Yasir Akhtar (born 23 November 1972) is a Pakistani-British filmmaker, singer, songwriter, actor, director and producer. Akhtar is also the owner of film production company called ''Pegasus Productions''

Early life and education

Akhtar was born in a Pakistani Business class family to ''Mohammad Akhtar Shafi'' and ''Rizwana Akhtar'' where his father ''Mohammad Akhtar Shafi'' was a businessman,his siblings including Shazia Akhtar and Aamer Akhter has also been into the showbiz industry. He graduated from Government College of Commerce and Economics,

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 ...

. Akhtar's mother, Rizwana Akhtar is the elder sister of

Javed Jabbar Javed Jabbar (Urdu: جاوید جبار ) is a Pakistani writer and politician.Pakistan-India partition, Akhtar's maternal grandfather, Ahmed Abdul Jabbar, served as an official of the Government in Nizam of Hyedrabad Deccan - India. Akhtar spent most of his childhood working alongside his first cousin

Mehreen Jabbar Mehreen Jabbar (Urdu: م‍ﮩ‍رين جبار ) (b. 29 December 1971, is a Pakistani film and television director and producer based in New York City. She is a daughter of the Pakistani media-person Javed Jabbar.https://tribune.com.pk/story ...

(filmmaker) at his uncle Javed Jabbar's company

Career in music and performances

Akhtar started his singing career as a vocalist in the band ''The Arid Zone'' in 1989. 'The Arid Zone' launched their first album in 1993 through EMI Pakistan. Later he also produced and performed in various songs as a musician and singer like ''Kabhi Tu Hoga Mera Milan'', ''Chandni'', ''Teray Naal Dil'', ''Jogi'', ''Zara Man Ko Dekhna'', ''Aey Sanam'', ''My love'', ''Chan Mai'', ''Laut Aao Na'', ''Choom Loo Aasman'', ''Sansani'', ''Araam Naal Kar'', ''Assalamualaika Ya Nabi(SAW)'' etc. Akhtar also performed in various countries like UK, USA, Pakistan, Greece, Spain, UAE etc. Akhtar launched the musical band ‘The Arid Zone’ with his friends Kamran Jelani (Keyboards) and Shareb Jaffer (Guitarist). The trio started touring nationwide after the release of the first album 'The Arid Zone-Vol1. Besides performing in Pakistan and United Kingdom, Akhtar has performed internationally in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, California, Washington DC, Greece, Spain and more. Akhtar's musical performances and interviews have been aired on B4U Music,

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 2 October 1992, as the first privately owned TV channel in the country. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Zee TV also ...

, MTV Pakistan,

PTV Network Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical co ...

Sony Entertainment Sony Entertainment, Inc. is an American entertainment company established in 2012. It focuses on most of Sony's motion picture, television and music businesses. It is a subsidiary of the Japanese Sony Group Corporation, managed by Sony's America ...

, BBC Asian Network and many other prominent television channels.

Releases

‘The Arid Zone - Vol 1’ was released by EMI Pakistan in 1994. Later, Akhtar released ‘The Arid Zone-Jogi’ and ‘Yasir-My Love’. Akhtar has performed the following songs like Kabhi tu Hoga Mera Milan, Chandni, Laut Aao Na, Teray Naal Dil, Zara Man Ko Dekhna, Jogi, Choom Lo Aasmaan Ko, Sohniyeah, Pyar Diyan Gallan, My Love, Aey Sanam, Chan Mai and many more. Akhtar's musical albums were sponsored by Mobilink, Jazz, English Biscuits,

Peek Freans Peek Freans is the name of a former biscuit making company based in Bermondsey, London, which is now a global brand of biscuits and related confectionery owned by various food businesses. Owned but not marketed in the UK, Europe and USA by De Be ...

, Phillips and other multinational companies. The musical group 'The Arid Zone' released their second album ‘The Arid Zone - Jogi’in 1997. In 2001, Akhtar released a solo album ‘Yasir-My Love'. The album released successful songs like Aye Sanam, My Love, Chan Mai, SurMai Sey Shaam and many more. The music videos of this album launched the careers of

Zara Sheikh Zara Sheikh (Punjabi, ur, ) is a Pakistani model and actress. Sheikh has acted in films such as ''Tere Pyar Mein'' (2000), ''Salakhain'' (2004) and '' Laaj'' (2003). She won the Nigar Award for Best Actress for her performance in film ''Tere ...

