Farhan Saeed (born 14 September 1984) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, actor and entrepreneur. Saeed is the former lead vocalist of the Pakistani band Jal and owns the restaurant Cafe Rock in Lahore. He sings in Urdu and Punjabi. He made his acting debut with the drama De Ijazat Jo Tu (2014).
Farhan Saeed was born into a Punjabi Kashmiri family. Both his parents are practicing doctors. A music fan from the very start, he used to listen to Vital Signs and Junoon and centred his music around pop, and at times folk. In his teens, he took A-level from the Keynesian Institute of Management and Sciences (KIMS) and then enrolled in Computer Science at the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, after which he discovered his future band members Atif Aslam and Goher Mumtaz. The band took off and became famous across Asia.
In 2011, reports broke out that he had parted his ways from Jal, which left his fans stunned. He pursued a solo career and became regular to feature in Bollywood. Saeed opened Cafe Rock restaurant at Hussain Chowk, situated off the M. M. Alam Road, Gulberg, Lahore. His restaurant's theme is in a similar vein to that of the Hard Rock Cafes, providing underground bands and young aspiring artists with a platform to project themselves and perform in front of an audience.[4]
Music career
Jal the band
Saeed during Jal band days
Saeed first rose to prominence when he joined the Lahore-based pop rock band Jal, at the age of 17, as a vocalist.[5]
Saeed replaced Atif Aslam in 2003, who quit because of musical differences with Jal's founding member Goher Mumtaz.[6]
Solo music career
In September 2011, in an exclusive interview with The Express Tribune, Saeed shocked the fans claiming that he had left Jal to pursue a solo career despite Goher Mumtaz offering him to continue his solo career while being a part of Jal.[7] On 8 September 2011, Saeed's departure was confirmed by Jal's guitarist Goher Mumtaz who wished him luck for his solo career. He did a collaboration with Aima Baig, Adnan Qazi and Bilal Saeed for his super hit song "Na cher malangaan nu". His recent song was with Hania Aamir for Asim Jofa that was directed by Qasim Ali Mureed.
He made his Bollywood-singing breakthrough in 2014, by contributing a song to Vikram Bhatt's Creature 3D. The song, Naam-e-Wafa, is a romantic-duet with Indian vocalist Tulsi Kumar as the co-singer and Mithoon as the composer.[8]
Acting career
Saeed started his acting career by debuting in a leading role in the 2014 Hum TV drama serial De Ijazat Jo Tu alongside Sohai Ali Abro, Saba Hameed and Javaid Sheikh. He then played the lead role as Mohid Shuja in ARY Digital's Mere Ajnabi alongside Urwa Hocane who was the female lead.[9] He has also played the lead role of Arsh in the drama Udaari as a lawyer along with female lead Urwa. Apart from acting in the drama, Saeed has also collaborated with Hadiqa Kiani for the OST that has topped music charts all over Pakistan.[10]
In 2018 he grabbed the leading role of Arsal Jamshed Ali (Arsal) in Hum TV's critically and commercially superhit drama serial Suno Chanda, with Iqra Aziz as the leading female role, and due to the critical success of the show, a season 2 was immediately announced by the producers. He reprised his role as Arsal Jamshed Ali in the second installment of Suno Chanda alongside Iqra Aziz in 2019. The season was also a hit and a critical success.
He had the leading role in Karachi Se Lahore 3 with Kubra Khan as co-star, the third installment of Wajahat Rauf's successful series including the box-office hits Karachi Se Lahore and Lahore Se Aagey which would have been his feature film debut, but he had to quit the project because of music tours and concerts he was already committed to.[11]
In early 2019 it was announced that he'll get his first lead role in a movie in Tich Button, a rom-com co-produced by his wife Urwa Hocane under their joint new production company Shooting Star Studio.[12] After some delay, the movie was eventually released in 2022.
Other work
Director
He turned to direction with the 2018 music video of O Jaana from the singer-songwriter Hamza Malik, starring actress Iqra Aziz and featuring musicians Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Sahir Ali Bagga.[13][14]
Personal life
Saeed married Urwa Hocane on December 16, 2016, in Lahore, Pakistan.[15][16][17] On October 6, 2023, Saeed and Hocane announced their pregnancy through social media.[18] On 3 January 2024, the couple had their first child, a daughter, who was named Jahan Aara Saeed.
