Hassan Raheem has finally revealed the reason he is reluctant to give interviews. While talking to Gloss Etc, the Joona singer said that he isn’t asked about his art; instead the media is only interested in his personal life.
“Personally for me, the media doesn’t highlight the musical aspect when talking about me, despite how emotionally connected we are to it. They are always interested in my personal life, which is stuff that I don’t want to talk about. Which is why when someone comes up to me I want them to ask me about my music,” Raheem said.
He also talked about the conversation on proper security and protection provided to women and families on concerts, after the Karachi Eat Festival debacle. Singer Kaifi Khalil, who had cancelled his session after the event was mismanaged, had taken to social media to criticize men for behaving badly by drinking, harassing women and even attending the festival without a ticket.
Raheem revealed that his fan base comprised mostly of young women, and some of them also attended his concerts with their families, and cared about the fact that they have a good time, because an artist’s true connection with a fan happens on stage.
“My fans are mostly young women, and then other people who come to my concerts bring along their families. When you see something like this happening from the stage it creates a lot of discomfort for me, and I don’t want to take the show forward until we resolve this issue… I hope that any one who listens to me in their bedrooms, should be able to attend my concerts because they feel safe. That fees like a dream come true and that’s what I want. An artist’s main connection with a fan happens on stage. I forget everything when I’m on stage for the next hour. When I climb the stage, I go into a different state, and I know that I have to sing for that fan who is here to listen to me. I know that when I look them in the eye and sing, I know that I’m having a lot of fun and so is that fan. We have this telepathic connection which takes me to some other place. So when this is happening in a safe environment then that’s even better for me.”
On how this matter could be resolved, the ‘Faltu Pyar’ singer said there should be separate circles for men and women in concerts to prevent harassment or accidents from taking place.
“We create separate circles for both men and women who come to attend concerts. And then we dictate to everyone who is coming to the show that how they should behave, and act in a civilized manner at a place where they’ve come to listen to a singer. Aside from having fun, remember to be mindful of your manners if you’re at a public space. This is something I feel people are beginning to understand, which is why my shows are getting such a high attendance rate. There is a revival in the show industry. I feel like step by step we would have to start taking initiatives to address this matter, so we can over come this.”
Elaborating further, Raheem said that the government should also get involved and provide resources for proper security at concerts.
“The government should also take some action to fix this problem…because as artists, usually, there is a limit to what we can do. At some point, a limit falls over our resources. And I don’t want us to be limited. I would like that we all come together as a community to get to the bottom of this and make sure it doesn’t happen again…It’s necessary that we establish a proper system so such incidents don’t keep happening over and over again.”
You can watch the full interview below:
