Listening to Pakistani Sufi singer Abida Parveen has often been described as a divine experience, but the singer says she often hopes that rulers in India and Pakistan would listen more carefully to her message of peace.

“In Sufism, there is only peace,” Parveen said. “I have always believed that music and the arts is the best way to achieve peace.

“When I sing, I sing of peace, of harmony and culture.” Often called the heir to the legendary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Parveen is today perhaps the world’s most renowned Sufi singer.

A Pakistani cultural troupe is slated to present a play in Jammu and Kashmir next week on Baba Bulleh Shah, a 17th century Sufi saint who was revered by both Hindus and Muslims in his time.

The troupe of 20 artistes, comprising qawwals and actors of the Pakistani group Ajok, will give a performance in Jammu on Jan 27 and 28.

Jammu is preparing in a big way to receive the artistes with theatres fully booked.

The group, which has won acclaim for its play “Ek Thee Nani”, is led by two well known Pakistani artistes, Maliha Gauhar and Shahid Nadeem.

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.

From being heralded as Asia’s biggest rock act that redefined Sufi rock, Junoon has come a long way. The band that was applauded by U2’s Bono for their efforts at propagating world peace, is finally taking a break, what with all its members concentrating on their solo careers.

“The band has not split, but yes, we are concentrating on our solo careers,” is how Ali Azmat, the radical vocalist of Junoon, sums up the situation. “Brian left the band last year and is back in the US of A now. We were continuously on the road and he was missing his family like crazy. He was always talking about his kids and how he missed being with them. He went into depression and we would often find him crying inconsolably. There was no other option but to let him go,” he adds.

Pakistan’s Sufi queen Abida Parveen said she will perform a concert in Bombay to boost peace efforts between India and Pakistan.

“Music knows no boundaries,” said Parveen, known for her musical renderings of Urdu poets such as Aamir Khusro, Kabeer and Bulesha.

“I’m happy I will be performing in this city for the first time and pass on the message of peace to my Indian brothers and sisters.”

“If a person stands on the border of India and sings, then no way his voice can be stopped from travelling into Pakistan.”

Lollywood is a rough place to be in, especially if you are looking for a quick break. But once every while one comes across a success story that defies the rules of the film industry. Actor Shamyl Khan is one such example. It’s almost unheard of for a newcomer to make the kind of impression he did in Larki Punjaban in Britain where it has been released. But the actor has discovered that not all is as it seems in the land of make-believe.

When the late legendary qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan first sang in the United States, his concerts weren’t so different from those he performed in his native Pakistan.

With ecstatic and hypnotic improvised songs based in the ancient poetry of Sufism, the mystic tradition of Islam, Khan electrified audiences for up to five hours. He died in 1997 at the age of 49.

“We had to start cutting performances shorter for people who don’t understand the languages of the music (Farsi, Urdu and Punjabi),” said Rachid Din, who was Khan’s manager and now works with the next generation in Qawwali: Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali.

Yes, it’s now official. The pioneers of rock music in Pakistan, Junoon, have ‘fired’ their leading bass guitar player Brian O’Connell, setting the entire future of the band into uncertainly. Although the rumors of the split had been around for quite some time, the situation became obvious when during a press conference in the mid of last July, Salman and Ali both vehemently avoided any questions regarding the status of their former band mate. In fact, Ali got so infuriated by a fellow journalist’s persistent questions regarding Brian’s health that he almost yelled ‘ Aap uss say khud phone kerkay kion nahin pooch laytay?[Why don’t you call him up and ask for yourself?]. The final nail in the coffin appeared when a cheery Salman Ahmed announced the inclusion of Mekaal Hasan as a ‘special guest on bass’ in all their upcoming gigs.

To the music scene now, it is great to have Junoon back. And boy is the band in topnotch form in its latest chart buster Dewaar.

While some admirers would moan the very conspicuous departure from the sufi touch that of late had come to define the band’s sound, but progression is the name of the game if you want to survive in the highly competitive and cutthroat world of pop music.

That is really the buzzword of Dewaar as the band is really tearing down new walls on this offering and has assertively established that it is still the premiere rock band of the land. The 13 tracks on Dewaar are undoubtedly a step in the right (new) direction.