| Pakistani band now Etihad Airways brand ambassador |
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| Friday, June 04, 2010 By our correspondent KARACHI: Eithad Airways signed Pakistani pop band Strings as its brand ambassador to target expatriates living around the world, airline officials said on Thursday. The year-long contract with an international airline for a local band is the first in the country and it is being seen as a much-needed boost to the local entertainment industry, hit hard by terrorism. �It is not only about free air tickets. We needed something like this to promote the true image of Pakistan,� said Faisal Kapadia. �We want to do concerts internationally, but it is very expensive. This deal will help to overcome that.� Kapadia along with Bilal Maqsood shot to fame in 90s. Their songs have been used as soundtracks in many Indian and Hollywood movies. Maqsood said that the number of concerts had come down drastically over the last three years. �Not many people are interested in organising large musical events.� Chief Commercial Officer of Etihad Airways Peter Baumgartner said Strings would help the Abu Dhabi-based airline to reach out to Pakistani expatriates. �We have planned a lot of cultural events where Strings will be performing.� |
Category: NEWS
Eithad Airways signs Strings as their Brand Ambassadors. The signing ceremony happened today at Karachi Sheraton Hotel.
A while back we reported that pop-rock giants Strings and superstar Atif Aslam were collaborating on a tune together. Now
the song has finally happened. Speaking with Instep Today, Faisal Kapadia confirmed this news. The song, written by Bilal Maqsood, is called ‘Ab Khud He Kuch Karna Paray Ga’. “We’re scheduled to shoot the video. It was a lot of fun and it’s exciting. When you collaborate, there is always an extra mile but it was great.”
Hopefully by this time next month, we’ll be singing along. Although Faisal was mostly mum on the subject, he did tell us that “its a motivational song” and will be released as a single.
Meanwhile Strings are also looking at Bollywood offers at the moment. “Rohit Roy is a friend of ours and he wanted us to do a song for a film. We said yes without looking at anything. That’s what friends are for. John Abraham also has a few films on his hands and he also wants us to do a song.” But if we look at Strings’ history in Bollywood, they don’t just sign onto any film. They are very selective. “We are looking at offers but we will sign on if it’s suitable for our genre.”
For now, both Atif and Strings are looking at tours. While Atif Aslam is currently in Holland on a tour, Strings are getting ready to fly out to the US of A alongside Fuzon. It’s early to tell how long the tour will go on. They start off from Houston and may hit Washington DC or New York. But the confirmed venues will be out soon.
“We’ll have the complete schedule within a week.”
Strings and Fuzon live in USA and Canada. For Concert bookings contact: Lavika Bhagat Singh +1-703-200-9292
With the ubiquitous catastrophic law and order situation in Pakistan and the menace of loadshedding that has put the organisers of musical events under a great deal of stress, Karachi too has been quite inactive in hosting entertainment dos.
A much-awaited gig featuring Faisal Kapadia and Bilal Maqsood of Strings was recently held at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) on the occasion of its annual carnival function organised by the students’ society. The host, VJ Waqar Zaka, in his signature witty and funky style entertained the audience until the band stepped in. One thing Strings must be accredited with is punctuality. The floor literally vibrated as the crowd welcomed the duo on stage amid massive applause. Faisal immediately ignited the proceedings with a rocked up version of Koi Aanay Wala Hai while Bilal strummed an extended guitar intro to set the mood right. Undoubtedly Faisal is a powerhouse performer and in Najane Kyun, the combination of Bilal’s sky-scraping guitar riffs and Faisal’s captivating vocals was a lethal combination.
Faisal has a knack of reaching out to the audience and this was prominent in Chaaye Chaaye where he urged the young crowd to join in. Before the next track, he had the stage lights turned off and asked the audience to raise their cellphones/cameras. What followed was a spellbinding rendition of Zinda which had a different feel altogether when performed live. For the soulful Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar, Bilal took over the microphone as Faisal took a respite. The energy was pumped back into the crowd with an immaculate performance of Duur. Bilal Maqsood rocked the crowd with a combination of thumping and mellow guitar riffs.
With Akhri Alvida the evening hit its mellowest note. Bilal’s opening soothing guitar chords and Faisal’s mesmerising vocal delivery touched the soft side of listeners who hummed along. The gig came to a halt with Bilal’s electrifying performances of Sohniye and Anjane. In a post-concert chat Faisal said, “Before I went out for the performance, I didn’t know what the crowd would be like, but while performing, they seemed like family. It was a wonderful experience.” The event was sponsored by Warid.
