Bollywood icon Zeenat Aman recently celebrated 44 years of the film ‘Qurbani’, taking to Instagram to remember her special connection with the late Pakistani pop star Nazia Hassan.
In a heartfelt post, Aman shared how she met Nazia and her brother Zoheb Hassan, a meeting that changed their careers forever.
It all started one evening in London when Aman, tired from a day of shooting, was approached by a polite Pakistani family. Despite her exhaustion, she decided to meet them in her hotel suite.
“There was a family of three waiting for me in the lobby of my London hotel, but I was not keen to make small talk with fans. I had just wrapped a day of shoot, and all I wanted was silence, a hot shower, and my bed,” Aman recalled.
“Yet my convent school education would not allow me to be rude. So I smiled sweetly and took a seat with my thoughts wandering to the luxurious suite that awaited me just a few floors above,” she added.
“The lady was elegant. Her name was Muniza. And with her were her two teenage children. A quiet girl named Nazia and a boy named Zoheb. I hadn’t planned to entertain them for long but soon found myself drawn into deep dialogue with Muniza. They were a charming and cultured family of Pakistani origin, and to my surprise I found myself inviting them to join me in my suite. That night I learned that Nazia and Zoheb were pursuing music, and I even enjoyed a brief demo of young Nazia’s pipes,” revealed the acting legend.
Aman introduced Nazia to actor-director Feroz Khan during the making of ‘Qurbani’. Impressed by Nazia’s voice, Khan had her record the iconic song ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ with music producer Biddu. The song became a huge hit and defined disco music in South Asia.
Aman admired Nazia’s talent and contribution to the film, saying, “To me, there is only one breakthrough performance in the film, and that’s Nazia’s.” She acknowledged how Nazia shaped Indian and Pakistani music culture.
The great singer passed away in 2000 at a shockingly young age after an intense battle with cancer, leaving a void in the hearts of her fans and admirers, including Aman who remembers her as a “shooting star who blazed hot, bright, and fast.” Despite her short career, Nazia’s music legacy lives on with hits like ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’, ‘Boom Boom’, and ‘Disco Deewane’.
In Aman’s words, “The song [‘Aap Jaise Koi’] belongs entirely to that young Pakistani girl who revolutionized how we South Asians disco.”
