Fakhar-e-Alam ( Punjabi, ur, فخر عالم; born 19 January 1976) is a Pakistani actor, TV host,

video jockey A video jockey (abbreviated VJ or sometimes veejay) is an announcer or host who introduces music videos and live performances on commercial music television channels such as MTV, VH1, Much (TV channel), MuchMusic and Channel V. Origins The term " ...

, and singer, famous for introducing the bhangra-

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

fusion genre of music in Pakistan. Though he is still considered a pioneer of bhangra-rap music culture in Pakistan, he is now more popular for hosting TV shows, sports broadcasts, and high-profile national and international productions. He also served as the chairman of the Sindh Board of Film Censors from 2013 to 2016. In 2018, he became the first and, to date, the only Pakistani in world history to

circumnavigate Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...

the globe in a solo flight, in what he called Mission Parwaaz. He was aiming for a 28-day schedule and was planning on flying to 30 airports around the world. In 2022, after doing an online course from the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, he earned an

Alternative Investments An alternative investment, also known as an alternative asset or alternative investment fund (AIF), is an investment in any asset class excluding stocks, bonds, and cash. The term is a relatively loose one and includes tangible assets such a ...

certificate at the age of 46.

Early life

He was born on 19 January 1976 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

and spent his early childhood in

before moving to

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

. Due to his father's work in the

Foreign Service of Pakistan The Foreign Service of Pakistan ( ur, ) is part of the Central Superior Services of Pakistan. It was formally created in October 1952, after having been an improvised organization since the creation and independence of Pakistan in 1947. Its old ...

, he travelled widely. He started schooling in Islamabad before going to school in the United States. After a few years of education and exposure in the United States, he returned to Islamabad to finish his schooling. He also attended

Government College University, Lahore The Government College University, Lahore (colloquially known as GCU), is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Opened as Government College, Lahore, in 1864, it became a university in 2002. Overview In 1864, Gov ...

. Afterward, he moved to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, and since 2004, he has been living in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

(UAE), as an overseas Pakistani.

Career

Fakhar-e-Alam started his career as Pakistan's first rap artist with the music album ''RAP UP'' in 1996. The same year, he debuted as a presenter in Pakistan's first pop chart television show, ''Music Channel Charts''. After the success of ''Music Channel Charts'', he was offered the position of a presenter for ''Pepsi Top of the Pops''. He met great success with his single "Bhangra Pao", a fusion of bhangra and

music, in 1995. He received a gold disc for his debut album and is considered one of EMI Records' most successful artists. The single was also broadcast on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. When he arrived in Karachi in 2004, Fakhar-e-Alam was offered a CEO position in an electronic media marketing company. He accepted the offer and stayed with the company for three months. He then launched his own production house called Industree Productions''.'' For

GEO Television Geo Television Network is a television channel based in Pakistan. It was established in May 2002 and is owned by the Jang Media Group. The channel began its test transmission on 14 August 2002, with regular transmission beginning on 1 October 2 ...

, Fakhr-e-Alam hosted the show ''Bolain Kya Baat Hai'' (Tell Us What is the Matter?) telecast on

Geo Super Geo Super is the first 24-hour Karachi-based Pakistani Television channel dedicated to the world of Sports. It is owned by the Jang Group of Newspapers. Geo Super was launched in September 2006. It has broadcasting rights for many sporting event ...

, where he interviewed various sports personalities and discussed

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and other sports-related events. Fakhr-e-Alam started an entertainment show, ''The Big Show,'' on

CNBC PAKISTAN G News Network, commonly known as GNN, is a Pakistani 24-hour news and current affairs channel based in Lahore, Pakistan. It is owned and operated by Gourmet Foods. It was launched in 2005 as CNBC Pakistan under a license from CNBC Asia Pacific ...

on 17 December 2011.Fakhar-e-Alam Is Back With The Big Show On CNBC Pakistan
Awamiweb.com website, Retrieved 15 August 2021 Fakhr-e-Alam's show ''Aaghaz-e-Safar'', based on real-life stories of Pakistanis, aired on 18 April 2014. The show was produced and directed by

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy ( ur, ; born 12 November 1978) is a Pakistani-Canadian journalist, filmmaker and activist known for her work in films that highlight the inequality with women. She is the recipient of two Academy Awards, seven Emmy Awar ...

