Times Music announces the launch of the 2^nd video of Shafqat Amanat Ali’s latest album “Muh Dikhai”. The video is a mesmerizing musical and visual treat as it bringstogether the legendary actor par excellence Naseeruddin Shahand RockstarUstadShafqatAmanat Ali.

The video which is made on the song 'Dil Dharhaknay Ka Sabab' has a story behind it. In fact, it has a lot of interesting things linked to it. The ghazal itself has been written by celebrated Urdu poet Nasir Kazmi. A popular ghazal, Dil Dharhaknay Ka Sabab has been sung by many legends before. The reason Shafqat Amanat Ali chose this ghazal was that the poetry has always spoken to him. The lyrics have always had a special place in his heart. This particular composition that he has sung in the album has been composed by his legendary father and singer Ustad Amanat Ali Khan saheb. Though composed by the late legendary singer of Patiala Gharana, it was never recorded, which is what inspired his son the torchbearer of the Patiala gharana,Shafqat Amanat Ali to record this ghazal with his father's composition in his latest album "Muh Dikhai" released recently by Times Music. However, in his signature style which is unrivalled, Shafqat has re-created the composition by producing it with minimal music and orchestration with only the piano and cello and oboe as the instruments ornamenting the lyrics and the melody. The idea in doing this was to ensure the focus is not taken away from the lyrical beauty of the ghazal and the unique composition, both of which make it extremely beautiful and coupled with Shafqat soulful voice, it has a haunting and poignant quality. 

The video is yet another unique creation which has been kept minimal and simplistic and not been shot with a complicated story. Unlike most videos this focusses on the beauty of the music and the visuals. Featuring the legendary Bollywood actor Naseerudin Shah, the video itself is a visual delight with detailing given to the interaction between Shafqat and Naseersaheb, who feature in the video as they take the viewer through the beauty of the ghazal. Shot by Manu Anand, the DOP behind movies such as "Dum Lagaa Ke Haishaa" and the forthcoming Shah Rukh Khan starrer"Fan", the video captures the depth of the music and its timeless power. 

Shafqat who had always visualised the video with Naseeruddin Shah felt that the video needed a powerful actor who could convey the strength of such a ghazal with effortless acting and his meeting with the legendary actor at an airport last year inspired the idea behind this video and thereafter his heart was set on getting Naseer Saheb to act in it. Naseerudiin Shah, who is as gracious a human being as he is a powerful actor, took no time in coming on board and was most cooperative with the whole process. The actor who is a superstar in the film industry for over 4 decades agreed to be part of the video and collaborate with the singer who's music he personally admires a lot. 

The video is produced by Color Bar Entertainment.

Muh Dikhai is Shafqat Amanat Ali’s much awaited album after the super success of his albums “Tabeer” and “Kyun Dooriyan”. The album being released by Times Music is a beautiful mélange of Shafqat’s inimitable and versatile style of fusing various genres to create timeless melodies and songs.

The album does not remain confined to any particular genre as it includes a couple of Sufi tracks by Hazrat Amir Khusrau and Professor Mohan Singh, a semi-classical track, a ghazal originally composed by his father late Ustad Amanat Ali Khan saheb and recreated by Shafqat in a unique style for the first time. And among these are also melodious love songs, which traverse all genres from Pop to rock and ballads.

Speaking on the album Shafqat Amanat Ali says, “This album started just like the previous ones. Compositions, which occur to me in the most unsuspecting moments as always and drive me to explore and create songs have always formed the content of all my albums. It was no different this time. The nine songs in this album have been composed by me among many other songs during this period but these 9 were collected and picked for the album for various reasons. Since I had experienced that in my previous work people liked listening to Sufiana, I specially picked up Rang and Muh Dikhai. The other two important songs for the album were Dil Dharaknay Ka Sabab and Ratiyaan. These four songs are my favourite in the album and what I would recommend to a discerning listener. The rest of the songs flowed easily once I realized that the major ones were in place. “

He adds “Every album, I feel must have atleast 3-4 “hit numbers”. Or atleast every artiste who produces his album, the strategy seems to be to work on 4-5 songs, which they think are hits and then complete the album around it. But sometimes I feel this approach can be detrimental to the true creativity of the artiste or is even proved wrong because a lot of times people love the so called “Not obvious” songs. Sometimes what the artiste may have thought of as supporting songs turn out to be the real hits. In this album, I created literally a song bank and then selected what felt like the best fit. People have been waiting for this album for a long time and asking me about it so each song has been created with the hope that it appeals to the listeners. I didn’t follow a particular subject while creating these songs, but just followed creative ideas. There were 13-14 songs initially but the best 9 which really felt right made it to the final list that is here for you to listen to. There are quite a few Punjabi numbers this time unlike my previous albums but even these have been chosen very carefully to express a unique thought. There are some love songs but given that it is the oldest theme in the world, the vocabulary used in the poetry has been selected very carefully to bring some fresh thoughts to the listeners. “

Shafqat Amanat Ali was the lead vocalist of the popular Pakistani band – Fuzon. Their first album ‘Saagar’ was a big hit. His name got recognised beyond Fuzon, when he sang the chartbuster Mitwa, for Karan Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. The song became an instant hit and left India wanting more of this power-packed voice. He was also the voice behind the critically acclaimed song Yeh Hausla from the movie Dor, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. No wonder then, that Shafqat Amanat Ali is extremely popular and highly respected among music lovers and critics alike. His command over the classical idiom and modern music has made him a name to reckon with. Shafqat has more recently sung for numerous other Bollywood movies and has done various other tracks for forthcoming films under the music direction of Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar and Shankar-Ehsaan Loy.