SHAE IS CHOOSING HER DESTINY, HERE IN DUBAI

How a wannabe economist became a reluctant star and why the Pakistani singer wants to buy a home in the emirate

- By Manjusha Radhakrishnan Entertainment, Lifestyle and Sport Editor

The story of singer Shae Gill of Pasoori fame is the kind of narrative they try to manufacture in Bollywood, except hers is real and, frankly, way more sassy.

This is a woman who was literally going to be an economist — a profession that involves spreadsheets, not sequins — until destiny decided to stage a hostile takeover. Her sudden, massive global fame, courtesy of Pasoori, was utterly unsolicited.

Her take on this? The ultimate shrug: “I didn’t ask for anything. God just sent me this whole thing. And I was like, Okay, I guess now I have to eat it.” It’s the perfect, casual dismissal of the hustle culture everyone else buys into.

The girl who got famous by accident is now consciously steering her ship. After facing down the very real fear of being a one-hit wonder (“In the beginning it was really scary, which is why I was only doing collaborations”), she dropped her first solo track, Insecurity.