The first spell of the second edition of International Shaan-e-Pakistan Music Awards (SEPMA) ceremony took place last week at Poet’s Café in Lahore. The brainchild of Huma Nassr, SEPMA 2020 emerged stronger is this lockdown period and honored musicians across Pakistan.
Despite incessant delays due to the unfortunate pandemic, SEPMA team worked day and night to keep the initiative alive. Artists belonging to 13 genres of music were awarded along with 3 special mention awards.
Great musicians from Pakistan were in attendance celebrating the artistic vision of SEPMA. Mian Yousuf Salahuddin, Mr. Kamran Lashari; CEO of Interwood, Mr. Omer Farooq and CEO of Golden Pearl, Mr. Sheikh Abid along with Amir Qureshi and Huma Nassr were the supporters and associates of Shaan-e-Pakistan, along with the many nominees and presenters who enjoyed the evening.
Nominees
The nominees spoke to media at the white carpet event, expressing their hopes and desires to do even better work. Some of the nominees included Mustafa Zahid (Best Rock Music), Sahir Ali Bagga (Best Composer), Syeda Hadiya Hashmi and Azan Ali Bagga (Best Child Music), Zain Zohaib (Best Sufi Music), Bayaan (Best Lyrics for the song Bekhabar), and Sajjad Ali’s daughter, Zaw Ali (Best Pop Music) while Shafqat Amanat Ali (Best Jingle), also unveiled the trophy.
Winners
Child Music category: Syeda Hadiya Hashmi presented by Mian Yousuf Salahuddin
Best Composer: Sahir Ali Bagga presented by Mr. Omer Farooq, CEO of Interwood
Best Lyricist: Bayaan (music band) presented by CEO Golden Pearl, Mr. Sheikh Abid
Best Rock Music: Mustafa Zahid
Best EDM Music: Umer Farooq (Pari)
Best Indie Music: Shamoon Ismail (Rok Le)
Best OST Music: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (Mere Paas Tum Ho)
Best Jingle (TVC): Hadiqa Kiani (Abhi Tau Mein Jawaan Hoon, jingle for CAC-1000)
Special Mention Award for promoting Global Recognition of Pakistan: Atif Aslam
Other than Atif Aslam, the other 2 Special Mention Awards at SEPMA 2020 were awarded to Xulfi for promoting the young talent of Pakistan while Meesha Shafi won for being the Music Icon of the generation.
Music maestro Abida Parveen won the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Lifetime Achievement Award at SEPMA 2020. Irfan Pardesi, the founder of Zee Foundation, presented the award to Abida ji at her residence in Islamabad.
Shahzaade Ali then mesmerized the audience with an unplugged performance. In addition, there was a kathak performance on Shafqat Amanat Ali’s song, Channan.
Watch this space for updates on the remaining awards that will be distributed to artists based in Karachi next week. The ceremony will be aired on Geo Kahani in addition to Shaan-e-Pakistan social media accounts.
