Farhan Saeed Butt is a singer-songwriter, actor, music video director, and entrepreneur from Pakistan. Saeed is the former lead vocalist of the Pakistani band Jal and the owner of the Lahore eatery Cafe Rock. He performs in Urdu and Punjabi. Farhan Saeed Butt was born into a Kashmiri Punjabi family. His parents are both medical doctors. He was a music aficionado from the beginning, listening to Vital Signs and Junoon and focusing on pop and folk music. He took A-levels at the Keynesian Institute of Management and Sciences (KIMS) in his teens before enrolling in Computer Sciences at the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, where he met future band members Atif Aslam and Goher Mumtaz.
The band took off and became well-known throughout Asia. His admirers were startled when the news came that he had split up with Jal in 2011. He pursued a solo career and became a fixture on Bollywood screens. Saeed opened the Cafe Rock restaurant in Hussain Chowk, Gulberg, Lahore, on M. M. Alam Road. His restaurant’s theme is similar to that of Hard Rock Cafes in that it provides a platform for underground bands and young aspiring artists to project themselves and perform in front of an audience. He married Urwa Hocane, an actress. At the age of 17, Saeed rose to attention as a vocalist in the Lahore-based pop rock band Jal.
Saeed took over for Atif Aslam, who left the band in 2003 due to musical disputes with founding member Goher Mumtaz. In an exclusive interview with The Express Tribune on September 2011, Saeed startled fans, by revealing that he had left goal to pursue a solo career, despite Goher Mumtaz’s promise to continue his solo career while remaining a member of Jal. Goher Mumtaz, Jal’s guitarist, confirmed Saeed’s departure and wished him well in his solo career. For his super-successful song “Na Cher malangaan nu,” he collaborated with Aima Baig, Adnan Qazi, and Bilal Saeed. His most recent song was written with Hania Aamir for Asim Jofa and directed by Qasim Ali Mureed. He made his Bollywood singing debut with a song in Vikram Bhatt’s Creature 3D. The song, Naam-e-Wafa, is a love duet featuring Indian vocalist Tulsi Kumar and composer Mithoon.
Saeed made his acting debut in the 2014 Hum TV drama serial De Ijazat Jo Tu, opposite Sohai Ali Abro, Saba Hameed, and Javaid Sheikh. He later starred as Mohid Shuja in ARY Digital’s Mere Ajnabi alongside Urwa Hocane, who played the female protagonist. He also played Arsh, a lawyer, in the drama Udaari, which had a female lead. In addition to performing in the drama, Saeed teamed with Hadiqa Kiani on the OST, which has topped music charts across Pakistan. He also appeared in ARY Digital’s Teri Chah Mein with Maria Wasti and Saboor Ali, and Hum TV’s Sila with Ainy Jaffri. He landed the lead role of Arsal Jamshed Ali (Arsal) in Hum TV’s critically and financially successful drama serial Suno Chanda, alongside Iqra Aziz, and due to the show’s critical success, the producers promptly announced a season 2. In the second edition of Suno Chanda, he resumed his role as Arsal Jamshed Ali with Iqra Aziz.
The season was likewise a critical and commercial success. Saeed has recently completed filming for two future projects with Hania Amir: one is a web series produced and directed by Wajahat Rauf, and the other is a drama directed by Qasim Ali Mureed and starring Amir. He is currently starring as “Hamza” in “Mere Humsafar” alongside female protagonist Hania Amir. He was set to star in Karachi Se Lahore 3 with Kubra Khan, the third part of Wajahat Rauf’s blockbuster series, which includes the box-office smashes Karachi Se Lahore and Lahore Se Aagey, and which would have been his feature film debut, but he had to drop out due to music tours and concerts. Tich Button, a rom-com co-produced by his wife Urwa Hocane under their joint new production business Shooting Star Studio, was touted as his first starring part in a film. He made his directorial debut with the music video for Hamza Malik’s O Jaana, starring actress Iqra Aziz and musicians Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Sahir Ali Bagga.
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