(filmstar) and

Tooba Siddiqui Tooba Siddiqui, () is a Pakistani actress and model. Siddiqui started her career by starring in a Music Video "My Love" for pop singer Yasir Akhtar. She began modeling for the Pakistani fashion industry in the early 2000s. She has appeared in ...

(model and actress). In 2015, Akhtar went to Turkey to film the music video of the single Sansani - The Sensation. In London, he shot a folk-rap song Araam Naal Kar - Take it Easy in 2018. Some parts of the ‘Take it Easy’ were derived from popular Sufi poet Bulleh Shah. The rap part was written by himself. Akhtar recorded 'Assalamulalaika Ya Nabi" a Naat/Nasheed in 2019 and released it internationally.

As an actor

Akhtar started his career as a child actor in Pakistan's English feature film '

Beyond the Last Mountain ''Beyond the Last Mountain'' (1976) is a Pakistani English language film written and directed by Javed Jabbar. It was Pakistan’s first English language film, which was shown at the 6th International Film Festival of India in New Delhi. It was ...

'. Akhtar kept on appearing in TV commercials in school days. When Akhtar was 16 years old, he appeared with his younger sister Shazia Akhtar in PTV Network's drama serial 'Dastak' produced by

Shahzad Khalil Shahzad Khalil ( ur, ), (1944 – 23 December 1989) was a Pakistani television director and producer. Early life Shahzad Khalil began his career as a director producing music videos in 1970, and then moved to making television drama seri ...

. As a teenager, he appeared as a model in TV commercials of English Biscuits,

, Rafhan, Gillette and many other companies. Meanwhile, in the college, Akhtar started appearing as hero in Pakistan's national network's major drama serials. Naming few drama serials where his work was acknowledged were - Tapish, Khawab Suhanay, Yeh Jahan, Kallo, Monsoon, Phir Yun Hua, Machar Party Aaway see Aaway etc.

As director and producer

Akhtar got his first assignment as a Director and Producer at an early age, The executive producer of Combine Productions ''Ghazanfer Ali'' gave him work to direct and produce Music Channel Charts in 1994, it was the very first pop chart show of Pakistan. Akhtar also launched the musical drama serial ‘French Toast’ based on a story of the struggle of musical band in 1995. 'French Toast' was aired on

in the UK and U.S.A as well as on NTM in Pakistan. Akhtar also produced the first ever telefilm series of Pakistan called Tapal Cinema. The series was loved and acknowledged by the audience and was sponsored by tea company

Tapal Tea Tapal Tea is a Pakistani tea company which is based in Karachi, Pakistan. Tapal is the market leader of branded tea in Pakistan. The main competitors of Tapal are Unilever's Lipton and Eastern Tea Company’s Vital. The previous competitor was ...

. The project had six telefilms namely Rahain, Titlee, Shehzadi, Zeher, Chand and Kashish. Akhtar's ‘Tapal Cinema’ launched the careers of

Humayun Saeed Humayun Saeed Ansari (born 27 July 1971), professionally known as Humayun Saeed, is a Pakistani actor and producer. He has appeared in dozens of Pakistani television dramas and limited number of films, and earned Lux Style Awards, and ARY Fil ...

Shamoon Abbasi Shamoon Abbasi ( ur, ; born 4 April 1973) is a Pakistani actor, director and screenwriter, better known for portraying villain roles. Family His father Zuhair Abbasi was a novelist and drama writer, and so is his aunt, Seema Ghazal. Syed Ali R ...

Javeria Abbasi Javeria Abbasi ( ur, جویریہ عباسی) is a Pakistani film–television actress, model and host. She has appeared in the Hum TV serials '' Dil, Diya, Dehleez'' (in which she plays a lead role) and ''Thori Si Khushiyan'' as well as '' Dor ...

