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00:00Hi everyone, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan. I'm the entertainment editor Gulf News. Today,
00:10it's my pleasure and privilege to interview Atif Aslam, who is one of the biggest singers
00:15who helped us get through every heartbreak I can think of. His songs, his romantic ballads
00:20have taught people how to love and perhaps how to handle a breakup by just crying into
00:25our pillows through his songs. Is that your legacy, sir? You have to tell me. And Atif,
00:29be very, very honest. How many people say we got through a heartbreak just because of
00:33your romantic songs? Every now and then people come and tell me that you've really helped
00:39us out going through that. And not just that, they say that you've really helped us making
00:45new friends and new beloveds and all that. It's always overwhelming. But I'm also very
00:54confused. How did that happen? Because my voice is, when I hear it, I don't think that
01:05way. I think about technical stuff that, hey, am I pitch corrected, whatever, what's going
01:10on and all of that. But when I hear it, I don't hear the emotion. I don't feel the emotion.
01:19Right. Because I listen to my voice every day. But when people tell it to me, I think
01:24it becomes very overwhelming and powerful and very sweet. Right. And Atif, what I love
01:29about it is tomorrow you're performing at Global Village. Now, concerts in general are
01:34the most expensive things that you can think for three hours, right? You made it accessible
01:38for less than $10 or 25 dirhams. People get to watch you live at Global Village, which is
01:43the most, I would say the most accessible form of entertainment we have today in Dubai, which
01:48I think, you know, don't you think you're paying it back in some ways? Like you could easily
01:53have a far more expensive ticketed event. So why Global Village? And you performed there
01:58quite a few times. That's right. Because I personally think that it becomes a festival as of the rest
02:06of the performances. Every performance, every arena has a speciality. And you know, for example,
02:13Google Arena offers like a limited amount of people. And it's very exclusive as well.
02:20You feel like a rock star. That's right. Right. But you know, I enjoy, I personally enjoy more masses
02:27because their role is something that feeds me. And when while you're performing, when they start
02:35singing my songs, it's like a different aura altogether. Really? Yes, absolutely. Provided that,
02:41you know, the management and the people are very fine and all of that. But it's always been a pleasure
02:47performing at the Global Village. Right. Because you get to see all sorts of people,
02:53like from different countries, I get to see from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Malaysia,
03:00Indonesia, Philippines, and Pakistan. So you know, it's like, it's just overwhelming.
03:04You know, what I love is some people have no clue who is the performer. Okay, like let's say,
03:08Shah Rukh Khan is there. Who is he? And it's so funny explaining to them. And they just say,
03:13it's also in a weird way, it bridges, kind of like, if there was a star I was not aware of,
03:19and he's on stage, I would be quite kicked I saw somebody. You know what I mean?
03:22Absolutely. In a weird way, it kind of is paying it back. And for that matter, I think the ticket
03:26price doesn't matter. And like how many times will, you know, people from my country who is a
03:34working class over here and they, you know, they're working over here, they don't get enough time for
03:39it. And they don't have enough money for it as well. For sure. But I think they're my fans as well.
03:45And they deserve that performance and they deserve that full set as well. Right. Atif, I think one of your
03:51biggest legacies is your fan base, my God, we'd do anything about you. You are an SEO magnet,
03:56which is search engine optimization, just letting you know, that's what we are all judged by. I didn't
04:01know about that. Yes, we're an SEO magnet, sir. And you should be proud of it. Anything about Atif
04:06Asala, performing at Global Village, it takes off to me. And for you for that, we are forever grateful.
04:11But you need to tell me, like, do you think fans are your biggest strength?
04:15Absolutely. I mean, an artist is nothing without fans. I mean, if they love you, they give you so
04:24much energy where you create new stuff. But I think when an artist is so busy in creating stuff and
04:33performing for them and getting busy and all of that, an artist somehow, somehow loses the connection
04:39between the fans and himself. For sure. I'm very thankful and very honored that whenever I communicate
04:50with them, they respond and they're waiting for something to sort of look up to. And they're like,
04:57aapne yeh kiata na aapkoi aada hai. Like for example, I met these kids in Istanbul, at the Istanbul airport.
05:04Yes. And they were some, they were at some trip
05:09from their school. There were about a bunch of 10, 15 people. And you know, they said that,
05:14why don't, why didn't you come to our school? You went to some other school and you surprised them.
05:18Why didn't you surprise us? Right. And I was like, wow,
05:22that's awesome. I mean, they're watching this stuff. They're loving it. And you know,
05:26they expect me to be in their schools as well, which is, which is beautiful. And that's how I feel
05:31the connection. Right. I think, but you know, today the world is changing. There's AI that has come in.
05:36You could make them write, AI could write a song so quickly as opposed to where you started off with
05:41Jant. Yeah. Where you were like, even songwriting was a process, right? Yeah. And you had to tune it.
05:46Now in a snap of a button, the whole thing could be, how are you as artists, you know,
05:53getting used to it for me as a journalist, I'm like, my God, do we, I feel a bit obsolete at some
05:58point because they do it faster than you. Right. As an artist, how do you view AI? And it's
06:03honestly speaking, I love it. It gives you a lot of ideas as well. Yes. But at the same time,
06:10I think a human brain can paint a song very differently. You still believe that? Of
06:19course. Creativity doesn't, I mean, that's human emotions. I think the AI will give you like five
06:25or six options, but in terms of the lyrics, I don't think it's still that advanced where, you know,
06:30it can tell me something about Urdu or like language wise and all of that. I think we can,
06:38there's a lot more room for that. Right. But when, when you were thinking in terms of
06:46um, painting a scenario and writing it into words that I think AI can't do. Yeah, I can't do. No,
06:54I can't. Done? Yeah. Yeah. Atif, I love the fact that you have managed to reinvent as well. Like,
07:01it's not easy to be, like I said, your greater romantic ballads, but you have done other stuff
07:06as well. How difficult is it to reinvent the wheel? Because people expect you to sing a certain kind
07:12of songs. Well, to be honest, if you, um, when you're connected with the fans, I think you have like a,
07:19uh, you, uh, take a certain direction. Uh, you get to know what they want and they're two different
07:27things. If you want to create music for yourself or for the fans. So you've given something to them
07:32over the years that they wanted, but now as an artist, you feel responsible that, okay, fine.
