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Roshni (album)

Not to be confused with Roshni (Hadiqa Kiani album).

Roshni
Studio album by
Ali Zafar
Released20 December 2025 (2025-12-20)
GenreAcoustic pop
Deep house
Length40:05
LanguagePunjabi
Urdu
English
LabelLightingale
Silent Roar
Ali Zafar chronology
Teefa in Trouble
(2018) 		Roshni
(2025)
Singles from Roshni
  1. "Zalim Nazron Se"
  2. "Ruxaana"

Roshni (Urdu: روشنی, lit. 'Light') is the fourth studio album and seventh overall album of Pakistani singer-songwriter Ali Zafar. It was released on 20 December 2025 by Lightingale Records via various music streaming services.

Background

Ali Zafar, a Pakistani singer-songwriter, released his third studio album titled Jhoom in 2011. He has worked in a number of Hindi films, and made his film debut in Pakistan in 2018 with Teefa in Trouble. During these, he has released three soundtrack albums, and kept releasing singles aside.[1][2][3] In 2020, he launched a record label titled Lightingale Records.[4]

Promotion and release

Zafar announced his new album on 21 November 2025 with the music video of the first single "Zalim Nazron Se" (3.0) in collaboration with Ali Haider;[5][6] the two also premiered the song at the 2025 Hum Awards in Houston.[7] At the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Zafar premiered some of the album tracks during the opening ceremony of the 2025–26 International League T20, and announced the album title to be Roshni.[8][2]

Zafar's alma mater, the National College of Arts, Lahore, hosted the launch event for the album on 19 December.[9] Music video for the second single "Ruxaana" was released along with the complete album on 20 December.[10] This is Zafar's fourth studio album.[5][11] Consisting the tracks of acoustic pop and deep house genres,[10] he called it as a celebration of the Pakistani music icons,[6] and "a journey through light and shadow" to "confront one's inner truths".[10] Music videos for both the singles are filmed in Hollywood, Los Angeles.[10][6]

In January 2026, Zafar announced a challange to conceptualize, create, and post the fan videos on their social media accounts, based on any of the tracks from the album, and he set the prize of Rs. 250,000 for the best video.[12] He then also appeared in Hasna Mana Hai, a late-night show hosted by Tabish Hashmi on Geo News, to promote the album.[13]

Track listing

The album artwork along with the track listing was revealed on 6 December 2025.[14] Musician Shani Arshad also collaborated with Zafar in producing some of the tracks; he has been working with Zafar since his debut album in 2003, Huqa Pani.[6][15] Zafar also recreated his song "Chal Dil Mere"[10] from Huqa Pani[3] in collaboration with Talha Anjum,[10] a hip-hop artist who is regarded as the most-streamed on Spotify Pakistan in 2025.[16] The album also features the remake of the critically acclaimed song "Mera Pyar" featuring DJ Shahrukh, originally performed by one of the most influencial guitarist of Pakistan, Aamir Zaki, for his 1995 album Signature.[10][17][18] It also contains one of the Jaun Elia's poetries, "Be Qarari Si",[10][19][20] and a recreated track of the band Vital Signs' second album, "Saanvali Saloni" featuring Alistair Alvin.[10][21][22] The song "Zalim Nazron Se" was originally created by Roshan Nagianvi and Jawaid Akhtar, and popularised by Ali Haider.[5][6]

According to Zafar's official notes on YouTube under each song, he dedicated the title song "Roshni" to his wife, Ayesha Fazli, whom he calls the strength that kept him from collapsing into the uncertain world. "Ruxaana" is described as a conversation about a boy's boundaries against a girl's madness, and shifts from Punjabi street poetry towards modern English attitude. The song "Mamacita" contains Punjabi flirtatious lyrics with a Latin melody, and features the character names Escobar and Rihanna. The songs like "5 Star" is called as an emotion between heartbreak and comfort, "Shiddat" as a devotion of choosing love when trust is broken into burns, "Dhoondta Hoon" a repeatedly search of the doors of memory that will never open again, and "Tere Bin Mein" a quiet truth about someone who surrenders to the risks of accepting a love.[a]

No.TitleLength
1."Ruxaana"2:55
2."5 Star"2:31
3."Mamacita" (featuring Alistair Alvin)3:17
4."Saanvali Saloni" (featuring Alistair Alvin)2:43
5."Roshni"2:38
6."Shiddat"3:27
7."Be Qarari Si"3:56
8."Dhoondta Hoon"3:58
9."Tere Bin Mein"3:20
10."Chal Dil Mere" (featuring Talha Anjum)3:52
11."Mera Pyar" (featuring DJ Shahrukh)4:00
12."Zalim Nazron Se" (featuring Ali Haider)3:28
Total length:40:05

