Tina Sani is a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

female singer famous for her classical and semi-classical

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

s.Beyond Borders (Tina Sani in India)
Indian Express (newspaper), Published 22 August 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2018

Early life

Tina Sani was born in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, at the time

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

; the family moved to Kabul for a few years, where her father, Nasir Sahni, worked for an oil company, before moving to

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, where after graduating from the Karachi American School, she went on to study commercial art. She was trained in classical music by Ustad Nizamuddin Khan, son of Ustad Ramzan Khan of Delhi gharana and Ustad Chand Amrohvi. Tina also received special training from ghazal maestro Mehdi Hassan.

Career

Tina Sani began working for an advertising agency in 1977. She was involved in all the creative aspects of advertising business, including listening to and evaluating the music that is an integral part of advertising. Tina also taught at the Karachi American School in the art department.

Singing career

She entered the professional world of singing in 1980,In concert: In Tina Sani's company
Dawn (newspaper), Published 9 March 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2018 when producer ''Ishrat Ansari'' introduced her on TV in a youth programme titled 'Tarang' hosted by Alamgir. She was influenced by renowned ghazal singers from South Asia like Mehdi Hassan, Malika Pukhraj, Begum Akhtar, Mukhtar Begum and Farida Khanum but has created her own style of singing. She gained much acclaim in Pakistan and India by singing the poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz including poems like and composed by Arshad Mehmood. She renders poetry of contemporary poets with complete ease and is equally at home singing works of famous poets like Zauq, Ghalib,

Mir Taqi Mir Mir Muhammad Taqi (February 1723 – 20 September 1810), known as Mir Taqi Mir (also spelled Meer Taqi Meer), was an Urdu poetry, Urdu poet of the 18th century Mughal Empire, Mughal India and one of the pioneers who gave shape to the Urdu ...

and Jalaluddin Rumi. Her rendition of Iqbal's ''Shikwa Jawab-e-Shikwa'' has earned her great reviews and remains to be the lengthiest piece of poetry she has ever sung. More recently Tina Sani sang Rumi's beginning verses of the Mathnavi for Coke Studio (Pakistan) to bring verses of the 13th century mystic poet's Persian verses in

language. Tina Sani was invited as a guest judge in the first ''Pakistan Idol'' TV show. Tina Sani was part of Lahore music meet, 2016. She shared her music journey in a session named "Classical Music Appreciation". Sani also discussed the current situation and lack of classical music from Pakistani music industry. She praised role of television in supporting them to continue practising music. She has sung many songs for the Pakistani TV and film industry, such as the OST for

Hum TV Hum TV HD 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 the Pakistan Stock Exchange as (HUMNL). Hum Net ...

's soap 'Choti Si Ghalat Fehmi' and Ho Mann Jahan's 'Khush Piya Wassen'. She has also sung the OST for PTV's 'Moorat',

's Bari Aapa and ARY Zindagi's 'Bahu Begum'. Her top five favourite songs are # بابل مورا – a song by K.L. Saigal # کورا کاغذ تھا یہ من میرا – a song from film Aradhana by

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born Abhas Kumar Ganguly; ; 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of modern India ...

# آپ جیسا کوئی میری زندگی میں آئے تو بات بن جائے – a song by Nazia Hasan from 1980 film Qurbani # کھڑی نیم کے نیچے – a folk song by

folk singer ''Mai Bhaagi'' # کوئی تو ہے جو نظامِ ہستی چلا رہا ہے وہی خدا ہے – a

Hamd Hamd () is a word that exclusively praises God - whether written or spoken. Thus, The word "Hamd" is always followed by the name of God (Allah) - a phrase known as the Tahmid - "al-ḥamdu li-llāh" (Arabic: ) (English: "praise be to God"). The ...

song by

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997), also known by his initials NFAK, was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. Khan was primarily a singer of qawwali, a form of Sufi devot ...

, written by Muzaffar Warsi

Awards

* The

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance (), officially known as the Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sp ...

Award in 2004 –

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

Tina Sani's Pride of Performance Award listed on Dawn (newspaper)
Retrieved 18 June 2019
Performance Recognition Award
(2011) by

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

during centennial celebrations of Faiz Ahmed Faiz * Lifetime Achievement Award from Lux Style Awards in 2017I want youngsters to know I just followed my heart, says Tina Sani of her LSA award
Dawn (newspaper), 17 April 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2018

References

External links

Beyondborders: Shubha Mudgal and Tina Sani

Tina Sani interview on cineplot.com website

Coke Studio recording on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sani, Tina Living people Pakistani people of Bangladeshi descent Pakistani ghazal singers Recipients of the Pride of Performance Karachi American School alumni Women ghazal singers Musicians from Dhaka Pakistani expatriates in Afghanistan Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Pakistani women singers 20th-century Pakistani singers