Pakistan top singer Rahim Shah
Rahim Shah was born on December 12th, 1975 in Karachi. He is a leading Pakistani pop singer. He started from Peshawar, NWFP, and is currently based in Karachi, Pakistan. He sings in Pashto, Urdu and Punjabi.
Early years and personal life
Rahim Shah was born in Karachi where he was cultured and educated yet his ancestry origin is from Swat which has been the reason for the dearth of apparent Pashto vision in his life. Rahim Shah is multi-lingual in fluent Pashto, Urdu and Punjabi. Swat is his ancestral home, he speaks his ethnic language Pashto fluently.
Rahim Shah’s solo career began in the late 1990s with lots of hits to his credit from the onset, to mention the song ‘GHUM’ which broke popularity records. ‘GHUM’ isn’t Rahim Shah’s personal composition; it is an English folk song or tappa, sung by an anonymous singer. Haroon Bacha a well-known Pashtun singer also sang ‘GHUM’, but it was Rahim Shah who made the song a hit because he translated the ‘tappa’ into Urdu and gave the song his own arrangement. In short span of time Rahim Shah has shown his singing talent beyond belief. He sang ‘GHUM’ under the supervision of ‘Salman Alvin’ and recorded his album working extremely hard on making it different to others. The song turned out to be a huge hit and was highly appreciated by the people.Rahim don’t have any problems in his life may be in feacture. Rahim Shah has been dancing over the recent plagiarism of his song by the Indian singer Altaf Raja who copied Rahim Shah’s version of the song ‘GHUM’ and through that Altaf Raja gained popularity on satellite channels.
Music
His Pashto album ‘PEERA’ became an instant hit after its release. Another album called ‘SABARO’ had success with the tracks ‘TAP TAP’ and ‘PAYAL’, in the same year he released another Pashto album titled ‘MEDDA MEDDA’. After taking a short time of reflection he returned back to work bringing another hit with the song ‘CHANNA’. He also worked on three videos that were ‘PRIYA’ and ‘RANG LAI MEHNDI’ directed by Sarwar whereas Suhail Javed directed his third video ‘TERE ISHQ NE’. Rahim Shah’s ultimate favourite song has to be ‘JHOOLA’ which he wrote and sang to his mother whom he dearly loves.
Rahim Shah said once and the only difference he saw between his first album and the album is the current “order music.” Rahim Shah now feels he is ready to meet the initial desire to become a singer in the operation, and will put him on the right track according to the proven successes. And Abdul Rahim Shah stressed that there are very few people who produce professional music and look forward to making the music business and hopes an instant hit with the song make this a very common practice. He thought it of listeners / s, which dictates whether the melody is polpular or hated. Even if the song becomes a commercial hit very short lived, it’s just good melodies that survive time and continue to be loved for generations. In Urdu (the main song, Sonata tha main interested Gaya is the main or Gata Jana Tha Ka or shoke hogaya songs)
His new ‘12 track’ album has taken a year to produce and will be released by the help of FIRE RECORDS (GEO TV). Rahim Shah has placed a real touch to his arrangements and used authentic music in the songs. The album contains music from three genres: film based music, folk music and pop music. Currently he has also been working on a video with professional focus on high budget videos with visual and marketing aids, which are an essential requirement within today’s music industry. Rahim Shah is known to have said, “There is no doubt that we (Pakistani’s) have got very good music but they (Indians) have a very good market.
Audience in India
Rahim Shah attracted the attention of an Indian audience with his song “Pehli Tu Kabhi Kabhi Gham tha”, a tune which was sung in Pashto by renowned Pashto singer Haroon Bacha. This was later re-copied by Indian singer Altaf Raja. Rahim Shah still has somewhat of a fan base in India.
Interests
Rahim Shah’s favourite singers are Salman Alvi, Nayyara Noor, Sonu Niigam and Asha. He has interest in welfare work but doesn’t like to ask for donations. If GOD wills then Rahim Shah would carry out the welfare project with money from his own pocket. He said about his short hair, “it’s better a singer is remembered for his cheerful sweet sounding vocals than his long hair”.
Discography
Albums
His albums are as follows:
* Ghum – debut (1999)
* Saba Ru (2001)
* Laila
* Peera
* Channa (2003)
* Pyar Nahin Milta (2004)
* Yarana (2005)
* Chercha (2007)
* Maa’ma Dey (September 2009)
Singles
* Bewafa
* Danga Datha
* Ghum
* Chhum Chhum
* Channa
* Jhula
* Payal
* Ghanam rangi
* Mama Dey (2009)
Interview
Rahim Shah’s ninth album has a few misses, but mostly what could be the makings of hits. Maa’ma Dey marches to its own dhol, harmonium and shehnai.
To be absolutely honest; I have always been partial to Rahim Shah, from the time he sang the beseeching “Ghum” in 2001 to the last video of his I saw on TV: the catchy pop ditty “Khanum Rangi”. Rahim Shah does not go overboard experimenting with his music; be it the genre or the message he tries to put across to his listeners. But the steadiness with which he has been building his music towards commercial viability is sincere; and that is what is so appealing about both this artist and his work. Rahim Shah”s latest album Maa”ma Dey (which if I am counting correctly is his ninth) features songs in both Pashto and Urdu, a break from the neatness with which he split his previous eight albums into four Urdu and four Pashto albums. Maa”ma Dey plays not just with the idea of mixing a few languages into one mix, but also the different musical styles Rahim Shah”s official website says he is most interested in: film, folk and pop.
