His hypnotic voice moved millions to rapture—but his life was cut short at the peak of his powers.
The untold story of one of the world's greatest singers, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Releasing September 2024
‘Lost Album’ - Chain of Light
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The recordings were forgotten in warehouse storage and rediscovered when the label was relocating its archive.
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'Ya Gaus Ya Meeran' is a very difficult composition that changes patterns and isn't easy for anyone to sing.
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Joined by his eight-strong party of singers and musicians, Chain of Light presents four traditional qawwalis — including one which has never been heard before.
Our film will be the definitive biopic of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
His childhood friends tell us his father—an esteemed exponent of Qawwali, befitting the family's 600 year old legacy—wrote Nusrat off as being tone deaf. Nusrat first sang at his father's funeral, only when his father granted him permission to do so in a dream, and went from there to become King of Kings of Qawwali. He popularized the genre on the global stage, collaborating with the best musicians in the world and composing for the finest Hollywood directors.
His manager, successor, biographers, physician, accompanists, collaborators, students, ethnomusicologist-colleague, fans and family have all shared intimate accounts of a very gentle, humble man. He took little interest in things other than music, least of all his own failing health. We have a vast library of rarely seen or heard archives which will help us paint a rich portrait of a simple man devoted to his music—via which he wished to spread a peaceful message of Islam—but was surrounded by complex personalities, wanting different things.
The Team
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Saiyna Bashir
Producer
Saiyna Bashir is a Pakistani photojournalist currently based in Islamabad, Pakistan, with a focus on documenting migration, gender, healthcare, and climate change in her images. She has also contributed to leading media outlets including The New York Times, National Geographic Magazine, and The Washington Post among others. Bashir has also worked as a consultant photographer for UN agencies and other International NGO’s.
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Zakir Thaver
Producer
Zakir Thaver developed and produced feature length documentary Salam - The First ****** Nobel Laureate, which has garnered accolades and critical acclaim. Zakir has previously worked as a Consultant for ITV Studios in New York where he worked on a number of true crime programs. His current projects include a true-crime documentary series as well as an international espionage documentary series about events of global significance that took place in Pakistan in 2011.
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Olivia Qasir
Associate Producer
Olivia Qasir is a filmmaker based in Lahore, Pakistan. Her early schooling was in Lahore; she then proceeded to London for her higher education from SOAS and then King's College, where she majored in History. She has done freelance filmmaking for Vice India and Vice World News, where she directed and produced Why We March: Women of Lahore, and Inside Pakistan's War on TikTok. Olivia is also Director Marketing and Publications at Bloomfield Hall School.
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Sabika Noor Ali
Production Coordinator
Sabika Noor Ali is a filmmaker from Karachi, Pakistan. With a recent professional pivot to the medium of film, she has worked on commercials and documentaries. Sabika was selected for the HER Earth Advocates Program - an initiative of SOC Films and Patakha Pictures. For this, she produced a documentary called Lost to the Light which follows the impact of climate change, specifically lightning, on the region of Tharparkar.