With an idyllic face, alluring smile, and invigorating vocals, Fariha was born on February 2 as an Aquarius. Coming from a traditional family, she had little hope of making a career in singing. She keenly watched Arifa Siddiqui, her cousin, doing her 'riaz.' Arifa gave Fariha lots of encouragement, “She gave me audios of maestros to learn from.” Fariha recalls fondly. “I inherited passion for singing from my father though," she explains. “He could not be a singer due to opposition from his family so he encouraged me.”
Fariha hosted a kids' singing show and flirted with acting briefly. After a few years of learning and experimenting, she joined Maestro Feroze Gill and Ustad Ghulam Hussain Shagan, belonging to Gwalior Gharana, in 1995 to train her voice. Then, she met Mr. Sattar Khan, a renowned advertiser, who, persuaded by her abilities, swayed Fariha to do an experimental album. Released in mid nineties and titled "Nice & Naughty”, it broke all records of popularity. The Basant song “Dil Hua Bo Katal” became a trendsetter and boosted Basant's popularity to unprecedented heights.
Fariha's velvety vocals made her concentrate on singing soft and low-keyed 'kheyals,' “I like soft numbers since one has to build expressions and bring out feelings,” she exploins. 'Shukria' is her own favourite ghaza1 from Music Viewzik.
Fariha agrees life of pop is very short. “You can attract people with pop until you are young but after a certain age, you cannot,” she says somberly. “SO I started classical training that supported me singing soft numbers. I concentrate on both pop and soft concurrently as pop is in. I crave to do superior work so people like it.”
Unlike some singers, Fariha listens to all Pakistani singers. Her favourites are Saiiad Ali and Mehnaz. She believes people enjoy melodious folk numbers. “Despite becoming modern or making contemporary compositions, we have to blend our and western music. Nusrat Fateh Ali started the fusion, Junoon took it a step forward, and Hadiqa did it too with 'Manay Dee Mauj."'
Fariha is an unpretentious person who feels uncomfortable while receiving accolades, "When someone praises me, I feel they are praising someone else. My personality is unsuitable for showbiz: I am too humble and down to earth," She likes "refined and self-effacing people "and dislikes "conceits that forget their past." Togetherness is Farihas idea of romantic evening. "You just have to be with the person you care for. The amenities do not matter," she says, throwing her head back and laughing.
She concentrates not only on commercial aspect of her profession, she performs at weekly radio shows too, I go to radio to learn and experiment. I prefer to sing live but if it is being taped, I use DAT so the quality of the recording does not suffer. Not satisfied by approach of people towards showbiz, especially singers, she declares, “I want attitude of people towards music to change. Although we have come a long way, we still need to open our minds.”
In showbiz, she wants artists' attitude towards one another to change, “I want us to be as integrated as artists anywhere. I am not against jealousy as long as it serves to better our performances. However, there is negative jealousy among us. I believe if someone is ahead of me, he or she deserves to be.
Fariha has sung for quite a few movies but she feels very few people are risk takers, “If a certain concept is a hit, everyone else does the idea to death. No one tries someone new or different. However, since I do selected work, people approach me with something atypical; I recently did a song withJawad Ahmad for Shan’s movie ‘Musa’. I have been privileged to work with greats like Zulfiqar Ali, Wajahat Attrary, M. Arshad, and Amjad Bobby."
Having traffic-stopping looks and a smile to launch a thousand ships, a leading role in Syed Noor's movie was inevitable. However, she politely declined feeling a misfit in Lollywood. Looking back, Fariha believes she made the right choice, “Acting is a specialised job and I find it hard to cry and laugh without my own volition. You can do something you are not cut out for but you should not push your luck and test viewers' patience. I can act but I cannot take it up as a profession."
About standards of recent music, she says, "We are not concentrating on the quality and, instead, work hard on a song or two. Some singers seldom pass the acid test of singing live as the gadgets they employ dont support them there," she points out wryly.
Fariha has released her fourth album "0 Waila Yaad Kar," with her trademark songs. "It has soft and pop songs with all the colors of music. These are not the kind of songs I am known for." she claims.
She feels she cannot attribute her success to a single person but trusts she earned phenomenal success through sheer hard work. She agrees success is 99 per cent perspiration and 1 per cent inspiration.
Ten years from today, Fariha sees herself doing selective work. She may even leave at the pinnacle to become a homemaker. Although very comfortable with her choice and career, Fariha makes a hefty wish, "I wish I could be reborn as a male" without considering the colossal loss her male fans would suffer.
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