Did you know?: Babia was played for the first time at Beena Benjamin’s wedding

Babia, the title song of Sajjad Ali’s album Babia 93 was never meant to be a part of the album. It was just an additional song that was recorded by Sajjad for the sake of experimentation. However, the song was accidently played for the first time at Beena Benjamin’s (from the musical group Benjamin Sisters) wedding. The person who was playing music at the ceremony cued it, without Sajjad Ali’s permission.

This took Sajjad by surprise, but the rest of the people thoroughly enjoyed it. This was the moment when Beena showed keen interest in the song.

“She walked up to us and asked if we are releasing the song in Sajjad Bhai’s new album and since we were still in a state of shock, in a daze, we said yes,” recalls Waqar Ali, Sajjad’s brother.

Right after that, she asked Mushtaque, a common acquaintance, to release the album. Even Mushtaque had no idea as to what was going on and had no previous experience in releasing music.

“Mushtaque said yes because he couldn’t say no to Beena Benjamin. None of us knew what was happening,” added Waqar.

This short meeting between Sajjad Ali, Mushtaque and Beena also lead to the formation of Sound Master Pakistan, the record label that produced some memorable Pakistani albums.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2014.

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