actress Zeba Bakhtiar playing the role RK had in mind for Nazia. Meanwhile, Nazia went on to get a degree in law while Zoheb graduated in economics and financial management.

The turning point in their life came when Nazia was diagnosed with cancer. Zoheb had to record their last album alone even though they had planned plenty of duets because his sister was unwell and undergoing chemotherapy. “She knew she was dying but remained positive, telling me we would go on a tour together. That album, titled Signature, remains special because those were our last months together and she remained a fighter till the end, wanting the doctor to intensify the chemo so she could spend more time with her son, even though she was warned that her frail body might not be able to take it. She wanted to kill the disease and not vice versa,” he says emotionally, flashbacking to when they had just moved to UK and were staying with their grandmother. On the way to school, they would be chased by a gang of students led by a punk of a girl who, for him, was a scary figure with her cut-offs, nosering and denim jacket. “But Nazia was fearless and one day walked up to the older girl, telling her to fight her one-on-one. She beat the girl up, determined to protect me, till the girl ran away and never bothered us again,” he says proudly.

Nazia left the world on August 13, 2000, at the age of 35. Now, Zoheb plans to bring her story to the screen. He has offers from seven companies who want to roll with the biopic. His mother’s illness put the brakes on the project for a few months but now that she is home, he plans to resume work.

He has two daughters, Allyana and Mia, who are 16 and 14, while Nazia has left behind a son, Arez. Will any of them feature in the film? “Arez is into sports. My daughters are the ones interested in music and are working on an album presently. We need established actors for Nazia’s story who can bring the agony, ecstasy and the music that was her life to the screen,” he asserts.

Pakistani musician Zoheb Hassan talks about his musical journey in India with his sister, the legendary singer Nazia whose 51st birth anniversary falls on April 3
Priya Sugathan (BOMBAY TIMES; April 1, 2016)

Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; March 23, 2016)


Alia Bhatt is gearing up for the release of her sixth film but she’s never been a part of any film inspired from a real-life person. Ask her about who she wants to play on screen and there’s an immediate response. “I think a biopic on Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan would be great,” Alia quips. And it sounds perfect for her. Why? “After all, I also love singing and her life story is amazing,” she adds.

Alia also reveals that she’s already done her homework on Nazia’s life. “She was really young and we lost her at a very early age. She has an interesting life story which can make for a good film on celluloid. So, in that sense, yes this would be one biopic I would love to do,” she reasons. Incidentally, Alia’s debut film Student Of The Year had a Reprise version of Nazia’s popular number. And Alia knows about it. “One of her first songs was there in my first film Disco Deewane. I’ve heard a lot about her recently. It’s interesting how she did this particular song and it came into play.”

So will it be Nazia for Alia? It might just. But remember, you read it here first!

The film will feature some of Nazia's unreleased vocals
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 11, 2016)

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 20, 2015)

Former VJ and Miss India 2007, Sarah-Jane Dias plays a free-spirited singer, Amira, in Mozez Singh's musical drama Zubaan, also featuring Vicky Kaushal. Recently, the actress shot a pop number titled Music is my art, music is my soul for it.

In order to reproduce the desired performance for the song, Sarah was asked to watch videos of Jennifer Lopez crooning Crazy in love and Dance again, and also listen to the voice of late Pakistani pop singer Nazia Hassan, who had released the hit album Disco Deewane. "I'm a complete JLo fan so I knew had to look as chic as the Hollywood sensation. My brief was to mix together Jennifer's sexiness with the effervescent disco feel of Nazia Hassan. It was so much fun," Sarah told Mirror.

The film portrays the journey of a Punjabi munda, who travels from Chandigarh to Delhi. "He needs direction and my character, Amira helps him find himself. The musical circle is complete when he finally returns home to Chandigarh," she reveals. Sarah, who is a singer herself, hopes to kick off her music career by the end of the year.