Renowned Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik has taken to social media to launch his very own virtual talk show like many others in this pandemic outbreak, and as his first guest, Shoaib invited none other than Atif Aslam.
Atif, who is easily one of the most recognisable voices in South Asia is notably private but shed his inhibitions for this special episode for his decade-old pal Shoaib. And, he had a lot of little candid confessions in store! He even sang a song with a mask on, in a melodious feminine voice.
When asked about how he feels about his patriotism being questioned because he lends his voice to Bollywood songs, Atif said, “I believe we haven’t given many artistes their due credit.” He went on to explain, “Artistes who’ve lit up Pakistan’s name, propagated it to the world when people didn’t know what Pakistan was, like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sahab did a lot of work.”
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“Even now, if you talk about the recognition of an artiste – in our passport, there is a space where you specify your profession and around 4-5 years back I noticed that there was an option for choosing ‘beggar’ but not a ‘musician’ or ‘artist’,” he added.
He then reiterated how we, as a nation, need to appreciate “our art, our culture, and we need to celebrate our sportsmen, musicians, artists.”
He then jumped to talking about people questioning him and said, “When you don’t like something about someone or when you start envying them, you start pulling their leg in whatever way you can, without knowing any truth.”