, a two-time Pakistani

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

winner. It was the first time Obaid-Chinoy produced for a Pakistani TV channel. The show aired on

AAJ TV ''Aaj News'' () is a 24-hour Pakistani news television channel. It is a privately owned Urdu language TV station which covers national and international news. The channel started out as hybrid channel (news, current affairs and entertainment), ...

in Pakistan. In 2016, after the murder of a popular

qawwal Qawwali ( Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing, originating from the Indian subcontinent ...

Amjad Sabri Amjad Farid (Fareed) Sabri (23 December 1976 – 22 June 2016) was a Pakistani qawwal, naat khawan and a proponent of the Sufi Muslim tradition. Son of Ghulam Farid Sabri and nephew of Maqbool Ahmed Sabri of the Sabri Brothers, he emerged ...

, in

, Fakhr-e-Alam led a movement pressing for better government security for artists. On 1 August 2017, he became the second Pakistani celebrity invited to speak at

Googleplex The Googleplex is the corporate headquarters complex of Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc. It is located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California. The original complex, with of office space, is the company's second la ...

. The next day, he visited the

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

headquarters, making him the first Pakistani celebrity to do so. In May 2021, he was announced as the host of '' 60 Hours to Glory'', a military reality show featuring several international teams. It was broadcast on

Hum TV Hum TV is a 24-hour Urdu General Entertainment TV channel based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was founded by Sultana Siddiqui and Duraid Qureshi. It is owned by Hum Network Limited and traded on Pakistan Stock Exchange as (HUMNL). Hum Network Limi ...

Hum News Hum News is one of Pakistan's 24-hour Urdu news channel. Based in Islamabad, the channel is a business unit of Hum Television Network (HNL), her Other sister channels belonging to Network are Hum TV, Hum Masala and Hum Sitaray. The transmi ...

, and

PTV Home PTV Home HD is a Pakistani Free-to-air Television channel owned by the Pakistan Television Corporation. It also broadcast as a Terrestrial television Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcastin ...

. On 27 June 2021, he was bestowed with the UAE

golden visa Immigrant investor programs are programs that allow individuals to more quickly obtain residence or citizenship of a country in return for making qualifying investments. Broadly, the programs offer either citizenship by investment ("golden pass ...

, making him the first Pakistani celebrity to receive it. On 2 October 2021, Fakhr-e-Alam announced a partnership with

-based

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

organisation Galaxy Racer. As a result of the deal, the two parties will collaborate to create Galaxy Racer Pakistan. Later that month, he hosted the sports show ''The Pavilion'' on

A Sports A Sports HD is a Pakistani sports channel. It was launched on 16 October 2021 and is a part of ARY Digital Network which earlier planned in 2016. On 9 October 2021, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Wahab Riaz, Misbah ul Haq announced to join as its cr ...

as part of its coverage of the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, with the matches played in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The West Indies were the defending champions, but were eventua ...

2005 earthquake relief work

Fakhar-e-Alam was actively involved in humanitarian activities and relief work after the

2005 Kashmir earthquake The 2005 Kashmir earthquake occurred at on 8 October in Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir. It was centred near the city of Muzaffarabad, and also affected nearby Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some areas of Indian-administered Jammu and ...

Awards

* National Film Award for Best Actor in ''Very Good Dunya Very Bad Loag'' (1998) * Sitar-e-Eesaar (Presidential Medal of Sacrifice and Honour) in 2006 *

Sitara-e-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and Civil decorations of Pakistan, civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially m ...

for hosting in 2022

Discography

Albums

* ''Malang'' (1997) * ''Falam Connection'' (2001) * ''Falam Ab Tak'' (2004) * ''B3'' (2012)

Filmography

* ''Very Good Dunya Very Bad Loag'' (1998) * ''No Paisa No Problem (2000)'' * ''

Sarhad Paar ''Sarhad Paar'' is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language action drama film directed by Raman Kumar and produced by Goldie Tucker. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Tabu, and Mahima Chaudhry as main characters, with Rahul Dev portraying the main villain. The ...

'' (2006)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alam, Fakhar E 1976 births Living people Hip hop singers Pakistani pop singers Pakistani rappers Pakistani television hosts Singers from Lahore Male actors from Lahore Pakistani expatriates in the United States Pakistani aviation record holders Harvard Business School alumni