Switching gears: New film, new avatar

Singer-actor Ali Zafar will play qawwal in Punjabi movie

Zafar will next be seen in Dear Zindagi alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt. PHOTO: FILE

After recently paying tribute to the slain Amjad Sabri at the Lux Style Awards (LSAs) 2016 with his heartwarming qawwali, Ali Zafar is set to explore the genre even more. The singer-turned-actor will be singing a qawwali for an upcoming Punjabi film, reported The Indian Express.

“I am proactive towards my passion for music. I want to explore all the verticals of music from romantic songs to qawwalis to rock scores and anthems. There is a request for a qawwali in a Punjabi film,” Zafar said in a statement.

While he will not only be lending his vocals for a special sequence in the film, Zafar will also deliver a few dialogues, for which he has been working on his Punjabi diction. On the acting front, he will soon be seen in Gauri Shinde’s film Dear Zindagi starring Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt. This is the first time SRK, Bhatt and Zafar will share space on the silver screen. The film is slated to release by the end of this year.


At the LSAs, Zafar won Song of the Year for Rockstar and subsequently won hearts by paying tribute to Sabri, as other stars of the night joined him on stage, along with the Sabri family.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2016.