The 28-year-old first caught the attention of fans when he traveled to the capital, Kabul, to appear on “Afghan Star”, a televised musical competition that draws contestants from around the South Asian nation.
“People are calling me the Justin Trudeau of Afghanistan… Since I came to Kabul, I have become very popular and people are grabbing photos with me,” he told Reuters at the studio.
The singer’s similarity to Canada’s 47-year-old prime minister could even tip the competition in his favor, according to one of the show’s judges, Qais Ulfat.
“Of course, it’s going to affect his popularity a lot, because he is getting interviewed by all these major news channels and there is a lot of cover stories about him so that affects his careers a lot,” he said.
Maftoon, who began his singing career seven years ago performing at weddings, has even bigger ambitions.
“My only wish is that Prime Minister (Trudeau) takes me to Canada and I can hold a concert there to sing Afghan songs and that the prime minister himself will be at my concert,” he said.