Nehaal gave her first concert at age 11

Singer recalled performing at a food fest in Lahore

For a child dreaming of becoming a diva, there can be nothing greater than landing the opportunity to sing live on stage before a crowd – and Ijazat singer Nehaal Naseem revealed that this is precisely what happened to her at the tender age of 11.

"The backstory is basically there was a food fest where they wanted extras," recalled Nehaal, now 19, on influencer and actor Dananeer Mobeen's podcast in a recent interview.

Nehaal added that said food festival required a long drive from Islamabad to Lahore at her family's expense, but her father did not consider that a barrier when it came to letting his daughter flourish on stage. "My dad said, don't worry, I'll take you to Lahore," said Nehaal fondly. With conviction, she added, "I love my parents!"

Unfortunately for Nehaal, when she arrived, no one at the festival appeared to have been expecting her. "When I went, they said, 'Who are you? There's no performance for you!'" Rescuing Nehaal's crushed dreams, however, someone in charge appeared and granted her the opportunity to sing "for five minutes".

"Out of nowhere, this man came and said, 'You can sing one song, I'll give you five minutes,'" reminisced Nehaal. To her – and everyone's – surprise, however, that one song proved to be a crowd-stealer.

"A lot of people started coming towards the stage, and I ended up doing three songs!" gushed Nehaal. "I was really happy! That was my first ever concert!"

As one of the country's rising young stars, Nehaal has come a long way from that 11-year-old on stage being grudgingly granted five minutes on stage at a food festival. As well as releasing her own music, in February this year she collaborated with sibling duo Aashir Wajahat and NAYEL on the viral song Sadqay. Despite receiving lukewarm critical reviews, the song has garnered 35 million views on YouTube since being released and appears to have resonated with fans.