Music - 2

Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial capital, has only one sitar maker, and he is afraid that after his death, there will be no one to carry on the legacy. Zafar says that sitar making has become such a rarity that it alone cannot help him sustain and in the day he has to work as an assistant [...]

The group plays the tunes of famous Indian and Pakistani songs and dances in marriages and birthdays. Ahmed said they are happy to be associated with the business although they sometimes have no work for three days in a row. They are not arranging a Bar BQ dinner for six, but that’s the routine of [...]

With traditional Kashmir songs and the deep resonating sounds of the rabab — a guitar-like instrument — Rathar, a popular radio presenter and musician, is reaching out to the survivors of the October 8 quake that killed 87,000 and left more than 3 million homeless with the message that life must go on. The building [...]

This, in itself, is a cultural and even political event in Pakistan, a country where dance was officially banned for many years and the opposition coalition, the MMA, is dominated by extremist clerics who would like the same to happen to music. For Lahore, the 10-day festival was a huge, at times startling cultural event. [...]

The Rev. Raushenbush was hooked, and, within five minutes of sending out an e-mail to Pakistani and Indian students on campus asking them if they’d heard of Salman Ahmad and would enjoy a performance, the Rev. Raushenbush had his answer: “The student response was like, ‘Have you heard of Bruce Springsteen?’” he said. When the [...]

NINE years ago, Huddersfield singer Naveed Yasin began a study of music that has taken him all over the world. Now, his hard work has paid off and he’s landed a record deal with Manchester-based bhangra label Supreme Dream Records. Then, when he was 13 he moved to New York for a year to be [...]

Rangeen made Zafar very popular and the Indian music industry can’t seem to have enough of him. Ad film-maker Prahlad Kakkar calls him the Shah Rukh Khan of Pakistan. His popular track Rangeen has been plagiarised and used in Aashiq Banaya Aapne – for which Reshammiya is grabbing the credits. Born in Lahore, this 25-year-old [...]

The performance by Turkish State Ballet proved the point that classical ballet performances need not necessarily be imported or be a facsimile of ballet presentation seen in Europe or the West. In fact, the spectators witnessed a modern ballet and popular dances up to date in all departments, including music and dance forms. Even actors [...]

Popular singer Shehzad Roy has defended his latest song which is stirring up some controversy… he said that the song “Sali tu Mani Nahin” is not intended to, and does not, offend our cultural sensibilities or decorum. “The character I play in this video is that of a neighbourhood boy who is in love with [...]

Pakistani music channels are not only fighting off competition from abroad, but actually winning new audiences day by day. Today, because of these music channels, local bands and singers like Atif, Jal, Noori and Junoon are more popular than any foreign band or singer. Vast audiences from India, Canada and North America watch two of [...]