Farhan Saeed recalls singing altered rendition
Farhan Saeed Singer and actor Farhan Saeed, who was part of the band Jal, recently spoke about his experience performing in India. A peculiar anecdote revolved around him which suddenly worried the band members when they started covering Dil Dil Pakistan in Delhi.
In Brut India’s video, Farhan recalls the time he took a big risk by changing a local anthem for the Indian audience. “We have this song, you know, ‘Dil Dil Pakistan, Jaan Jaan Pakistan,'” he said. “Then one time we performed in Delhi and performed Aadat and the audience was almost 30,000 people. When you’re on that stage and the rush makes you do crazy things.”
The singer then highlighted the incident in question where the changed lyrics became a source of joy for the audience. “My band didn’t know what to do… So I started singing. It starts with ‘Aisi zameen, aur aasmaan’. He… So I just told them, “Don’t worry, I know. what I am doing. I do. So that’s how I started.” Continuing to reminisce, he said, “And then I went like Dil Dil Pakistan, Jaan Jaan Hindustan. And when I did, the whole audience went crazy. They started singing along with us and everything. That’s how it happened, and my band was like, “That was great, wow. What a great thing. Everyone was so happy. So it became a ritual for what we do.”
However, the ritual appeared to falter in Calcutta, where a misinterpreted pronunciation led to a crowd of about 25 people gathering and taking offense at the group’s rendition of the song. “So we went to Calcutta and did the same thing,” Saeed recalled. “We didn’t know in Calcutta that we probably… have this language, their first language is Bengali. So we didn’t know that they wouldn’t understand what we were saying. So when we said, ‘Dil Dil Pakistan, Jaan Jaan Hindustan,” he enjoyed the crowd. But 20 to 25 people gathered behind the stage and they really went wild.”
Saeed continued that they question why the small group gathered. – They thought we said: Dil Dil Pakistan, yes yes Hindustan. So it was pretty fun. And when they found out what we were really talking about, ‘Jaan Jaan Hindustan’, it was actually quite funny.” Saeed also spoke about the political divide between India and Pakistan affecting artists. “Art and sport must be left alone, they must not be politicized at all,” declared the singing sensation, who enjoys fame.
Published in EDP BLOGS on Jul 05,2023.