, Zubair Abbasi and many others. Mere Ghar Aik Whirlpool was also a known drama serial of Pakistan in 1999 created by Akhtar. The style of brand placement associated with entertainment made the serial popular as Whirlpool name was used in the drama, This idea turned to be profitable for the creators and started a new trend of branded drama serials in Pakistan. The project was sponsored by Phillips - Whirlpool. Artists Like

Nida Yasir Nida Pasha, better known as Nida Yasir, is a Pakistani television host, former actress and model known for her role as Saima in the television drama '' Hum Tum''. She also hosts the morning television show ''Good Morning Pakistan'' at ARY Di ...

, Adeel Hayat Ansari, Naeem Shaikh,

Salman Saqib Sheikh Salman Saqib Sheikh ( ur, ), credited as Mani, is a Pakistani film and television actor, politician and host. Mani is mostly known for his comic roles. He started his career as a junior anchor and host before becoming a sitcom and comedy actor ...

(

Hira Mani Hira Salman (''née'' Saleem; born 27 February 1989), known as Hira Mani, is a Pakistani television actress, singer, presenter and former video jockey. She starred as lead in several hit series, including ''Jab We Wed'' (2014), ''Preet Na Kariy ...

’s husband) and many others were introduced to the industry with ''Mera Ghar Aik Whirlpool''. British Asian drama serial ''Sard Aag-Cold Fire'' was produced by Akhtar in 2006. which was filmed in Manchester and London and was aired 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 ...

, for which Akhtar also auditioned new talent from places like Birmingham, London and Manchester. where he Introduced Jessica Bath,

Mani Liaqat Mani Liaqat ( ur, , born 25 April 1984) is a Manchester-based British-Asian actor and comedian. He is known for his bizarre rants, portly figure, witty voice and mixture of Punjabi/Urdu/Hindi and British everyday-humour. Mani is best known as t ...

, Ali Khalid etc. 'Sard Aag' also had actors like Abid Ali, Noman Ijaz, Shalaka Ranadive in the cast list. Akhtar has also organizied events for igh Commission for Pakistanand

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

. Akhtar’s productions has been broadcast on channels like

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, PTV Home,

Sony TV Sony Television, Sony TV, or Sony HD may refer to any of the following television-related products from Japanese conglomerate Sony: * Television sets designed and manufactured by Sony Corporation in Japan ** Trinitron, television hardware brand (196 ...

, B4U Music,

Geo TV 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 ...

ARY digital ''ARY Digital'' ( ur, ) is a Pakistani pay television network available in Pakistan, the Middle East, North America and Europe. The ARY Group of companies is a Dubai-based holding company founded by a Pakistani businessman, Abdul Razzak Yaqoob ...

Protégé

Through Music Channel Charts, Akhtar introduced artists like

Shehzad Roy Shehzad Roy (born 16 February 1977) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, guitarist, activist, social worker and humanitarian. He started his singing career in 1995 and has recorded six albums since. He has recorded many hit songs such as "Saali," ...

Fakhar-e-Alam Fakhar-e-Alam ( Punjabi, ur, فخر عالم; born 19 January 1976) is a Pakistani actor, TV host, video jockey, and singer, famous for introducing the bhangra-rap fusion genre of music in Pakistan. Though he is still considered a pioneer of ...

, Najam Sheraz,

Komal Rizvi Komal Rizvi ( ur, ; born 3 August 1981) is a Pakistani actress, singer, songwriter, and a television host. She is famous for her songs in Coke Studio (Pakistan). Early life Rizvi was born in Dubai and then raised in England and Nigeria. As a ...

, Fringe Benefits, Jazba, Nadeem Jafri, Azfar Ali and many more to the Pakistani Entertainment Industry. Akhtar produced and directed 50 episodes of pop chart show ''Music Channel Charts''. As a director and producer, Akhtar launched the careers of many artists like Armeena Rana Khan, Tooba Siddiqui, Humayun Saeed, Nida Yasir, Javeria Abbasi, Fakhr e Alam, Najam Sheraz, Komal Rizvi, Shehzad Roy, Shamoon Abbasi and various other artists to the Pakistani Industry.

Acting, direction and production

Musical work

Music videos - production work

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhtar, Yasir Pakistani playback singers Pakistani male actors 1972 births Living people