Zayn Malik's vocal odyssey in 'Tu Hai Kahan' garners mixed reactions

Zayn Malik stirred up a whirlwind of reactions with his latest song collaboration, Tu Hai Kahan, with Pakistani trio AUR.

In the musical adventure, Malik showcased his Urdu singing prowess, which was a hit in South Asia and amassed hundreds of millions of streams, and reached No. 1 on Spotify in India, Pakistan, and the Global Viral charts nine months before it's re-release on the former One Direction member’s 31st birthday.

The magic of Tu Hai Kahan was reignited on Friday, January 12, with the Dusk till Dawn hitmaker’s vocal magic in the Urdu language, blazing his fandom with the mesmerizing ballad’s chorus.

However, not everyone joined in the celebration. Some folks took a humorous detour, poking fun at Malik’s accent, given he is not a native speaker of the language.

Nonetheless, his staunch supporters stepped up to defend their favorite singer. 

One fan lashed out at the naysayers, "People say anything just to hate Zayn Malik his accent is very average he ruined that song Remember he is a British singer first he couldn't speak Urdu fluently but still he tried and did a great job Why soo much hate huh…"

A second defender joined in, "People shitting on his accent are people who have had no life experience and no nothing outside of their own very small world."

Meanwhile, a dedicated fan couldn't help but shower praise on Malik's vocals, declaring, "Zayn singing in Urdu is all the healing I needed in 2024."

Shortly after the release of the song, Billboard cited the Night Changes crooner’s statement in which he reflected his thoughts on the collaboration.

"I was incredibly humbled when AUR reached out and asked me to collaborate on their song Tu Hai Kahan," he shared.

The Pillowtalk maestro added, "I love the song and have brought some of myself to it, I hope people love what we’ve done."