Why Couldn’t It Be Me By Farhan Akhtar – A Poignant Tune Of Life

With his dimpled smile and husky voice, Farhan Akhtar has won a lot of hearts with his acting skills and singing talent. After the great success of his previous songs for various movies such as ‘Rock On!!’, ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’, ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’, ‘Wazir’, ‘Rock On 2’ and ‘Bharat Ane Nenu’, Akhtar has made a return to the music scene with his upcoming album ‘Echoes’ on 14 December 2018 – which includes his latest single “Why Couldn’t It Be Me”.

Contrary to one might think at first, it is not your not every day love or heartbreak song but touches on something much more serious and disturbing. Describing the song as a ‘powerful and emotive journey into the pain of grief and guilt’, the song is inspired by the 2014 massacre in Pakistan, when the Taliban had attacked an army school in Peshawar and shot down more than 200 children. He had read an article where a bereaved mother had talked about her younger son who had pretended to be sick and bunked school for the school, while she lost her elder son in the attack. Akhtar has composed the song from the perspective of the surviving younger brother who feels guilty and pained at the loss of his brother and his own survival in the attack.

Whereas the rest of the album by the name of ‘Echoes’ focuses on life and relationships in an electronic musical mix, “Why Couldn’t It Be Me” addresses the mistreatment of women, which includes the parents, children and siblings of the victims and the pain that every member of the family and the community feels. Akhtar has mentioned in an interview that he needed to focus on his musical career, which is why he took a short break from working in movies. Like us all, Akhtar needed some time to focus on things that he loved and wanted to share the same with people – composing the album gave him a cathartic feeling.

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That’s not all, Akhtar has released albums such as his first English single ‘Rear View Mirror’ and his first Hindi single ‘Jaane Yeh Kyu Kiya’ that has earned him a great deal of appreciation from the audience and his fans. He has been performing at several concerts in India, the United States and the United Kingdom as well. On the acting front, Akhtar will be seen as Niren Chaudhary in the biographical- drama “The Sky is Pink” that stars Priyanka Chopra and Zaira Wasim as well. The movie is based on the life of motivational speaker Aisha Chaudhary who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.