"Afreen Afreen" (Urdu: آفریں آفریں transl. Praise to her Creator! Praise to her Creator!) is a nazm (song) performed and composed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan with lyrics written by Javed Akhtar.[1][2] It first featured on their collaborative album Sangam in 1996.[3] In 2016, it was covered by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (Nusrat's nephew) and Momina Mustehsan during season 9 of Coke Studio.[4]
| "Afreen Afreen" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan | |
| from the album Sangam | |
| Language | Urdu |
| Released | 1996 |
| Genre | Ghazal |
| Length | 10:00 |
| Composer(s) | Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan |
| Lyricist(s) | Javed Akhtar |
1996 version
"Afreen Afreen" was first released during the IndiPop and fusion music wave of the mid-1990s as a non-film music video. The music video featured Lisa Ray.[5]
2016 version
| "Afreen Afreen" | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||
| Single by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Momina Mustehsan | |||||||||||
| from the album Coke Studio S9E2 | |||||||||||
| Released | 19 August 2016 | ||||||||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||||||||
| Length | 6:45 (Video) 6:40 (Audio) | ||||||||||
| Label | Coke Studio (Pakistan) | ||||||||||
| Composer(s) | Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (original) Faakhir Mehmood (director) | ||||||||||
| Lyricist(s) | Javed Akhtar (original) F K Khalish (additional) | ||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Coca-Cola and Strings | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
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It was later rendered by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan with Momina Mustehsan, during season 9 episode 2 of Pakistani musical TV show Coke Studio. The music was directed by Faakhir Mehmood.[6]
Personnel
- Lyricist: Javed Akhtar
- Artists: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan & Momina Mustehsan
- Music director: Faakhir Mehmood
- Produced & directed By: Strings
- 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: Rachel Viccaji, Shahab Hussain, Nimra Rafiq[7]
Popularity
As of February 2022, it has garnered over 341 million views on YouTube,[8] it is currently third on the list of most viewed YouTube videos of Pakistani-origin, just after Atif Aslam's rendition of "Tajdar-e-Haram" having 342 million views.[9] It was the most-watched Pakistani music video of 2016.[10] According to Google, its lyrics were one of the most searched lyrics for the year 2017.[11] Momina Mustehsan became the fifth-most googled person in Pakistan in 2016.[12]
Version listings
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Afreen Afreen" | 10:00 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Afreen Afreen" | 6:45 |
Table of contents
| Year | Film/Album | Genre | Language(s) | Length | Singer | Composer | Ref(s). |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Sangam | Ghazal | Urdu | 10:00 | Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan | Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan | |
| 2016 | Coke Studio S9E2 | Pop | 6:45 | Rahat Fateh Ali Khan & Momina Mustehsan | Fakhar Mehmood | [7] |