Ali Zafar has released an AI-powered video for Shiddat, based on a painting he created in 2002 during his thesis year at NCA. The project blends fine art, music and digital storytelling under the direction of Fawaz Rehan and Ayelah Asim.
ISLAMABAD: Singer, actor and visual artist Ali Zafar has unveiled a new music video for his song Shiddat from the album Roshni, drawing on one of his original paintings created in 2002 during his thesis year at the National College of Arts.
The video is built around the artwork, which serves as its visual and emotional basis. Directed by Fawaz Rehan and Ayelah Asim, the project uses artificial intelligence-based virtual production to animate the painted setting, combining visual art, music and digital storytelling.
According to the report, the video centres on themes of love, longing, memory and emotional isolation, placing viewers inside what appears to be a surreal, moving canvas. Each frame was generated through AI technology while seeking to retain the texture and mood of the decades-old painting.
Painting revisited through a new medium
Zafar said the project brought renewed meaning to an earlier work from his student years, before he became widely known in music and film. He described art as something that remained “sacred” because its meaning continued to shift over time through personal growth and interpretation.
He said the painting behind Shiddat had been made while he was studying fine arts, and added that the idea of entering the world of that artwork immediately appealed to him when the directors presented the concept.
“What you see in this video is their interpretation of that piece of art, merged with one of the most intense songs from my album ‘Roshni’,” he said.
Blending art, music and AI
The release has been described as one of the most ambitious visual undertakings of Zafar’s career. It reconnects his work as a painter, musician and storyteller, while also reflecting the increasing use of AI tools in contemporary art and music production.
By revisiting a painting first created more than two decades ago and translating it into a digitally generated visual experience, the project links Zafar’s early training in fine arts with his later career in entertainment. The video’s concept and execution place a long-standing piece of personal artwork at the centre of a modern production shaped by artificial intelligence.
The report said the result is a cinematic interpretation of a painting from Zafar’s thesis year, transformed into a moving visual world for Shiddat through the collaboration of the two directors and AI-driven production techniques.
