"I love the song and have brought some of myself to it," says Zayn Malik
British heartthrob Zayn Malik, who is known to the world for his melodious vocals in English, has now tested his singing mettle by crooning an Urdu language love song — and apparently, the fans can’t get enough of it.
Collaborating with the Pakistani band “Aur”, Zayn features in the remake of their popular hit “Tu Hai Kahan” which has more than 95 million views on YouTube.
However, the remake too, has received significant praise from fans as the song has garnered more than 3.5 million views on the video-sharing platform.
Expressing his views on his experience of singing Urdu lyrics, the 31-year-old — a former member of the popular boy band One Direction — told BBC in an interview that he loved the song and hoped that fans would love the collaboration after he brought some of himself to the rendition.
This is not the first time Zayn has showcased his vocals in Urdu, as the British singer — who rose to fame after his music career kicked off via One Direction following his appearance on the British TV music competition “The X Factor” in 2010 — previously included Urdu lyrics in his track “Tightrope”, from his 2021 album “Nobody is Listening”.
The joint effort can’t be named unforeseen as the English artist — who was brought up in Bradford — has Pakistani roots as his dad moved to the UK from the South Asian country.
This is the way the fans responded to Zayn’s cooperation with the Pakistani band.
“This is an incredible signal by Zayn Malik by teaming up with these young people and making their tune considerably more well known than it was […] Zayn joint effort gave it those additional wings and wind to it,” remarked a fan.
Meanwhile, another termed the song a “masterpiece” and thanked the British artist for encouraging the talented Pakistani artists.
“This collab is going to be my comfort song for a long time,” wrote an X user.
“Zayn stans will forever cherish this song. We truly appreciate you all for making this happen,” said another.
Whereas some fans were “shocked” to see how eloquently Zayn managed to sing Urdu lyrics.
“One of the best and unexpected collaborations ever […] truly a masterpiece,” a user commented on the song.
“Big love […] thanks for all the support,” Zayn said while reacting to the overwhelming praise from the fans.
The coordinated effort among Zayn and Aur — containing Ahad, Usama, and Raffey — mirrors the band’s liberal way to deal with music as it accepts that music has no limits, the embodiment of which is reflected in the melody.
Responding to the worldwide fame and overpowering responses from the fans, the band said they were taking Pakistani music to the world stage and “can hardly hang tight for the world to energy to their music”.
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