As Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani is the only Indian on the list, a star across the border also joined the list – thanks to the remarkable success of his song. Riding on Pasoori“, which is a Punjabi song, Pakistani singer Ali Sethi made his surprise entry to Time Magazine’s Time100 Next list. The amazing song was made for Coke Studio Pakistan Season 14.
In spite of the increasing tensions between the two nations, Pasoori sung by Sethi and Shae Gill has gained approximately 400 million views on YouTube and has received a tremendous amount of support in India. The first Pakistani song to be a part of Spotify’s “Viral 50 – Global” chart eventually came to the top of the chart.
Sethis great gift is that he is able to use an ancient form of music from the region, the classical raga, to challenge and expand notions of gender, sexuality, and belonging. Pasoori” is a virtuoso demonstration of how artists can, in subtle ways, subvert the restrictions that are being imposed upon them by new forms of authoritarianism and intolerance,” media publication about Ali Sethi.
From 2002 until 2006, Sethi is a graduate of Harvard College. His original major choice was Economics, but he switched to South Asian Studies. Along with working on the features board of The Harvard Advocate, he also performed annually for Ghungroo, Harvard’s largest student-run show concentrating on the South Asian diaspora. Ali Sethi moved to Harvard recently to perform the chartbuster.
Moreover, The Wish Maker, Ali Sethi’s first book, was released in 2009 that tells the story of three generations of characters living in a middle-class, liberal neighborhood in Lahore as they navigate Pakistan’s political past. Sethi started writing the book in 2006, his senior year at Harvard; he completed it in Lahore after writing a second draft while living in New York City.