Mumbai: Pakistani singer Atif Aslam briefly stopped his concert in Berlin after two mobile phones were thrown onto the stage while he was performing.
A video from the concert shows one phone landing on the stage. In the clip, Aslam notices it and says, “Phone hi phenk diya unhone (They threw the phone itself)”. A second phone lands on the stage as he is speaking. “Toot chuka hoga ab tak (It must have broken by now),” he adds.
The incident took place during Aslam’s concert at Berlin’s Uber Arena on 19 September. He was performing there as part of his Subah Aye Na Europe tour, which has eight shows across eight countries. The tour began in Manchester on 11 September and includes shows in Paris, Berlin, Oslo, Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Barcelona, and Milan.
Aslam has stopped shows over audience behaviour before.
During a concert in the US in 2023, a fan threw currency notes toward him while he was performing. Aslam stopped singing, called the fan closer, and asked him to donate the money instead.
“My friend, you can come back and donate this money. Come, please come. I know you are very rich and I appreciate that. Please donate the money. I like the idea, but this is just disrespect to the money. Don’t throw it at me,” he had said.
A different kind of interruption happened at a concert in Dhaka in April 2024, when a woman came onto the stage and hugged Aslam while crying. Videos from the show showed her holding on to him before she was escorted away. Aslam spoke to her, shook her hand, and gave her a brief hug before returning to the performance.
Aslam has been performing for more than two decades and has a large following in Pakistan and India. He was the lead singer of Pakistani band Jal before he began his solo career and became a familiar voice in Hindi films through the 2000s and 2010s. His songs include ‘Woh Lamhe’, ‘Pehli Nazar Mein’, ‘Tu Jaane Na’, ‘Tera Hone Laga Hoon’, ‘Main Rang Sharbaton Ka’, ‘Jeena Jeena’, and ‘Dil Diyan Gallan’.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)