Music has a greater influence than cricket, when it comes to improving Indo-Pak relations, believes Faisal Kapadia, lead vocalist of Pakistani band Strings. “In cricket one team wins and the other loses, while in the exchange of music concerts, it’s the audience that wins ultimately,” says he. Faisal alongwith Bilal, the lead guitarist, make up the band. Many a time they have performed live in India.

What’s the band’s take on the controversies of lip syncing, of late doing the rounds in India recently? “Often we are asked to do so by organisers, specially for shows on TV channels,” says Bilal. But he feels it is a crime to lip sync in a live concert. “Given a choice nobody would want to fool the audience,” he says.

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina, James Franco, J.K. Simmons, Rosemary Harris
Directed By: Sam Raimi
Producer: Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad
Screen Writer: Alvin Sargent, Michel Chabon, Steve Ditko
Cinematographer: Bill Pope
Composer: Danny Elfman
Executive Producer: Joseph M. Caracciolo Jr., Stan Lee
Story: Micahel Chabon

Synopsis:

In the latest installment in the blockbuster ‘Spider-Man‘ series, based on the classic Marvel Comics hero, Tobey Maguire returns as the mild-mannered Peter Parker, who is juggling the delicate balance of his dual life as a college student and a superhuman crime fighter. Spider-Man’s life becomes even more complicated when he confronts a new nemesis, the brilliant Otto Octavius, (Alfred Molina) who has been reincarnated as the maniacal and multi-tentacle “Doc Ock.”

Name: Salman Saquib a.k.a Mani

Date of Birth: 23/03/1978

Place of Birth: Karachi.

Education: B.Com from Govt. Commerce College, Karachi.

Hobbies: Personalities usually watch TV programs. I watch sports in my spare time and I also play along with the showbiz team.

Other Occupations: Well this is my bread and butter…. If you are fit in this profession you can more than a CA or an MBA.

What do you think about your job?

It’s cool.

Would you encourage others to take up this job?

Pop music is rapidly taking over the Pakistani music scene, despite the moral brigade and diktats of the clergy. “Pop, along with soft rock, is growing in popularity. It has developed in a very short span of time and shows more promise than even Indian pop music,” claims Saadia, 19, a student of business studies. Most of the songs are in Urdu set to western music. There is a lot of talent coming here. Music experts say there are about 15 established music bands and a dozen pop music stars in Pakistan today.

A far cry, all agree, from the early 1980s, when during President Zia-ul-Haq’s regime, listening to or creating pop music was aggressively discouraged. However, after the Music ‘89 show, aired on the government-owned Pakistan Television (PTV), who was also the official sponsors, things appeared to change. At the show, 30-somethings danced to the music of the then pop idols - Nazia and Zoheb Hassan, Ali Azmat and bands like the Vital Signs.

Currently the biggest band in Pakistani pop Faisal and Bilal - the band duo - at churning out good music.

That’s what the music of the Pakistani band Strings is all about

Currently the biggest band in Pakistani pop, Strings has had a tumultuous history of disbanding and then reuniting. What hasn’t changed is the consistency of Faisal and Bilal — the band duo — at churning out good music.

“Music happened as a hobby, not a profession. We first met in college in Karachi. After producing two successful albums, we disbanded to continue our studies. We completed our studies, got married, and then got back together after more than seven years,” says Faisal.

The Rafi Peer Theatre’s 10-day world performing arts festival, 2004, is being held at the Alhamra Cultural Complex from Nov 27.

As many as 600 artistes of over 33 countries, including India, will perform in various disciplines of performing arts like dance, theatre, music and puppetry.

Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi will inaugurate the festival. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will attend its premier show on Nov 26, a day ahead of its formal launch.

Rafi Peer Theatre directors Faizan Peerzada and Usman Peerzada told newsmen here at the Lahore Press Club on Friday that it was one of the biggest festivals in South Asia.

The show got bigger this year. Not only did the organizers fly out to Dubai, giving the local entertainment industry much-needed international exposure, they also collaborated with a television network, ensuring a much wider audience than our local channels could ever pull off.

Indian talent, comprising professional dancers, stage designers and technical assistants, was flown in to fill the gaps, but this year’s Lux Style Awards could easily have been better executed than last year’s programme had the picture not been overexposed to the glitter and gaudiness of Bollywood. The India-based Sony TV channel, as director and producer of the show, was perhaps given too much freedom to project it as it wanted, right from the poster at the front desk down to the silver and gold tinsel on stage.

Indus Music (IM) will hold the first pop music awards ceremony in Pakistan at the Alhamra Arts Centre on July 24.

The channel has also signed an agreement with MTV whereby IM will broadcast old English songs in a show called ‘MTV Classics’, presented and produced in Pakistan.daily Times reported.

The IM music awards focus exclusively on the popular music scene in Pakistan. The awards target two specific areas of Pakistani music: the history of pop music in Pakistan and the new groups and singers that have performed on IM and new albums that have been released.

Unilever Pakistan formally announced , that the prestigious LUX Style Awards 2004 will be held on the April 24, 2004 and revealed the Viewers’ Choice Nominations.

LUX is a leading Pakistani soap brand. An icon of beauty, LUX has always been associated with film stars, style, and skin care. The LUX Style Awards is a logical continuation of LUX’s close association with glamour and allows it to strengthen its image in an exciting and involved way.

In 2004, the total number of awards is 15, out of which seven are “Viewers’ Choice Awards” and eight are “Judges Choice Awards”.

A composition by the Pakistani band Strings will feature on the soundtrack of the Hollywood film “Spiderman 2″.

“Earlier this year, Sony Pictures got in touch with us and said they wanted to include one of our Urdu songs,” band member Faisal Kapadia told IANS.

“This happened when we had just signed a deal for an album with Sony Music in India, which is the official licensee of Columbia Records that released the earlier soundtrack of ‘Spiderman’. So things worked out well.”

The new album, called “Dhaani”, was released in India where Strings already has a fan following.