Ali Sethi walks tall in eccentric red skirt for his TIME100 Next Gala

The singer-songwriter shared pictures and videos from the event held in New York

From Joyland winning hearts at Cannes and becoming Pakistan’s Oscars submission to our star actors starring in Ms. Marvel, Hollywood films and Netflix dramas to Pasoori becoming a hit across the world, 2022 has been a rewarding year for Pakistani artists, to say the least.

The latest honour was Ali Sethi finally walking up the stage and sitting amongst some great minds after bagging a spot on Time magazine’s TIME100 Next list this year. The annual list of inspiring minds includes people ranging from musicians to medical professionals, government officials as well as movement leaders, and high-profile whistle-blowers alongside top CEOs.

On Wednesday, Sethi took to his Instagram to share pictures from the celebration night for his TIME100 Next list. “Thank you next,” he captioned the post that shared glimpses of the contributors reading pieces from the magazine out loud.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Ali Sethi (@alisethiofficial)

One of the pictures highlighted his name flashing on a screen under the subhead 'Innovators' along with Keke Palmer, Law Roach, FKA Twigs, and Ayo Edebiri. He was lauded and congratulated by his fellow Pakistani artists in the comments including Ayesha Omar, Aima Baig, Munib Nawaz and Hasnain Lehri. The British Pakistani singer Leo Kalyan, who later released a collaborative version of Pasoori, also hailed the singer-songwriter on his success.

For the appreciation gala in New York, Sethi chose an eccentric and gender-fluid outfit complimented by many carefully subversive layers to it. Standing tall in his chunky Chelsea boots, the Chan Kithan singer wore a striped red, off-white and navy blue poncho-style sweater over a crisp white button-down. The outfit became even more interesting with a crushed matching red skirt to go with it – but there’s more. The 38-year-old carried a red bag and accessorised with a silver necklace and a broach on his hat.

Earlier in September, Sethi shared a picture and screenshots of the write-up on him from the magazine to document how proud he was of being included in the list. “Proud to be included in the 2022 TIME100 Next list — that too with a write-up from guru Amitav Ghosh. In this old-world portrait of me by Umar Nadeeem, I am wearing ZN ALI and looking pyaar-se [lovingly] at the pre-colonial past,” he captioned the post.

Ghosh acknowledged Sethi’s globe-trotting hit in the listicle shared. “Though written in Punjabi by a Pakistani artist, Ali Sethi’s song Pasoori has become a global sensation with close to 400 million views on YouTube. Even more remarkable, the song has found a huge following in neighbouring India despite the escalating tensions between the two countries.”

According to the award-winning author, Sethi’s “gift” is that he can use an ancient form of music, the classical raags, to “challenge and expand the notions of gender, sexuality, and belonging.” He went on to add, “Pasoori is a virtuoso demonstration of how artists can, in subtle ways, subvert the restrictions that are being imposed upon them by new forms of authoritarianism and intolerance.”

He further asserted that the Pehla Qadam singer is doing more than spinning melodies out of words. “Sethi shows us that differences of culture, language, religion, and gender do not need to be antagonistic, they can, and always have, enriched us, and given us some of our greatest works of art.”

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