Shehzad Roy

Shehzad Roy is a Pakistani singer, social worker and humanitarian. He started his singing career in 1995 and has recorded six albums since. He has many hit songs such as Saali, Teri Soorat, Kangna but is most known for his 2008 socio-political album Qismat Apney Haath Mein (translated to 'we make our own destiny'). Roy is also the president and founder of Zindagi Trust, a non-government charitable organisation, that strives to improve the quality of education available to the average Pakistani.

Roy has recently produced and hosted 2 documentary series- Chal Parha, about the state of public education in Pakistan, and Wasu aur Mein, which follows the travels of Shehzad and a villager and deals with issues like progress, poverty and patriotism in Pakistan.

In 2005, Roy was the recipient of the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, which is one of the highest Civil Honors awarded in Pakistan for excellence in public service. For his organisation's rehabilitation work after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, he was awarded the Sitara-e-Eisaar in 2006. He was also selected to be a torch bearer for the 2008 Olympics.

Chal Parha
In 2013, Shehzad produced and hosted the 22-episode documentary series titled "Chal Parha" [translated 'Let's Educate']. In the show, Shehzad travelled on a Harley-Davidson bike across 80 cities in Pakistan and visited more than 200 public schools. In each of the 22 episodes, a new issue in public education was explored, for example, medium of instruction, curriculum, teachers, corporal punishment.

The show highlighted both the obstacles in improving public schools and also the remarkable individuals who are committed to teaching and learning despite the collapsed system in which they work. An example of the impact of this show is that the third episode on corporal punishment (aired 15 February 2013) resulted in catalysing a decision by the government to finally ban corporal punishment in Pakistan. Soon after the episode aired, Pakistan's provincial assemblies passed a resolution against corporal punishment and on 12 March 2013, the National Assembly unanimously passed a Bill making corporal punishment an offence. The show was intended to create awareness among Pakistani citizens for their basic right to quality education and also proposed solutions for government officials to resolve the various issues in public education. Chal Parha also showcased Pakistan's scenic beauty and diverse cultures.Watch the episodes on Youtube (the first 3 episodes have English subtitles).

Wasu aur Mein
In 2011, Shehzad discovered Wasu Khan, a villager from Baluchistan, on Youtube. In his video, Wasu raps about Pakistan's checkered political history. After seeing this, Shehzad tracked down Wasu and they collaborated to produce the hard-hitting song 'Apney Ulloo'. Packing a political punch, the video is a tale of the exploitation of a poor man. In the music, video Roy emulates a peon, a lawyer, a government secretary and a media man, all of whom exploit the common man, played by Wasu

The song 'Apney Ulloo' started as a one-off collaboration but ended up taking a very different direction. In 2012, Roy produced and hosted the 8-episode documentary series titled "Wasu aur Main". The show followed the travels of Shehzad and Wasu Khan, a villager from Baluchistan. Brought together by their common passion for music, Shehzad and Wasu realise that they have a lot to learn from each other. Wasu's unique perspective on Pakistan's history and his shrewd observations force Shehzad to re-evaluate his own notions on progress, poverty and patriotism. As the show moves through several cities, the two of them try to understand what being a citizen of Pakistan means and realise what the future holds for them in this country. Watch all episodes here.

Ref: Wikipedia