Turkish duo strikes again, pays tribute to Junaid Jamshed

The charismatic Turkish duo — with one of them bearing an uncanny resemblance to Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan — have made a comeback with another Urdu song from the 90s.

After presenting an adorable rendition of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s ‘Afreen Afreen’, the Turkish guys this time around have paid tribute to late iconic Pakistani singer Junaid Jamshed.

We got a chance to have a talk with the young men — Emirhan Özdemir and Çağrı Hakan Eser — and ask about their avid interest in Urdu, Pakistani songs.

Both the 23-year-olds are enrolled in a university in Ankara and huge fans of qawwali maestro Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan.

“We love Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and his songs. We even listen to them every time we are hanging out on the weekends. When we heard his song Afreen Afreen and the Coke Studio version, we both listened to the song over and over again that the song lyrics became really easy to sing and memorise,” the duo told us.

When asked which other songs they have heard of the legendary qawwali singer, they named ‘Sanuu Aik Pal Chayn Na Awaay’, ‘Wohi Khuda Hai’ and ‘Rashk-e-Kamar’. 

After listening to this, we were really curious to know how did the two pick up such tricky tunes, that also in Urdu. Emirhan and Hakan said that they know few words of Urdu only, although they feel that both Turkish and Urdu are quite similar.

Sometimes words in these song lyrics are the same words used in our Turkish language as well, they said.

The two said that they did not expect their video to go viral and were overwhelmed with the response.

When the discussion came to the latest video of them serenading us with JJ’s famous song ‘Aitebaar bhi aa he jaaye ga’, the two were no different than an average Pakistani JJ fan.

“Junaid Jamshed is one of our favorite singers from beautiful Pakistan. We were very saddened when we heard about the accident and his sudden demise. We thought it was very important for us to give our respects all the way from Turkey,” said Emirhan.

Emirhan said that his grandfather was a former politician and also a member of Pakistan Sevenler Derneği (Pakistan Lovers Association).

“He used to teach me a lot about Pakistan. My father introduced me to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Junaid Jamshed,” he said.

Emirhan said that he and Hakan are friends since high school and also used to sing songs together.

When asked if they have been mentored by anyone, they said that they have never been taught to sing in Urdu by anyone.

“We don't have a mentor. We learn it ourselves because of our keen interest in Pakistan. Pakistan is our brother country,” the two said.

Watch their earlier video of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's 'Afreen Afreen' here:

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— Nida Mujahid Hussain works at Geo.tv as an Associate Producer