07:39Where's your artist? Where's your art? So you create what you want to create. Right. And, uh,
07:45that's how it continues. And that's how you reinvent and you mix both. Right. And, uh,
07:50Atif, what kind of artistic phase are you in right now? If you had to sum it up,
07:54I could say I'm chasing the numbers. As a journalist, I'm giving you, I want numbers. That's it.
08:00Whether the quality is great. I'm not so sure. Have I done better interviews? Of course I have.
08:06But right now I'm chasing, what phase are you in as a, in your career? I think I've, uh,
08:10uh, have, uh, really, uh, uh, how would I say? Let me just put it in the right way.
08:20I really kept my personality away from fans. They did not see what they see now because they've never
08:27seen the funniest side of this guy. They always thought that he's a, he's some serious kind of a
08:32guy and there's some, uh, mystery, mystery around this guy. But having said that, and you know,
08:39he's making serious songs and he's creating romantic songs. There must be something,
08:45must be something about him, which we do not know. But now I want to be more connected. I see.
08:51And now after I'm creating those reels and, you know, yes, I watch it. I feel, oh my God,
09:00you're more humane than I thought. There you go. So I, you know, I just want to tell them that I'm
09:04as normal as you know, everybody and just like a guy next door. Right. And there was this one
09:09particular, I think, uh, I was just listening to it, uh, from Silsila, I think. Was it Silsila?
09:16Yes. You sang it. And I was like, man, you're good. You know what I mean? It just instantly connects
09:22you to your fans. It shows you your goofier side. Right, right, right. But social media is also a
09:27tough one where they can treat you differently. Right. They troll you. How do you take the love
09:32and the hate? Well, I, I think when they start calling you a legend, I love it. They're not trolling
09:39you. That's fact. Well, I don't think so, but I think there's a long way to go.
09:47When they start calling you a legend, um, and they think that there's a, you know, there's a legacy.
09:52I'm like, wait a minute. I have not done enough yet. I have to do a lot of more stuff to be called
09:58a legend. And, um, um, when people troll, um, I, I always, uh, tell it to myself that where were these
10:09people when you created magic all these times? Did they write about you? Did, were they there?
10:15They did not appreciate you. If they were like a fan and they were like, oh man, I'm the biggest
10:22fan. And you know, I wanted to do this and I, you know, um, um, uh, atif has done something
10:28unbelievable and amazing. They were never there.
10:31So you don't take fame too seriously? That's what I'm saying. Like for example,
10:35if I created a very big hit and I'm giving like constant 10 hits, for example, if I'm creating
10:40hits and I've given like the constant hits. Yes.
10:43So, so the same people never wrote about that. Fair enough. So you're very grounded that way.
10:49They never like, they didn't appreciate. So why take them serious when they're trolling you?
10:54Right. Right.
10:55Right. They were never there. They never were in my life. That's good.
11:01So it doesn't matter.
11:02No, Adiv, I remember meeting you in your twenties. You had a guitar strapped to you. You were serenading.
11:07I think you were in a, you know, what do you say? A far more like artistic face in terms of,
11:13you know, you wanted to show this is what I created. And I remember that part. What would
11:17you tell that 20 year old self? I feel at that point, you were very easy. You wanted to prove.
11:22There was that fire as well. And after some time you realize, okay, I do things at my pace.
11:27Yeah.
11:27When did, when did that switch happen?
11:29Well, the thing is that the country where I come from, it's, it's not easy to be an artist.
11:38It's not easy to be, to, uh, to become this big. True. I would, uh, you know, I don't want to say a challenge
11:49is the wrong word. I would really appreciate if all, yeah. Right. Do you listen to your own, uh,
11:57music when, uh, you're heartbroken? Now you're married with three kids, but still.
12:02It's been 12 years. I am not heartbroken. Thankfully. It never happens. And you guys are
12:08like one sturdy unit. Love listening to you. And there will be plenty of other people who love
12:13your songs and who depend on you for heartbreak. Like, I think it's Taylor Swift who said that if
12:18there was no heartbreak, I think I would have gone out of business a long time ago. Absolutely.
12:23Is that your biggest currency? Break hearts. I'm there for you. I'm your swipe right.
12:28Um, yes, but you know, people have called me like the, this love, romantic, chocolate,
12:39like whatever you call the chocolate hero. That he is the awesome playback singer for the,
12:46for the chocolate heroes and all of that. But, um, I don't think it's just breakup. I think, uh,
12:54people relate and associate the songs with, uh, very different scenarios as well that, you know,
13:00they're friends that we were together and we are not there anymore. There were memories that,
13:04you know, we shared, you know, we think of those. And some of the best times that we had while
13:10listening to the Kavali, we're connected spiritually and transported. So all sorts of comments that I,
13:16that I receive. And I'm very, uh, thankful to all my fans that they listened to it so carefully and
13:22we look forward to it. Thank you so much for entertaining us with one great song at a time.
13:27Trust me when I tell you most heartbreaks have become easier. Thanks to your love.