Personnel

The credits are adapted from the album playlist on YouTube.[a]

  • Ali Zafar – vocals (all tracks); composer (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7); author (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6); producer (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12)
  • Alistair Alvin – featured artist and vocals (tracks 3, 4); composer, mixer, and masterer (track 3); programming (tracks 1, 4, 6, 7); producer (tracks 2, 3, 4, 6, 7); author (tracks 3, 4); drums (track 10)
  • Talha Anjum – featured artist, rap vocals, and author (track 10)
  • DJ Shahrukh – featured artist and producer (track 11)
  • Ali Haider – featured artist and vocals (track 12)
  • Irshad Sheikh – mixer and masterer (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
  • Shani Arshad – programming (track 1); producer (tracks 1, 12); accordion (track 9); director (track 12)
  • Shoaib Mansoor – author (track 4)
  • Muhammad Aayan Saleem – composer (track 5)
  • Hassan Badshah – producer (tracks 5, 8, 9); programming (track 5); synthesizer and keyboards (track 8); arranger (track 9)
  • Jaun Elia – author (track 7)
  • Syed Omar Hussain – composer and author (tracks 8, 9); producer (track 8)
  • Amir Azhar – bass and guitar (track 8)
  • Muzammil Hussain – guitar (track 9)
  • Saeed Qureshi – composer and author (track 10)
  • Vikraah – producer, guitar, and bass (track 10)
  • Aamir Zaki – composer and author (track 11)
  • Ali Mustafa – producer and programming (track 11)
  • Roshan Naginavi – author (track 12)
  • Jawaid Akhtar – composer (track 12)

Notes

  1. ^ a b The song descriptions and personnel credits are extracted out from YouTube.

References

  1. ^ * Roshmila Bhattacharya. "Songs should reflect the character of each city: Ali Zafar". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 30 November 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Ali Zafar announces 'Roshni', new album drops December 20 after 15 years". 24 Digital. 5 December 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Nostalgic: Ali Zafar drops lo-fi version of 'Chal Dil Mere' to celebrate 20 years of his music". The Express Tribune. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  4. ^ Maliha Rehman (1 March 2020). "Spotlight: The Path Less Trodden". Dawn. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Ali Zafar releases 'Zalim Nazron Se', the first track from his first album in 15 years". Dawn Images. 24 November 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e "History gets Remix Ali Zafar's Zalim Nazron Se 3.0 arrives Tonight". 24 Digital. 21 November 2025. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  7. ^ "Bilal Abbas Khan and Sajal Aly headline wins at the 10th HUM Awards". The Express Tribune. 13 October 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  8. ^ "Ali Zafar to dazzle at DP World ILT20 Season 4 opening ceremony". Gulf News. 27 November 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  9. ^ National College of Arts (NCA) (22 December 2025). "The launch event for Roshni". Retrieved 22 December 2025 – via Facebook.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Ali Zafar releases 'Roshni': A new chapter written in light, shadow". Samaa TV. 20 December 2025. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  11. ^ "Ali Zafar announces new album". The Express Tribune. 19 December 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  12. ^ "علی ظفر کا البم 'روشنی' عالمی اے آئی ویڈیو لہر کا باعث، پاکستانی تخلیق کاروں کی نئی نسل عالمی اسٹیج پر نمایاں" (in Urdu). GNN News HD. 22 January 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  13. ^ Geo News (30 January 2026). Ali Zafar in Hasna Mana Hai with Tabish Hashmi on YouTube. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  14. ^ "علی ظفر کی اسٹوڈیو البم "روشنِی" کی پہلی جھلک جاری، 20 دسمبر کو دنیا بھر میں ریلیز" (in Urdu). 24 Digital. 6 December 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  15. ^ Sameen Amer (13 January 2023). "The Green Room". The News. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  16. ^ "Talha Anjum remains undefeated as Pakistan's top artist in this year's Spotify Wrapped". Dawn Images. 4 December 2025. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  17. ^ Rafay Mahmood (3 June 2017). "The story behind Aamir Zaki's 'Mera Pyar' in his own words". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  18. ^ Madeeha Syed (2 June 2017). "The mad genius of Aamir Zaki". Dawn. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  19. ^ "Be-Qarari Si Be-Qarari Hai". Rekhta. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  20. ^ جمال عباس فہمی (15 November 2021). "جون ایلیا۔ یکتائے زمانہ شاعر... جمال عباس فہمی". Qaumi Awaz. Archived from the original on 2 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ "Remembering Junaid Jamshed: A Pakistani icon". Geo News. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  22. ^ Ather Ahmad (1 January 2017). "Recap: Some of the pop icons we lost to 2016". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
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