Fareeha Pervaiz is arguably one of the best female singers Pakistan got in last decade. She has evolved her self from a simple play back singer to a singer who tried experimentation & got new heights of musical success.

Her switch-over from acting to singing, proved to be a fortunate and well calculated step for her career and she worked darn hard to get where she is today! Fariha enjoys being experimental and working with all types of music. “I want to be known as versatile singer, a delight for all. My music caters to a large group of audience from teenagers to the old, and I feel that it is extremely important for an artiste to be accepted by everyone,” exclaims Fariha.

Across the border, it has always been Asha Bhoslay who inspired her to sing. Fariha has been very moved by the versatility of Asha since her child hood and has grown up listening to her. When asked about her local favourites she says, “Mehnaz and Nayyara Noor are singers I love to listen to. As far as skill is concerned I feel nobody compares to Sajjad Ali. He is simply too good at everything he chooses to create.”

Up until the 90’s our film industry was doing well and so was playback singing. But today our regional and national cinema is in a state of decline and Fariha feels that play back singing no longer has a future in Pakistan. “I have sung for very few movies and fortunately they all proved unprecedented hits. I sang around twenty songs for Urdu movies including Chief Saab, Shararat, Inteha and worked with many composers including, Amjad Boby.

I was greatly appreciated by them for my soft and civilized tone and they always gave me the right kind of songs to compliment my talent. But as far as the future of play back singing is concerned I simply don’t see it flourishing. The only option left is for us to once again bring back good cinema.” concludes Fariha.

Today we see every other musician heading to India for the recording of their albums. But Fariha seems to be satisfied with the available recording facilities here. “I don’t think that we lack any such facilities in Pakistan. In fact, once I played my CD in an Indian recording studio, and they were stunned by the quality of the sound and couldn’t resist appreciating it.

All of my albums have been recorded here and during recordings whatever I ask for is always provided for me,” divulges Fariha and continues, “What I do feel we lack is the concept of having an orchestra. It’s bad to see that our traditional musical instruments like ‘sarood’, ‘sarungi’, ‘sattar’ etc are becoming extinct.

This is an issue which requires to be addressed without delay. It’s good to see some institutions offering musical courses and training in traditional instruments; however the number of such institutions is few.”

Talent, luck and PR are the three common phenomenas of the showbiz game. Besides having immense talent if an artiste doesn’t get what he truly deserves it would either be the other two factors missing from the equation. On being asked about the role of her PR in her musical voyage she explains, “If I had worked solely on my PR then I would have been an internationally acclaimed star today.

I believe that the respect and the sincerity that I have in abundance for music in addition to god’s blessings have played the major part in making me what I am today.”

These days music has become more visual rather than being a treat for the ears and soul. People seem to be more into spending a lion’s share of their budget in making the videos for the songs instead of making the quality of the sound better. “I have never been able to fathom the reason as to why artistes are concentrating so much on minor things like shooting their videos at 35 mm, visual affects etc… since at the end of it all it’s really the beat of the song that people actually relate to.

A good song is a combination of many things; melody, lyrics, good choice of instruments and lastly the composition. I wonder how a high budgeted video would work in absence of all these essentialities” exclaims Fariha.

From classical to pop Fariha has tried everything and refuses to have a fixed image. If at one channel you find her singing a classical note like “yaad piya ki” then on the on the other channel you would find her wearing some western ensemble singing a pop number “hai thora thro piyaar thora thora darr”. But wouldn’t it be more convenient for her to be either a pop or a classical or just a play back singer.

“I think that a versatile artiste benefits alot more than one who refuses to go beyond certain self drawn lines. I feel I can realate to a mixed audience easily as my songs are for everyone. An artiste’s job is to entertain an audience and when one has flexibility they get a bigger fan following.”

Hypocrisy and forming groups are not unusual in our music industry. There are certain people who refuse to let the new artistes have the space they need to establish their careers. “People here work for their vested interests,” exclaims Fariha and continues, “But true talent cannot be suppressed no matter how biased people may be.

Even in the music awards there is massive lobbying and the awards are being given on the personal choices of the people involved.” Fariha has recently been awarded Best pop singer award 2006, by Indus Television. Another award she is quite excited about is Best Singer Award for the ballads.

“The reason I’m ecstatic about receiving this particular award is that the jury was comprised of the living legends of our music industry namely, Arshad Mehmood, Nayyara Noor and Alamgir. For me getting my work acknowledged as the best, by these three, is a great honour. I would also like to thank all of my fans who support me and give me a reason to wok hard and have made me what I am today as an artiste.”