Jimmy Khan: In the hood
What one needs at the end of a horrid day is a dose of Jimmy Khan. Who you ask is Jimmy Khan? Well give it a few days and you’ll have his song posted on your Facebook wall as the perfect panacea for those Monday morning blues. And just the fact that the prince of pop, Ali Zafar was there at Khan’s modest launch along with musical talents like Mekaal Hasan, Ali Sher and Fariha Pervaiz, you know the boy’s nailed it already.
“I love Jimmy’s work”, spoke Ali Zafar warmly. Astonished and pleased as one was to see him support a young voice, Zafar spoke matter of factly, “If we don’t do it, then who will? Seeing Jimmy now reminds me of my days of struggle and how we would hope then that someone would just listen to our song and watch our video.”
The earnestness with which Zafar spoke, truly brought to life the days when he would play at hotel lobbies.
“It’s important to go through this process of struggle. It keeps you grounded and you learn to appreciate your future success,” he concluded. It’s not only Zafar, though, who had extended support, the song was recorded at LJP studios with Gumby, Omran Momo Shafique and Kamran Mannu Zafar. In a more tangible show of support, Khan performed live at the launch with Fahad Khan on drums, and both, Mehmood Rahman and Jamal Rahman on guitars.
It was a heartening sight to see these diverse musicians come together to help jump-start the career of a friend and a struggling star.
An intimate affair, Khan’s launch saw families and friends gather together in the chic confines of Cosa Nostra’s La Tavola. The ardor and genuine passion for the young musician was infectious in how one Mehreen Haq of The Fourth Article, excitedly reminisced about the days when Jimmy would play up on his rooftop as a child.
It was quite impossible to actually sit down and speak to the man of the moment, as friends and relatives poured in, leaping at him in delight.
“I am a little nervous”, said Khan, and you could see the jitters in his eyes as he grabbed onto his pack of cigarettes. “I have never gotten so much importance in my life.”
Even though he has been singing virtually since he was a teenager, he first got involved in the Lahore underground music scene in 2005, performing at various gigs and open nights in addition to doing covers of popular songs. Prior to being discovered, he could be spotted, a lone ranger with his guitar, at the restaurant Gunsmoke playing for their patrons. That was until Lotus PR’s artistic leg decided to launch the lad.
At a cursory glance, one didn’t expect much from a song based on something as trite as “Pehla Pyar” (first love), but is pleasantly surprised that akin to Khan himself, the song is vivacious and fun, drawing upon puppy love at college and tracing the trajectory of a couple who married for love, but seem to have drifted apart somewhere along the way. The video is not only simple and endearing, but most importantly — believable. The 20 something generation really cannot relate to whining and pining in morose environs, but they can certainly recall their own days of clandestine rendezvous and roaming the streets with that special someone. In his characteristic throaty voice and his unassuming sing along lyrics, Khan stirs the soul with his passion and mellifluous vocals giving the song an irrevocable, feel-good quality that will make the song a perennial favorite on the radio. Lighthearted and ebullient, “Pehla Pyar” is a song that you will play on repeat in your car on balmy summer evenings with windows rolled down and ice cream dripping down your chin onto the steering wheel as you groove to the tune.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2011.
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