Shakila Ahmed

Shakila Ahmed
Shakila Ahmed
	File:Shakila-wiki-front.jpg
Background information
Born	Dhaka, Bangladesh
Genres	Ghazal, Pop, Geet, Indian classical, Fusion
Occupation(s)	Singer, Songwriter, Composer and Writer
Years active	1989–present
Associated acts	Hariharan, Nisar Bazmi, Niaz Ahmed, Aamir Zaki, Shuja Haider, Larry Davis

Shakila Ahmed, (Shakila Khorasani) شکیلہ خراسانی is a Bangladesh-born, American singer, songwriter, composer and writer.

Her music career spans across the globe from the Indian subcontinent (Pakistan and India) to the United States. She became popular in Pakistan after releasing her first ghazal "Tumhara ishq" تمہارا عشق " composed by Hariharan, which became an instant hit in Pakistan and India.

Early life and education

Shakila Ahmed, born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, took formal training in North Indian classical ragas/scales since the age of eight at the College of Music and sang as a child artist on Bangladesh radio and television. She is an only child of parents who were both teachers and has an illustrious academic background. She studied in Little Jewels School, then Green Herald International School (Senior Cambridge), Holy Cross College (High School), and earned Honours and Masters degrees, with flying colours (first in Honours and second in Masters) in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University of Dhaka. Meanwhile, she continued her lessons in classical music from Sanjeev Dey and later became a student of the most revered Ustad Mohammad Dilshad Khan in Mumbai, India. ref. She won many awards as best vocalist, including Dhaka University Annual competitions in the categories of Khayal and Bengali geet.

Career

Her singing career began as a child artist in radio and television. Shakila's first album, 'Hridoy Binar Tare', was released by Sargam Records in 1989, comprising Bengali geets and Urdu ghazals and composed by the award-winning music director Shujeo Shyam. She focused on mastering the style of ghazal singing in Urdu and recorded her second album called 'Ankh Barsi' comprising ghazals. Mansur Bukhari of Emi Pakistan, impressed with her voice and style in a concert in London, released her third ghazal album, 'Dastan'. The music is directed by Arshad Mehmood and consists of various composers, including her teacher, Dilshad Khan Saheb and well-known ghazal singer/composer, Tauseef Akhtar. Shakila, while living in London, sang for Bernardo Bertolucci's movie, Little Buddha (nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, 1993) and had the opportunity to work with musical genius, Ryuichi Sakamoto, the movie's music director. Shakila was handpicked by Zakir Hussain (musician), the tabla maestro who also worked on the soundtrack. Shakila's meeting with Hariharan, the renowned ghazal maestro and composer, in London (1994), led to the birth of her most lauded album, 'Nayee Baat', eight ghazals composed by Hariharan and recorded between London and Mumbai. From the album, 'Tumhara ishq tumhari wafa hi kafi hai' written by Ibrahim Ashq and 'Abh kise chahen' by Dr. Bashir Badr, brought Shakila to the limelight and earned her worldwide fame. The album also featured legendary musicians, sarangi by Sultan Khan (musician) saheb, and Ustad Bhure Khan saheb on harmonium. She moved to Pakistan, where she spent many years and her popularity as a singer grew to great heights. She worked with many more musical luminaries including composers like Nisar Bazmi, Niaz Ahmed, Arshad Mahmud and pop giants Aamir Zaki, Shuja Haider, Emu of Fuzon, Nadeem Ahmed, Emad Rahman. Shakila sang for the movie 'Daira' (adaptation of Mohsin Hamid's book Mothsmoke) and for many fashion shows, stage productions, including all the songs from the dance drama 'Anarkali' (2003) and performed on stage as Anarkali.

Shakila also worked as a journalist, writing for various newspapers and journals, and her published articles include interviews of many mega artists namely Mehdi Hasan, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Farida Khanum, Hariharan.

Shakila is a philanthropist, raising funds for various charities through concerts, celebrity appearances, talks etc. She was the goodwill ambassador of HOPE (Health Oriented Preventive Education) for many years and sang in a number of benefit concerts for HOPE all over Pakistan and USA (2011) Umeedon ka safar, Hope song, written and composed by Nadeem Ahmed.

She toured with Faakhir Mehmood, raising funds for the earthquake in Pakistan (2005). She did concerts to raise funds for the building of the auditorium in Arts Council of Karachi.

She has innumerable live concert recordings, interviews in the print and electronic media. Shakila lives in California, performing and recording throughout the US and the world. "Shakila is possibly the best Ghazal singer that we have in the region. And when she sings the words of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, it can be mesmerizing." ref.

Discography

Albums

Title	Genre	Record label	Year
Nayee baat	Ghazals	Lips records	1996
Ankh barsi	Ghazals
Hridoy binar tare	Bengali/Urdu	Sargam records
Dastan	Ghazals	EMI Pakistan
Kisise na kehna	Pop/Rock	Soundmaster
Ghazal Spell	Ghazals	BMN records
Pop Spell	Pop/Rock	BMN records
Ghazal bahana karoon	Ghazals
Anarkali	Ghazal/Geet

Nayee baat song list

Title	Lyrics	Composition
Tumhara ishq tumhari wafa	Ibrahim Ashq	Hariharan
Abh kise chahen	Dr. Bashir Badr	Hariharan
Cherte hain wo bar bar hamein	Ibrahim Ashq	Hariharan
Unse milneka silsila to chale	Ibrahim Ashq	Hariharan
Zindagi ki bahar hai hamse	Ibrahim Ashq	Hariharan
Sham hai purshabab peene de	Farhat Shahzad	Hariharan
Usne jab mujhse kiya ehde wafa	Dr. Safi Hasan	Hariharan
Kahan ansuon ki ye saughat hogi	Dr. Bashir Badr	Hariharan

