Meesha Shafi
Meesha Shafi | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Meera Pervez Shafi |
| Born | December 1, 1981 (age 42) Lahore, Pakistan |
| Origin | Karachi, Pakistan |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Actress, Model |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, lyrics |
| Spouse | |
Meesha Shafi (Urdu: میشا شافی) (born December 1, 1981 Lahore), is a Pakistani actress, model and a singer who has appeared in Pakistani, Hollywood and Bollywood films.[1]
Shafi made her film debut with a supporting role in the 2013 Mira Nair's Hollywood film The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which was moderately successful at the box office. Her portrayal of a confident, modern-day Pakistani singer, drew critical appreciation. The following year she appeared in Bollywood film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, which rank among the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2013 in India. She achieved further critical and commercial success for her role of Laxmi, an Indian spy agency Research in the 2013 Bilal Lashari's action thriller Pakistani film Waar, which rank among the first highest-grossing Pakistani film of all time in Pakistan.
In 2010, she became famous after her song, Alif Allah (Jugni), with Arif Lohar on Coke Studio Pakistan became a huge hit, garnering over 14 million views on YouTube to date, holding the record for the most viewed Pakistani song on YouTube ever.
In addition to singing and acting in films, she is active in humanitarian work, has a number of endorsement deals and is regarded as one of the most popular actresses and singers in Pakistan, India as well as in the United States of America.
Early life
Shafi was born on December 1, 1981 into a Muslim family in Lahore, Pakistan to actress Saba Hameed and Syed Pervaiz Shafi. She is the step-daughter of actor Waseem Abbas, sister of Faris Shafi, an actor and a rapper. Her maternal grandfather Hameed Akhtar was a Urdu writer, paternal grandfather Inayat Hussain Bhatti was a singer and director and her cousin Agha Ali is also an actor.
Shafi did her A Levels from Lahore Grammar School and holds a degree of Art from National College of Arts.[2]
Career
Modelling
Shafi entered the modelling industry at the age of 17, when she starred opposite Jawad Ahmed in the music video for the song "Bin Teray Kya Hai Jeena".[3] In 2011, Shafi became the brand ambassador for L’Oreal Paris Pakistan.[2][4] She has featured in many Pakistani magazines and in international publications such as L'Officiel and Vogue India.[3] She has also appeared in commercials for Coca-Cola, Fanta, LG mobile phones, Mobilink, Allied Bank, Lipton Tea, among others. In 2013, Shafi won the "Best Show Stopper" Award at the "Paper Awards 2013" by Paper Magazine.[citation needed]
Acting
I am proud of the way Ali Zafar is managing to hold hid won in Bollywood, but I have my roots in Pakistan and continued to live here. I could never consider the raunchy humor and item songs that have now become such a major part of Indian films.
Shafi made her screen debut with the 2010 serial Muhabbat Khawab Ki Soorat on Hum TV. She then appeared in Geo TV serial Ye Zindagi To Woh Nahi in 2010.
She made her film debut with Mira Nair's 2013 Hollywood film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist (based on Mohsin Hamid’s novel of the same name), alongside Kate Hudson and Riz Ahmed. The film describes the bad impact of Americans toward Muslims after 9/11. Shafi played the confident, modern-day Pakistani singer. The film received mixed reviews from critics, and was moderately successful at the box office; however, Shafi's performance was praised by film critics.[5]
While talking about her selection in The Reluctant Fundamentalist she said,
"I was selected for the film without audition. Mira Nair invited me to meet her when she was in Lahore scouting for actors. At that time I didn’t even know what I was going to meet her for. But once the role was offered to me, I did not hesitate in taking it up. Opportunity comes, and I’ve been very lucky with that."
The following year, she starred in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Bollywood film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, alongside Farhan Akhtar and Sonam Kapoor. The film revolves based on the life of Milkha Singh, an Indian athlete who was a national champion runner and an Olympian. Shafi played the rebellious Perizaad, Milkha Singh's best friend. The film opened to tremendous critical acclaim and was termed as a huge box office success ranking third highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2013 in India and Shafi earned critical acclaim for her performance.
She achieved further critical and commercial success in Bilal Lashari's Pakistani film Waar, alongside Shaan Shahid. The film rank among the first highest-grossing Pakistani film of all time in Pakistan. Her portrayal of Laxmi, an Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing's operative was critically praised.
As of October 2013, Shafi has several projects in various stages of production, and is filming Hollywood film The Tournament of Shadows (based on the Karl Meyer's novel of the same name), a biopic set in the 1800’s.
Music career
Shafi started her singing career with the bandOverload with herhusband, but left the band in 2011. Shafi became an overnight success with the runaway success of her collaboration with Arif Lohar on Coke Studio Pakistan Season 3, with the song "Alif Allah (Jugni)". The single with Lohar gathered over 13+ million views on YouTube, and is the most-viewed Coke Studio song ever, and was used in several films like Cocktail, Diary of a Butterfly and Jugni. She also sang a unique rendition of the classic folk song "Chori Chori", which also was viewed extensively on YouTube and received more critical acclaim than "Jugni". She returned to Coke Studio (Season 5) in 2012 in where she sang "Ishq Aap Bhi Awalla" with the Chakwalees, and sang a ghazal by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, "Dasht-e-Tanhai". She has also contributed to the soundtrack of The Reluctant Fundamentalist in a track produced by Mahmood Rahman.
TV appearance
In April 2013, Shafi joined Strings, Ali Azmat, Shahzad Hasan and Alamgir as a judge on the singing talent show Cornetto Music Icons, aired on ARY Digital.
Personal life
Shafi is married to guitarist and former fellow Overload band member, Mahmood Rahman, and has one daughter named Janevi.[6]
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Bina | English | |
| Bhaag Milkha Bhaag | Perizaad | Hindi | ||
| Waar | Laxmi | Urdu | ||
| The Tournament of Shadows | English | Post-production |
Discography
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Pichal Pairee |
| 2012 | The Reluctant Fundamentalist |
Coke Studio songs
| Year | Song | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Chori Chori | Originally sung by Reshma. |
| 2010 | Alif Allah (Jugni) | Performed with Arif Lohar |
| 2012 | Dasht-e-Tanhai | Originally sung by Iqbal Bano. |
| 2012 | Ishq Aap Bhe Awalla | Performed with Chakwal Group. |
See also
References
- ^ "About: Meesha Shafi". Web PK. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
- ^ a b "Meesha interview with Fashion Central". Fashion Central. 6 April 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
- ^ a b c Mansuri, Anam. "It's getting hot in here". Tribune Pakistan.
- ^ Hirani, Shireen. "Meesha Shafi Biography & Pictures". Fashion In Step. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ http://magazine.thenews.com.pk/mag/detail_article.asp?id=5309&magId=11
- ^ "Yummy mummies".