The baritone legend
90’s singer Bunny recalls making of ‘Dil Main Tum’ classic
Bunny’s studio used to be the hub of most of Tariq Road area’s upcoming musicians. PHOTO COURTESY: MOHSIN RAZA KHAN
KARACHI:
Bunny was born Mohsin Raza Khan. Because he had bug teeth and Bugs Bunny was all the rage back then, his father nick-named him ‘Bunny’ and the name just stuck. On his return to Pakistan from England, all Bunny had in mind was the riff of a song that would go on to become one of the classics of the 90s — Dil Main Tum. He didn’t know much about Urdu poetry and had been making songs with bands in countries like Germany and Italy. “When I went into the studio, my keyboard player Azhar started putting the song together. I had the music ready and I wanted someone to write lyrics on that, which is an extremely difficult thing to do,” he says.
While in Karachi, he rang up Master Manzoor in Lahore and explained the situation. “I flew to Lahore, got him to write the lyrics, came back and recorded the song.” Bunny recalls the moment he emerged from the vocal booth of Shadab Studio after recording the final take, and how everyone present there was bobbing to the music. “They all loved it,” he adds. He wasted little time in taking the song to EMI Pakistan’s Arshad Mahmud. “Arshad sahib said the sound is very modern and this sort of music is not being made in Pakistan,” he recalls. He says although Arshad was a little reluctant in betting on the experiment, he did release it and “the rest as they say is history”.
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The track was part of Bunny’s debut album, released in November 1989. “I returned to the UK after the release. When I came back, it was all over the place.”
PTV’s Ghazanfar Ali approached Bunny for Music Channel Charts’ first episode. “We first shot a video at Taj Mahal Hotel (now Regent Plaza) but he wasn’t happy with it. So, we did another one; this time at the beach,” he says. A horse was hired for Rs50 and Bunny had no idea how to ride one. “I performed sitting on it and that’s how the video came about.”
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A fangirl somehow got hold of Bunny’s phone number. Back then, he used to live alone in an apartment and do all the house chores himself. They began talking on the phone and one day Bunny told her that he is sick of doing the house chores. “She told me she’ll send a maid to help out. A maid did come next day and she started working at my place. One day, she asked me if she could borrow a Harold Robbins book that was lying on the table. I said sure but wondered how a maid could possibly read English novels. Upon inquiring, I found out she was the very girl.”
Back when Mizmar was making a debut and didn’t have enough money to afford a studio, Bunny offered them to work at his place free-of-cost. “I told them use whatever you want but don’t ask me for help.”
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Eventually Bunny’s studio became the hub of most of Tariq Road area’s upcoming musicians. Artists like Imran Momina and Shallum Xavier were trained under his care as well.
‘Lost Tales: Stories Behind Cult Classics of the 90s’ is the third edition of a series dedicated to revisiting Pakistani music of the yore.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2016.
Bunny was born Mohsin Raza Khan. Because he had bug teeth and Bugs Bunny was all the rage back then, his father nick-named him ‘Bunny’ and the name just stuck. On his return to Pakistan from England, all Bunny had in mind was the riff of a song that would go on to become one of the classics of the 90s — Dil Main Tum. He didn’t know much about Urdu poetry and had been making songs with bands in countries like Germany and Italy. “When I went into the studio, my keyboard player Azhar started putting the song together. I had the music ready and I wanted someone to write lyrics on that, which is an extremely difficult thing to do,” he says.
While in Karachi, he rang up Master Manzoor in Lahore and explained the situation. “I flew to Lahore, got him to write the lyrics, came back and recorded the song.” Bunny recalls the moment he emerged from the vocal booth of Shadab Studio after recording the final take, and how everyone present there was bobbing to the music. “They all loved it,” he adds. He wasted little time in taking the song to EMI Pakistan’s Arshad Mahmud. “Arshad sahib said the sound is very modern and this sort of music is not being made in Pakistan,” he recalls. He says although Arshad was a little reluctant in betting on the experiment, he did release it and “the rest as they say is history”.
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The track was part of Bunny’s debut album, released in November 1989. “I returned to the UK after the release. When I came back, it was all over the place.”
PTV’s Ghazanfar Ali approached Bunny for Music Channel Charts’ first episode. “We first shot a video at Taj Mahal Hotel (now Regent Plaza) but he wasn’t happy with it. So, we did another one; this time at the beach,” he says. A horse was hired for Rs50 and Bunny had no idea how to ride one. “I performed sitting on it and that’s how the video came about.”
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A fangirl somehow got hold of Bunny’s phone number. Back then, he used to live alone in an apartment and do all the house chores himself. They began talking on the phone and one day Bunny told her that he is sick of doing the house chores. “She told me she’ll send a maid to help out. A maid did come next day and she started working at my place. One day, she asked me if she could borrow a Harold Robbins book that was lying on the table. I said sure but wondered how a maid could possibly read English novels. Upon inquiring, I found out she was the very girl.”
Back when Mizmar was making a debut and didn’t have enough money to afford a studio, Bunny offered them to work at his place free-of-cost. “I told them use whatever you want but don’t ask me for help.”
Junoon reunion not happening
Eventually Bunny’s studio became the hub of most of Tariq Road area’s upcoming musicians. Artists like Imran Momina and Shallum Xavier were trained under his care as well.
‘Lost Tales: Stories Behind Cult Classics of the 90s’ is the third edition of a series dedicated to revisiting Pakistani music of the yore.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2016.