Shehzad Roy Shehzad Roy is back and this time he isn’t making political wisecracks or shouting slogans. Rather, he’s stepped into his avatar of yore, of the love struck hero romancing a glamorous leading lady. Nineteen years into his career, now married and father to 19-month old Sikandar, Shehzad has retained his boyish good looks. In his upcoming video, Jind Jaan, he epitomises the smoldering bad boy, complete with abs, tousled hair, leather jacket, an iconic red and white-striped Mustang 65 and for the first time on screen, a beard.
It’s a far cry from Shehzad’s considerable spate of socio-political songs where he tirades for the common man. This new video, where he acts opposite Iman Ali, is stylised and replete with film-starry glamour. And while Shehzad’s upcoming movie debut is still in the pipeline, Jind Jaan serves as a teaser to the singer’s potential as absolute ‘hero material’.
Singing along with him is Zoe Viccaji, in an initial attempt at singing in Punjabi. “Zoe has a husky, very modern voice,” observes Shehzad. “She sounds great; nailing the dialect while at the same time sounding distinctively raw.”
“I just wanted to do something different,” he continues. “Since 2003, I have been deeply involved with Zindagi Trust where we have sought to reform government schools. It’s a colossal task, akin to turning over a mini-government. We’ve changed policies, implemented infrastructure and tried to improve educational standards. Consequently, the songs I ended up singing were directed towards social activism.”
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“A lot of people would tell me that I needed to occasionally revert to lighter music. It’s why Jind Jaan has finally come about. There is a very Fast and the Furious scene featuring some fantastic cars including the Mustang my character drives, all borrowed from my friends. Then, there are scenes within the studio with Iman. We had often talked about working together and she is an ideal choice for the video’s female lead, who is a beautiful girl haunted by her past.”