"Aap Jaisa Koi" () is a song from the 1979 soundtrack of the 1980 Indian film '' Qurbani''. It was the debut song of Pakistani singer

Nazia Hassan Nazia Hassan (3 April 1965 – 13 August 2000) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, lawyer, political analyst and philanthropist. Referred to as the " Queen of South Asian Pop", she is considered one of the most influential singers in South Asia ...

, and was composed by British Indian producer

Biddu Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1945) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro ...

. The song was featured in the film as an

item number In Indian cinema, an item number or special song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films ( Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu c ...

, picturised on Zeenat Aman. It has been remixed and sampled by many other artists. The song was a big hit, and gained cult status in India and Pakistan. It was a

filmi Filmi () music soundtracks are music produced for India's mainstream motion picture industry and written and performed for Cinema of India, Indian cinema. In cinema, List of Indian film music directors, music directors make up the main body of c ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

song that revolutionized Pakistani pop, Indi-pop, and Bollywood music.

History

Feroz Khan was a famous leading actor of

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

in the early 1960s. As time passed, he became a director and he acted as a leading actor in many of his films and most of his films of the 1960s and 1970s were hit in the box office. After two decades of popularity as an actor and director, Feroz made another film, '' Qurbani'' (1980). He wanted to create a new song titled "Aap Jaisa Koi" for the film. Zeenat Aman introduced the 15-year-old

, a UK-based Pakistani to Feroz. Nazia was a child singer in Pakistan during the 1970s. Feroz wasn't keen on using Nazia’s voice initially but with some convincing from Zeenat, he heard her sing. She was offered to sing "Aap Jaisa Koi" and she accepted the offer. She provided the vocals for the song. It was recorded at a length of 3 minutes and 45 seconds. The video of the song was recorded as an

by the leading actress of

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

Zeenat Aman.

Reception

"Aap Jaisa Koi" became a superhit song in India and overseas and ''Qurbani'' became a hit film at the box office. The singer of this song Nazia Hassan, gained overnight fame in India and also became famous in her own country, Pakistan. "Aap Jaisa Koi" marked for the first time that a Pakistani singer sang in an Indian film. The ''Qurbani'' album went Platinum within seven months, a record for the

Indian Music Industry The Indian Music Industry (IMI) is a trust that represents the recording industry distributors in India. It was founded on 28 February 1936, as Indian Phonographic Industry (IPI). It is the 2nd oldest music industry organisation in the world ...

at the time, exceeding a million sales. The song became so popular that Nazia, despite being a Pakistani, won the Indian Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for this song in 1981. She set the record for being the youngest recipient of the award at the age of 15.

Popular culture

"Aap Jaisa Koi" was covered by the South Asian

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

group Penn Masala, and their cover was featured in the 2001 American film, '' American Desi'', a year after Nazia Hassan's untimely death due to cancer. Harry Anand produced a remix of the song for his 2004 ''Sweet Honey Mix'' album, released under the T-Series label. Sung by Sophie Choudry, the remix had a music video starring Negar Khan. The song was also used in the 2016 Trinidadian film ''Bazodee''. This song was recreated by Tanishk Bagchi for

Ayushmann Khurrana Ayushmann Khurrana (born Nishant Khurrana; 14 September 1984) is an Indian actor and singer who works in Hindi films. Known for his portrayals of ordinary men often battling social norms, he is the recipient of several awards, including a Na ...

’s '' An Action Hero''. It featured Malaika Arora.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1979 songs Indian pop Songs written by Biddu Nazia Hassan songs Songs written for Hindi-language films Songs in Hindi Songs in Urdu Filmi songs Indian pop songs Pakistani pop songs