Discography
Film songs
TV series songs
Non-film songs
Albums
Singles
Music video director
Filmography
Films
Television
Telefilms
Accolades
References
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^Web Desk (19 February 2010),
"Jal singer Farhan Butt held at Lahore airport", Dawn News. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
^Xari Jalil and Ramsha Jahangir (20 July 2018),
"The music of politicking", Dawn News. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
^admin on (18 February 2010). "Farhan Saeed's Café Rock opening, rocked!". Tvmasty.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
^Kari, Maria (7 June 2022). "Farhan Saeed hasn't worked a day in 17 years". Dawn News. Retrieved 3 September 2022. Fame first found Saeed at 17 when he came on as a vocalist for Jal the Band.
^Goyal, Samarth (11 August 2018). "Farhan Saeed has 'no regrets' on quitting Jal". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 11 September 2022. Farhan replaced Atif Aslam in 2003 after the latter had decided to call it quits due to "musical differences" between him and founding member, Goher Mumtaz.
^Mahmood, Rafay. "Farhan leaves Jal – The Express Tribune". Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
^"Mere Ajnabi – ARY Digital". www.arydigital.tv. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
^Naqvi, Ahmer (30 May 2016). "Pop goes the silver screen! How musicians in Pakistan found their niche in cinema – again".
^Ayesha Ghaffar (5 November 2018), "Farhan Saeed reveals why he opted out of Karachi Se Lahore 3", SomethingHaute. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
^Staff Report (19 January 2019), "Urwa confirms Farhan Saeed, Feroze Khan as ‘Tich Button’ leads", Daily Times. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
^NewsBytes (5 January 2018), "Farhan Saeed set for directorial debut", International The News. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
^Asma Malik (21 July 2018), "Hamza Malik, Iqra Aziz’s mesmerizing clips from ‘O Jaana’ will melt your heart", Daily Pakistan. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
^"Urwa, Farhan say 'qubool hai' at Badshahi Mosque". 16 December 2016 – via Geo News.
^"Twitter gets creative with this photo of Urwa and Farhan". Images. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
^"Urwa Hocane, Farhan Saeed celebrate a year of matrimony with sizzling photoshoot". The Express Tribune. 17 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
^Web Desk (7 October 2023). "3 of us: Farhan Saeed, Urwa Hocane expecting their first child. 3 January born Jhan Aara Saeed, their first baby girl". ARY NEWS. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
^Zee Music Company (21 July 2018). "O Jaana – Official Music Video – Hamza Malik Feat. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan – Sahir Ali Bagga – Rohit K". Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2018 – via YouTube.
^Tribune.com.pk (20 August 2017). "Farhan Saeed's cameo in 'Punjab Nahi Jaungi' will heal your soul". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
^Tribune.com.pk (14 January 2019). "Farhan Saeed, Feroze Khan to star in 'Tich Button'". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
^Desk, Entertainment (13 October 2014). "Jal's Farhan Saeed to make acting debut with 'Daay Ijazat Jo Tu'". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 11 May 2019. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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^Ifrah Salman (4 April 2017), "Urwa Hocane, Farhan Saeed bag 5 nominations at Hum Awards 2017", hipinpakistan. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
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^"Virtuoso Maria Wasti talks about life, experiences, women rights, upcoming projects". Daily Times. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
^tabloid!, Usman Ghafoor, Special to (7 May 2018). "Farhan Saeed back with 'Suno Chanda' serial". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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^Tribune.com.pk (8 May 2019). "These 'Suno Chanda 2' memes are taking over the internet!". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
^Shabbir, Buraq (18 July 2019). "Farhan Saeed and Sohai Ali Abro come together for Prem Gali". The News. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
^"First look of 'Mere Humsafar' featuring Hania and Farhan Saeed revealed". Daily Times. 23 December 2021.
^"Fans applaud Farhan Saeed for breaking the 'men don't cry' stereotype in Mere Humsafar's latest episode". Dawn Images. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
^"Sana Javed and Farhan Saeed to share screen for the first time in Hum TV's upcoming drama". Oyeyeah. 26 September 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
^"Fans can't get over Farhan Saeed, Urwa Hocane's reunion in 'Meri Shehzadi'". The Express Tribune. 23 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
^News Desk (28 May 2023). "Farhan Saeed to show up as Pakistani Dabangg". 24 News HD. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
^"Kaisi Hai Ye Ruswai: Hania Aamir and Farhaan Saeed reunite after Mere Humsafar for a tale of love, talaash, and mystery". Pinkvilla. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
^Tribune.com.pk (4 August 2018). "Saba Qamar, Farhan Saeed to star in 'Iss Dil Ki Essi Ki Tessi'". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
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^"Lux Style Awards 2023 nominations out now: Pasoori, Joyland, Mere Humsafar reign supreme". The Express Tribune. 27 September 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