Partial However, it is with some trepidation that I dive into the Shah “s most recent child, and water,” What Dey. The only thing I must say right off the bat is this: I have listened to 11 of 13 tracks on this album in one sitting easy. Without being disturbed by this kind of music one can find a very terrible to bear, or uncomfortable to the ear, water, “What Day is easy to hear the music through and through. The kind that can drive to without getting too distracted by, or surf the net while it plays in the background. kind of like Judy Kidd singing blends of different “day and night” in you through your radio only in Urdu, Punjabi and Pashto. track album title should be the most satisfying in my opinion, “water” What is day “, and the song I had in Assalamualekum. It opens with some rap music is understood in English and Rahim Shah voice S “, as he greets his audience with gratifying Rahim Shah NA Karachay da. And layers above this with the sound of applause light, as if the people in the studio with this Pathan pop sensation couldn” t help but throw more than a musical miracle unfolding in front of them. Very close to the applause become part of the dhol and harmonium, which dominate the arrangement, “Water” Day “.
The song itself is about a maama (maternal uncle) getting married and his nephews wishing him health, wealth and happiness. And though I am not familiar with the Pashto language at all and in fact had to convince the only Pashto-speaking man I know to even understand the little bit I could – I hold my first opinion of “Maa”ma Dey” as the truest one; it is a song that will engage you with its tune, which belongs to the family of music you hear at mehndis and just cannot shake out of your system for a while. Which is exactly why the sultry sounds of a heavy orchestra in the next track “Boondh” seem oppressive. Even the opening words Mit gaye hum, sar-e-bazaar mein/ Lut gaye hum, sar-e-bazaar mein, carry strains of serious heartache within them. Though very much in the vein of “Ghum”, somehow “Boondh” doesn”t strike that certain chord, the one that makes you like songs, regardless of their critical worth. At least not with myself, Mein boondh boondh hua aise hi jalne ko/ Taras raha tha mein tu tum se hi milney ko, might be more someone else”s cup of tea perhaps. The whole composition is very dramatic though; very filmi, if I may. And I can”t help but think that with a better producer, Rahim Shah can completely harness and tame this flair for passionate ballads that he seems to have and is keen on.
Next up is “Orh Dey.” It has this very techno, very confused sound to it. The kind you associate with disco lights on wagons, which were a dying breed of public transport in the “80s. “Orh,” in Pashto means fire, and Rahim Shah is singing about being surrounded by flames. The song is rather in the same category as “Boondh,” though with a more dizzying beat.
“Aansoo” is a complete 180 from “Orh Dey”. Although by now I think I am on the road to understanding Rahim Shah”s aspirations as a singer a little more. He loves the folksy stuff, but I think he believes his true future lies in playback singing. “Aansoo” opens with an unidentified woman humming along to soft piano. The song is a sad one. Aansoowon se mere dil ko kyun bhar dia?/ Mera sub jal gaya/ Tu ne kya kar diya, laments Rahim Shah, as the lady I wish he had named on his album credits hums away a little shrilly in the background. “Aansoo” takes me way back into the “90s Bollywood in the early “90s to be precise. Remember all those films where Kumar Sanu and Alka Yagnik would be surprise guests at a party who would sing a duet? And all the while that they would sing, the hero would stare morosely at the heroine, who was with the guy we know she should so not end up with. The point being, Rahim Shah probably grew up watching a lot of those films, and one cannot say the practice was one that went to waste.
Channa Ve Channa” sounds irritatingly familiar. So of course I Youtube it right away. Yep, there it is, in its Pakistani Pop and Bollywood avatar. Both videos make me half-cry/ half-laugh. The Bollywood version has a pork-bellied Jimmy Shergill lounging about on a chaise in the ocean while some dusky lady dances around him. The local version is the one that had me completely flummoxed in the year “07, when I saw Aaminah Haq preen away as a photographer”s heart”s desire in the video. I am sad to report that the new album version cannot hold a remixed candle to the solid beats of the “Channa” of yore.
“Janjh” is a Punjabi number, alive with the sound of shehnai, which one supposes is befitting as Rahim Shah is singing about a baraat (wedding party). The music veers between an Arabic sounding harmonica, piercing shehnai, what sounds like a single appearance of electric guitar, and once again, rap. Why Rahim Shah? You have a lovely voice and your music might not be to a lot of people”s taste, but to your fans, you are the best thing since compact discs. don”t think you need to rely on gimmicky English bits to make your songs more popular. The rap trend continues in “Jiya Jiya”; a pleasant enough romantic tune, upbeat but interspersed with a woman singing in English, some Hindi pop style English rap and a voice that sounds like Amitabh Bachchan talking through the song.
Maa”ma Dey springs with an enthusiastic bang but ends slightly half-heartedly. Rahim Shah gets a bit preachy on “Hum Aik Hain”, which begins with verses from Iqbal”s poem “Lab pe aati hai”. Then it sort of goes into the question Kya hum aik hain? If it sounded like Rahim Shah was “feeling” the song as much as one would say he was “Maa”ma Dey” or even “Jiya Jiya”, it might have been a success; but “Hum Aik Hain” is a little flat. “Tanhai”, the last track on the album is in the tradition of “Ghum”, a heartbroken, pleading sort of song.
Which brings me to the best bit “Ghum” is reworked and re-sung in intermittent Pashto and Urdu and while the result isn”t the raw emotion of the original; its nice to hear it nonetheless. Maybe just once. Maa”ma Dey… is kind of heavy on the whole techno thing. Rahim Shah clearly loves what he does and perhaps should opt for someone a little more music savvy to produce his next album. Perhaps someone like Rohail Hyatt, who lent Rahat Fateh Ali Khan”s, tunes in Charkha delicate layer upon layer of sound. An effect that most brought out RFAK”s strong vocals and mostly folk compositions, without making either sound cheesy or compromised.
