Nazia Hassan: The Queen Who Defined Brown Pop

Words by Shahzada Qasim

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This is a rare vintage poster for the National Dance Ensemble from Pakistan when they made their grand debut performance in New York City in 1973 at the Hulu Theatre in Madison Square Garden. The show featured celebrated Kathak dancer Nahid Siddiqui who rose to fame in the 70s but in the late 70s, martial law was declared in Pakistan and dancing was banned. She left Pakistan and relocated to London but was told she couldn't dance anywhere in the world without the permission from the government of Pakistan. Siddiqui defied these rules though and continued to dance. "How can you ban beauty?" asked Siddiqui. (Available now as print)

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Recommended Reads:

General Rani: The Mistress Who Ruled Pakistan from the Shadows

The Rice Puddings of South Asia

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Nazia Hassan: The Queen Who Defined Brown Pop

Actress Zeenat Aman swirls on melodic tunes and Urdu lyrics on the song ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ in the 1980 Bollywood film ‘Qurbani’. Arguably with conformity to the image of ‘boldness’ often associated with her, Zeenat Aman dances in a club, having donned a red cutout dress as the love gaze of the movie hero, Feroz Khan, shrouds her moving body. While the scene is typical of a Bollywood’s item number, the song behind it was of unprecedented unorthodoxy — sung by the new-found, young voice of a 14 year old, Nazia Hassan. Beyond capturing the hearts of the cinema audiences, the song became a household word on both sides of the border. Bollywood for years had maintained a monopoly in the popular South Asian music industry. And so none had predicted that a Pakistani singer, as youthful as Nazia Hassan, would suddenly somehow emerge as a potential breaker of that monopoly.