Ahista Ahista composer Kazinama: People didn’t know about Musarrat Nazir at all

A reinvented version of the 1980s song Ahista Ahista by Musarrat Nazir has been trending on Instagram reels for the last month. The credit for it goes to composer and music producer Kazinama, who gave a modern musical touch to the original song and presented it for the new generation. Ask him about his inspiration behind it and he says, “I stumbled upon this artiste Musarrat Nazir, and I’d heard this song before. So, I kind of resurrected it because people didn’t know about Musarrat Nazir at all.”

While he is happy with the love the song is receiving, Kazinama admits he didn’t expect such a response. “I already had my niche audience through my YouTube channel. But now it has grown to a bigger number. I didn’t know that this song can blow up on this level. The real magic happened after I put it on for streaming. The lyrics are such good lyrics that can be associated with any kind of situation and that’s why people are making a lot of reels in different situations,” he says.

Kazinama has had many celebrities also make reels on his song, including actors Ananya Panday, Nimrat Kaur and Sonam Kapoor, and he is ecstatic about it. “I got messages from many celebrities including Anu Malik, saying my work was masterfully done. I was like ‘am I dreaming?’ I think the whole wave started from Pakistan and my second biggest chunk of audience is from there,” he says, adding that he feels proud of being the unifying factor between the two countries: “I feel very proud because many people have approached me saying, ‘love from India’, not knowing that I am an Indian. They see me as a Pakistani and they love my music. When I tell them I am from India, they love me more. I’m doing a peace work.”

While he is enjoying the reel popularity, the musician accepts the fleetingness of it and how it has all become a 15-second trend. “I know this is a quick gratification time as people are just doing a thumb exercise by scrolling. And of course it affects my musicality in a way, because usually, you gradually build a song as it’s a story telling. But if you just shorten it, it’s like an adaptation of it. My challenge is that I have to give in that kick in one minute so that people could go to my YouTube channel, or music streaming apps, and listen to the whole song,” he shares.

Kazinama gives a modern touch to old classics without changing any lyrics or vocals of it. It is a kind of recreation, so ask him his take on remakes and he says, “I call myself a recycling agent. As for recreations, if I say it bluntly, the industry is not doing a great job, especially in creating new melodies from old ones. Either you give it a different dimension or just make it better than the original. Then you can call it a remake. Otherwise, you just spoiled a very good melody line.”