"Afreen Afreen" ( ) is a ghazal song written by Javed Akhtar and composed by

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Sometimes ...

. It first featured on their collaborative album ''Sangam'' in 1996. In 2016, it was covered by

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (Punjabi, ; born 9 December 1974) is a Pakistani Singer, primarily of Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. Khan is one of the biggest and highest paid singers in Pakistan. He is the nephew of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ...

(Nusrat's nephew) and

Momina Mustehsan Momina Mustehsan (; born 5 September 1992) is a Pakistani singer, musician, and social activist. In 2017, BBC named her one of the 100 most influential women, and the following year, ''Forbes'' featured her among its "30 Under 30" Asia list a ...

during

season 9 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

of ''Coke Studio''.

1996 version

"Afreen Afreen" was first released during the

IndiPop Indian pop music, also known as Indi-pop, refers to pop music produced in India that is independent from filmi soundtracks for Indian cinema, such as the music of Bollywood, which tends to be more popular. Indian pop is closely linked to Bollywo ...

and

fusion music A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from ''musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are some ...

wave of the mid-1990s as a non-film music video. The music video featured

Lisa Ray Lisa Rani Ray (born 4 April 1972) is a Canadian actress and model who has also worked internationally. Ray began her modelling career in India in the early 1990s, appearing for leading Indian brands like Bombay Dyeing and Lakmé. She made her ...

2016 version

It was later rendered by

with

, during season 9 episode 2 of Pakistani musical TV show ''

Coke Studio Coke Studio may refer to: * ''Coke Studio'' (Pakistan), a Pakistani television series featuring live music performances. * ''Coke Studio'' (India), an Indian television series featuring live music performances. * ''Coke Studio Bangla'', a Banglade ...

''. The music was directed by

Faakhir Mehmood Faakhir Mehmood ( ur, ) is a Pakistani actor, singer, keyboradist, composer and music producer. He started out his career with the Pakistani musical group Awaz. However, due to conflicts of interest, the band split in 2000 and they all went t ...

Personnel

*Lyricist: Javed Akhtar * Artists: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan & Momina Mustehsan * Music director:

* Produced & directed By:

Strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

* Guest musician: Joshua Keith Benjamin (keyboards) * House band: Imran Akhond (guitars), Aahad Nayani (drums), Kamran 'Mannu' Zafar (bass), Kashan Admani (guitars), Haider Alo (keyboard/piano), Abdul Aziz Kazi (percussions) *

Backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Rachel Viccaji ''Coke Studio'' ( ur, ) is a Pakistani television programme and international music franchise which features studio-recorded music performances by established and emerging artists. It is the longest-running annual television music show in Paki ...

, Shahab Hussain, Nimra Rafiq

Popularity

As of February 2022, it has garnered over 341 million views on YouTube, it is currently third on the list of most viewed YouTube videos of Pakistani-origin, just after

Atif Aslam Atif Aslam is a Pakistani playback singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He has recorded many songs in both Pakistan and India, and is known for his vocal belting technique. Aslam predominantly sings in Urdu, but has also sung in Hindi, ...

's rendition of "

Tajdar-e-Haram "Tajdar-e-Haram" () is a qawwali performed by the Pakistani musical group, Sabri Brothers and written by Mirza Muhammad Hakim, a 16th century Mughal prince and brother to Emperor Akbar. 1982 version In 1982, Sabri Brothers recorded this ...

" having 342 million views. It was the most-watched Pakistani music video of 2016. According to Google, its lyrics were one of the most searched lyrics for the year 2017. Momina Mustehsan became the fifth-most googled person in Pakistan in 2016.

Version listings

References

{{Rahat Fateh Ali Khan Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan songs 1990s songs Rahat Fateh Ali Khan songs Songs with lyrics by Javed Akhtar Coke Studio (Pakistani TV program) 2016 singles Urdu-language songs Pakistani songs