Even as Bollywood director Karan Johar’s “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” has been faced with the trial by fire of patriotism, a Malayalam song is receiving warm cross-border treatment. A recent video of a Pakistani woman singing the popular hit “Malare” from the film “Premam” is going viral on social media.
“Since I have met so many friends from Kerala, India and Dubai, it’s my wish to dedicate a Malayali song for you people,” Dubai-based Nazia Amim Muhammad says at the start of the video. Nazia, a native of Karachi, also apologises in advance for any mistakes she might make with the language.
But the smile on your lips only grows wider as she gingerly navigates her way through the labyrinth of Malayalam pronounciations with the assistance of written lyrics. By the time she sings “Azhake…” she has already misstepped, laughed at herself, and won many hearts.
The one-and-a-half-minute video that is now going viral seems to have first been uploaded in September.
Speaking to The News Minute, Nazia says that Malayalam is the 22nd language in which she has sung.
"I heard the song a few times and one day I randomly recorded it while at the office and sent it to a couple of Malayali friends. One of them then shared it on Facebook. I wrote down the lyrics in English to sing the song," Nazia says.
She says that one of her Malayali friends later shared the video on Facebook in the background of the on-going tensions between Pakistan and India.
Nazia, whose mother is an Indian, says that she has always wanted peace between the two nations.
Nazia, who is currently based in Dubai is a business development executive.