atif aslam pic 27 - Atif attended high School at PAF College Lahore, where he played Cricket and became interested in music. He attended PICS (Punjab Institute of Computer Science) to do his Bachelors in Computer Science (BCs). It was at PICS Lahore that he met guitarist and talented young composer, Gohar Mumtaz. This lead to performances at their college and at various restaurants eventually pushing the pair into finding a name for their subtly formed band, which they duly named 'Jal' - which means Water - (the issue of which musician was truly responsible for the name “Jal” is still disputed). Working together, the pair recorded the song Aadat (with the help of Salman Albert, amongst other established and accomplished Pakistani musicians). It became popular on a host of promotional Pakistani music websites. The song was also played on such Pakistani radio stations as FM100 and FM105. The music video for Aadat was shot one day in a warehouse in Karachi. On the base of this one song, “Jal” began their tour of Pakistan—such was the strength of “Aadat”. However, whilst on tour, personal problems led to a verbal bust-up resulting in an unannounced and indefinite hiatus, during which Atif launched his solo career. Atif Aslam, after leaving Jal, released a new solo album, Jal Pari (ironically meaning 'Mermaid') which was a big hit. The Songs Woh Lamhey, Dil Haarey and few others were smash hits on both Pakistani radio stations and Music Channels. As both the Jal, “Aadat”, and Atif’s album, Jalpari, shared certain tracks (such as “Aadat”, “Bheegi Raatein/Wo Lamhey”, “Ankhon se”) an unofficial war over rights began which resulted in both sides claiming to possess hard proof to support their respective claims (that, they alone owned the concerned songs). The hype this feud gave to both Atif and the new Jal was extraordinary and split the musical nation with the fans of each side backing their respective favourite. Whilst the drama of lyrics & composition ownership continued in Pakistan, Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt called Atif Aslam to seek his consent to include 'Woh Lamhey' in the soundtrack of his new motion picture, Zeher (2005). The song (especially the remix version) became a huge hit & dominated airplay on almost all major FM stations throughout India for a period of 6-8 months. This pattern of a slow playback song by Atif in the movie, supplemented by a remix version released for radio airplay was to become standard procedure with Atif’s songs on the Indian market