Ankh barsi

Title	Lyrics	Composition
Kabhi mujhko sath lekar	Ahsan Danish	Binay Pathak
Ankh barsi tere naam pe	Murtaza Barlas	Bashir Ahmed Khan

Hridoy binar tare

Title	Lyrics	Composition
Modhu nishi tumi shei ami shei	Selima Rahman	Shujeo Shyam
koto je shopno chilo tobuo		Shujeo Shyam
Bhalobashae ache shudhu jontrona		Shujeo Shyam
Shritir kopat khule khule		Shujeo Shyam
Bolo kon banshoria bajae		Shujeo Shyam
Fasle aise bhi honge	Adeem Hashmi	Shujeo Shyam
Talkhi-e-mei zara	Ghalib	Shujeo Shyam

Dastan

Title	Lyrics	Composition
Charag-e-shouq	Faiz Ratlami	Ustad Dilshad Khan
Thokronse ghum-e-duniya	Shamim Jaipuri	Tauseef Akhtar
Dastan chor ke chala hun mei	Mehshar Amrohi	Ustad Md. Dilshad Khan
Kabhi nizame	Iqbal Safipuri	Jamal Hasan
Socha to hai	Hasan Azimabadi	Shakila Ahmed
Shab-e-ghum	Hasan Azimabadi	Shakila Ahmed and Jamal Hasan
Tujhko pas-e-wafa	Hasrat Mohani	Ustad Dilshad Khan

Kisise na kehna

Title	Lyrics	Composition
Do char pal	Nadeem Asad	Jawad Haider
Kisise na kehna	Aamir Zaki	Aamir Zaki
Mere geeton ki	Nadeem Ahmed	Nadeem Ahmed
Bewajha	Nadeem Asad	Jawad Haider
Andhiyan	Nadeem Asad	Shuja Haider
Illusions	Shakila Ahmed	Jawad Haider
Kaise mein tumhe yaquin dilaun	Nadeem Ahmed	Nadeem Ahmed
Pyar mujhe tumse hua	Aamir Zaki	Aamir Zaki
Mei hi hun	Tanvir Afridi	Aamir Zaki
Zalim	Nadeem Ahmed	Nadeem Ahmed
Choota apna pyar	Nadeem Ahmed	Nadeem Ahmed
Aao na pyar kare	Shakila Ahmed

Ghazal Spell

Title	Lyrics	Composition
Allah hi Allah	Dr. Bashir Badr	Hariharan
Tere qareeb	Ahmed Faraz	Akhter Ali Khan
Toota jo aake	Nasira Zuberi	Niaz Ahmed
Kab bad-e-sabah	Akhter Ali	Akhter Ali Khan
Dilke bhed ko	Nasira Zuberi	Niaz Ahmed

Pop Spell

Title	Lyrics	Composition
Chori chori	Shuja Haider	Shuja Haider
Nere nere aa	John Mall	John Mall
Sehra	Nadeem Ahmed	Nadeem Ahmed
Tonight	Shuja Haider	Shuja Haider
Khwab	Sabir Zafar	Emad Rahman
Unchi uraan	John Mall	John Mall
Rogi	Shuja Haider	Shuja Haider
Aja we aja	Md. Nasir	Shuja Haider
Dilki awaaz	John Mall	John Mall

Ghazal bahana karoon

Title	Lyrics	Composition
Aseer-e-dard-e-muhabbat	Wali Ahmed Wali	Shakila Ahmed
Phir kuch ek dilko	Mirza Ghalib	Shakila Ahmed
Karun na yaad agar	Ahmed Faraz	Shakila Ahmed
Kya kahun tumse	Mir Taqi Mir	Shakila Ahmed
Phir hareef-e-bahar	Faiz Ahmed Faiz	Jamal Hasan
Rasm-e-ulfat	Dagh Dehelvi	Jamal Hasan
Agar kajraw	Allama Iqbal	Jamal Hasan
Arzo saman kahan teri	Mir Dard	Jamal Hasan

Anarkali, Theatre

Title	Lyrics	Composition
Humko tumhari ishq ne	Abdul Wahab Khan	Shuja Haider
Jhumi hui ghata		Shuja Haider
Tum mere paas raho	Faiz Ahmed Faiz	Shuja Haider
Sharm	Shuja Haider	Shuja Haider

Compilation albums

Title	Genre	Record label
Pepsi World Cup	Pop	BMN Records
Azaadi songs	Pop	BMN Records
Golden hits	Pop	BMN Records

Film

Little Buddha
Daira

Singles

Title	Genre	Lyrics	Composition
Chupi chupi bokul tole (Bangla)	Geet		Selim Ashraf
Bekhudi (Urdu/Punjabi)	Pop/Rock	Shuja Haider	Shuja Haider
Meri Ankhonme (Urdu)	Ghazal fusion	Amed Wasi	Shakila Ahmed
Kolpona (Bangla)	Geet	Shakila Ahmed	Khalid Nizami
Umeedon ka safar	Geet	Nadeem Ahmed	Nadeem Ahmed
Girafta dil hai	Ghazal	Nasir Kazmi	Md. Naseer

References

Images, Dawn Newspaper
Images
Daily Star
Saturday Post interview
Mere Loog, interview
Chayer Adda NTV interview
Spotlight, TVONE
PTV Interview
Pakistan Link