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.� ]]> http://stringsonline.net/2010/06/04/pakistani-band-now-etihad-airways-brand-ambassador/feed/ 16 http://stringsonline.net/2010/06/03/strings-as-etihad-airways-brand-ambassadors/ http://stringsonline.net/2010/06/03/strings-as-etihad-airways-brand-ambassadors/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:40:00 +0000 admin http://stringsonline.net/?p=623 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 concert

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.

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.

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.