Sahir Ali Bagga is one of Pakistan’s most successful musicians, known for composing hit OSTs for popular dramas and working with top singers like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. He is famous for his powerful vocals and high notes, with hit songs including Baazi, Mast Malang, Ehd-e-Wafa, and Bharosa Pyar Tera. He has 1.8 million followers on Instagram, and his song Zaroori Tha became the first Pakistani track to cross two billion views on YouTube.
Recently, Sahir appeared on Ahmed Ali Butt’s podcast Excuse Me, where he shared an interesting story behind the ISPR song Pakistan Zindabad. He revealed that the song was originally meant for two big Pakistani singers, but both of them turned it down.
According to Sahir, the singers refused to even listen to the track before rejecting it. He recalled that one of them bluntly said he would not sing a song composed by Sahir. Instead of getting discouraged, Sahir decided to sing it himself. Since he was not naturally a high-note singer, he practiced extensively to perform the song well. The track was later approved by ISPR and went on to become extremely popular.
Pakistan Zindabad was released seven years ago on March 23 and has since gained massive popularity, earning around 249 million views on YouTube. Sahir did not name the singers who rejected the song but hinted that he might reveal their identities in a future episode of the podcast.