YEH DOSTI…
Pakistan’s Strings and India’s Euphoria erase boundaries as they sing in unison at the Aman Ki Asha concert in Kolkata on Wednesday
PRIYANKA DASGUPTA & ASHOK CHATTERJEE Times News Network
There was a nip in the air and Kolkata was still shrouded in grief. A little more than 24 hours ago, the city had paid its last respects to its dear departed leader. Lacs and lacs of people had waited patiently in serpentine queues and dotted every inch of space on the roads where Basu’s last journey had meandered through. It was an emotional connect that hadn’t resulted out of being shepherded by any diktat. In many ways, it was a similar kind of an emotional connect on Saraswati Puja that got a huge crowd to gather on the Nicco Park Big Lawns to witness yet another historic venture — the Aman Ki Asha project — a move towards peace between India and Pakistan that has been initiated by The Times of India and the Jang Group of Pakistan. As band members of Euphoria and Strings together took the stage, the frenzied crowd knew that their spontaneous turnout was an indication of being on the right side of history.
Music crosses borders to spread message of peace
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Music from across the borders merged to create a symphony of hope and a melody of togetherness, reminding one of the common roots that bind India and Pakistan, on a cold Wednesday evening at Nicco Park.
Two of the most popular bands from either side of the LOC — Euphoria from India and Strings from Pakistan — put up a rare combined show to foster Indo-Pak friendship at the Aman Ki Asha concert, a joint initiative of The Times of India and Jang Group of Pakistan.
While Euphoria set the stage on fire with their foot-tapping numbers, Strings charmed the audience with their passionate singing and soulful tunes. This was the third in a series of Aman Ki Asha music concerts.
It was an evening Kolkata had been waiting for with a lot of expectation. Music-lovers braced for a rare experience — the best of contemporary music on the same stage. The rest were eager to witness how artists from the two groups put aside geographical and political divide and rode music to produce a tune of unity.
What they got was a magical journey of melody, perhaps never witnessed in Kolkata before. The audience lapped up every song, every tune and musical strain that the bands delivered. “We can’t continue to live in the past and dwell on the unhappy events of 1947. Let our children not curse us for leaving behind a legacy of strife, distrust and war. The Aman Ki Asha initiative taken by the Times Group is a noble one. Let us hope that it spurs us to move into a new era of friendship and amity,” said Feroze Abbas Khan, noted film director, in his inaugural address.
It was then Euphoria’s turn to warm up the audience with their energetic performance. Their evergreen hits like Mai ri, Kabhi aana tu meri gali and Dhum pichuk dhum sent the audience into raptures. In keeping with the tune of unity, they sang a number specially created for the occasion. Aman ki asha, prem ki bhasha, seekho seekho na reminded the audience of the need for a peaceful coexistence that has been missing from the lives of people on either side of the border. “Let us make a new beginning and let this stage be the starting point. There could be no better place to begin an Indo-Pak friendship journey than Kolkata. It is here that we had started our music 11 years ago,” said Palash Sen, lead vocalist of the group.
If Euphoria left the audience craving for more, Strings, too, tugged at heartstrings. They made a soft, sombre beginning with Yahan koi anewala hain and then moved to racy numbers like Na jane koi and Dekha tujhko to. And the crowd responded with as much enthusiasm as they did to Euphoria. “We admire the cultural richness of Kolkata, its tradition of music and
rosogollas,” they declared.
But the defining moment of the evening had been saved for the last when the two bands came together on stage to lend their voices to Aman ki asha, prem ki bhasha. Holding hands and cheering each other, the performers mingled on stage to a thunderous applause. There couldn’t have been a better way to promote peace.
“Titliyaan” is releasing all across Pakistan. The video is Directed by Sohaib Akhtar. Fans from outside Pakistan can catch the video on www.youtube.com/stringsonline and www.facebook.com/stringspage
‘Koi Aanay Wala Hai’ had angels flying and beautiful skyscrapers, ‘Humsafar’ took Strings out to Moscow and carries a signature of mystery while ‘Jago’ shed light on the underdog and the vigour to fight back. Before these outstanding videos, there was ‘Aakhri Alvida’ which was shot on the sets of Shootout at Lokhandwala and ‘Yeh Hai Meri Kahani’ that brought Sanjay Dutt and John Abraham inside a studio together for the first time, even if it Sanju Baba or John weren’t singing. They were adding star power and a whole lot of fun.
Now Strings are coming back with ‘Titliyan’ – another video from their last record. One version of the song is running on airwaves via Coke Studio where Strings debuted the song earlier this year.
The new video will be the official one from Strings and has been directed by Soheb Akhtar (famous for directing Mizraab’s ‘Ujalon Mein’).
“Titliyan’s video is ready and is looking good. It is something that will take all of us in our own past. It should come out right after Eid,” says Bilal who is tight-lipped about the video concept.
But that’s not all. As UN Goodwill Ambassadors, Strings are taking the problem of HIV and AIDS head-on.
“We’ve just recorded four PSA’s (Public Service Announcement) with UNICEF which will be aired soon on TV. We interviewed people in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad who are living with HIV or are vulnerable to contracting HIV. We spoke to mothers who are HIV positive and successfully delivered, with the help of appropriate medicines, HIV negative babies. These interviews will be like small documentaries which will air around the AIDS day,” says Bilal about their further plans.
And after Ramadan, get set for Strings setting the stage on fire. “We’re planning a Pakistan college tour… 15 concerts in three cities. We’re working on this plan with our sponsors,” concluded Bilal.