Farhan Saeed says he performed an updated version of “Dil Dil Pakistan” In India.

Farhan Saeed, a former member of the band Jal and current actor, recently discussed his time spent performing in India. In one story set in Delhi, he starts playing Dil Dil Pakistan unexpectedly, much to the chagrin of his bandmates.

Farhan talks about the time he took a huge risk by adapting a local song for an Indian audience in a video for Brut India. ‘Dil Dil Pakistan, Jaan Jaan Pakistan,’ he said, referring to a popular song from his country. There was this one time when we were playing Aadat for a throng of about 30,000 people in Delhi. When you’re on stage, the adrenaline rush causes you to act irrationally.

The performer then elaborated on the topic at hand, describing how the revised lyrics ultimately brought the audience to its feet in laughter. My band had no idea what I was planning. I broke out in song. First, the words “Aisi zameen, aur aasmaan.” The members of my band gave me the “What is he doing?” look as soon as I began. Here we are in India, and he is saying… So I reassured them, “Don’t worry; I’ve got this.” So, I jumped in with this.

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He continued, “And then I went like Dil Dil Pakistan, Jaan Jaan Hindustan. The crowd went absolutely insane when I did that. We were singing when they joined in. My band was like, “Well done, wow,” after that. What a wonderful action. Everyone there seemed ecstatic. Eventually, it settled into our routine.

In Calcutta, however, the ritual appeared to run into trouble when a group of about twenty-five individuals gathered because they found offense in the band’s performance of the song due to certainly misunderstood pronunciations. “So we went to Calcutta and did the same thing,” Saeed recalled.

Calcuttans speak Bengali as their native tongue, but we didn’t realize that at the time. That they wouldn’t get what we were saying was a surprise to us. Thus, the cheers we received after proclaiming “Dil Dil Pakistan, Jaan Jaan Hindustan” were well-deserved. However, 20–25 individuals have gathered behind the stage and are acting aggressively.

Saeed continued by saying that they had wondered why the group was meeting. “They misunderstood us to be saying, ‘Dil Dil Pakistan, ja ja Hindustan.'” That’s hilarious. When they found out that we were saying “Jaan Jaan Hindustan,” they found it hilarious.

Saeed also discussed the effects of the political schism between India and Pakistan on the creative community. “Arts and sports should be left alone; they shouldn’t be politicized at all,” said the pop star, who is famous in both the United States and Canada.