"Aap Jaisa Koi" (transl. Someone like you) is a song from the soundtrack of the 1980 Indian film Qurbani.[1] It was the debut song of Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan, and was composed by British Indian producer Biddu. The song was featured in the film as an item number, picturised on Zeenat Aman. It has been remixed and sampled by many other artists.
| "Aap Jaisa Koi" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Nazia Hassan | |
| from the album Qurbani | |
| Language | Hindi-Urdu |
| Released | 1980 |
| Recorded | 1980 |
| Genre | Disco |
| Length | 3:45 |
| Composer(s) | Biddu |
| Lyricist(s) | Indeevar |
| Audio sample | |
| Music video | |
| "Aap Jaisa Koi" on YouTube | |
The song was a big hit, and gained cult status in India and Pakistan. It was a filmi disco song that revolutionized Pakistani pop, Indi-pop, and Bollywood music.[2]
History
editFeroz Khan was a famous leading actor of Bollywood in the early 1960s. As time passed, he became a director and he acted as a leading actor in many of his films and most of his films of the 1960s and 1970s were hit in the box office. After two decades of popularity as an actor and director, Feroz made another film, Qurbani (1980). He wanted to create a new song titled "Aap Jaisa Koi" for the film. Zeenat Aman introduced the 15-year-old Nazia Hassan, a UK-based Pakistani to Feroz. Nazia was a child singer in Pakistan during the 1970s. Feroz wasn't keen on using Nazia’s voice initially but with some convincing from Zeenat, he heard her sing. She was offered to sing "Aap Jaisa Koi" and she accepted the offer. She provided the vocals for the song. It was recorded at a length of 3 minutes and 45 seconds. The video of the song was recorded as an item number by the leading actress of Hindi cinema Zeenat Aman.
Reception
edit"Aap Jaisa Koi" became a superhit song in India and overseas and Qurbani became a hit film at the box office. The singer of this song Nazia Hassan, gained overnight fame in India and also became famous in her own country, Pakistan. "Aap Jaisa Koi" marked for the first time that a Pakistani singer sang in an Indian film.[citation needed]
The Qurbani album went Platinum within seven months, a record for the Indian Music Industry at the time,[3] exceeding a million sales.[4] The song became so popular that Nazia, despite being a Pakistani, won the Indian Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for this song in 1981. She set the record for being the youngest recipient of the award at the age of 15.
Popular culture
edit"Aap Jaisa Koi" was covered by the South Asian a cappella group Penn Masala, and their cover was featured in the 2001 American film, American Desi, a year after Nazia Hassan's untimely death due to cancer.
Harry Anand produced a remix of the song for his 2004 Sweet Honey Mix album, released under the T-Series label.[5] Sung by Sophie Choudry, the remix had a music video starring Negar Khan.[6] The song was also used in the 2016 Trinidadian film Bazodee.
This song was recreated by Tanishk Bagchi for Ayushmann Khurrana’s An Action Hero. It featured Malaika Arora.[7]
References
edit- ^ "12 x 12: The 12 best Bollywood disco records". The Vinyl Factory. 28 February 2014.
- ^ The Herald, Volume 38, Issues 7–9, 2007: "It would not be amiss to say that music was never the same again after "Aap Jaisa Koi..." Over the next several years Nazia and Zoheb continued to rock not just the Pakistani but also the Indian disco scene; Disco Deewane that broke sales records across the subcontinent was followed by four more albums – Boom Boom, Young Tarang, Hotline and Camera Camera – released between 1982 and 1992. They were also pioneering enough to release videos of their tracks – another first."
- ^ "India Today, Volume 7, Issues 13-16". India Today. Vol. 7, no. 13–16. 1982. p. lvii.
Since then, however, record industry majors have sold more than 23 gold discs and 10 platinums, including Music India's Qurbani, which crossed the platinum mark in just seven months.
- ^ "International". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 28. 18 July 1981. p. 69.
- ^ "Harry Anand – Sweet Honey Mix". discogs. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
- ^ "Aap Jaisa Koi Meri Zindagi Mein Aaye [Full Song] Sweet Honey Mix". T-Series. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^ "'The murder of an iconic song': Ayushmann Khurrana and Malaika Arora's 'Aap Jaisa Koi' remix receives flak online". 27 November 2022.
External links
edit- "Aap Jaisa Koi" at MusicBrainz (information and list of recordings)