How flute added beauty to songs from yesteryears’ films on March 19, 2019Although practically, all melody makers of the subcontinent have extensively used flute in their instrumental arrangements of their film compositions, I shall take examples of one each from India and Pakistan. Pakistani iconic music composer Khawaja Khurshid Anwar used this instrument quite a lot especially when making songs for stories of mountainous background. Let us […]
Remembering the iconic music composer duo Bakhshi-Wazir on March 17, 2019It is always a mesmerising effect Ghulam Ali produces whenever we listen to Bukhshi Wazir’s composition “Sohnia Oei Mukh Tera Sajri Saver Aei” from the movie ‘Sharabi’. I have known Bakhshi Wazir for many decades as I have sung their compositions for Pakistan Television (PTV) and Radio Pakistan. The main tuner was Wazir Hussain and […]
Tasteer 6 — literature and its continuation over the years on March 11, 2019Editorial of the well-established literary magazine Tasteer 6 – December 2018 issue, is very unique as it discusses the connotations of blue colour used as metaphor in literature, nature and everyday life. There are many proverbs and sentences based on the word ‘blue’ like ‘Once in a blue moon’ meaning occasional happening. ‘Out of the […]
Jaffar Hassan Mubarak’s book is a historic exploration on March 2, 2019I will start my review of Jaffar Hassan Mubarak’s book from its last line. He quotes Homer’s Odyssey when its hero Odysseus when returning from his 20 year journey to his homeland sees his country. This was the best moment and a very memorable one as well. That is exactly what the feelings of our […]
Music, poetry and sport on February 24, 2019When Dr Jawaz Jafri used the word khaak (dust) in the title of his book, I had thought that he meant mitti (soil) as folk music evolves out of our soil and the rituals surrounding it. Why this question arose was because Jawaz wrote four articles on music out of a total of eight in […]
Hamza Bin Tahir and Awais Gohar — an emerging director duo on February 23, 2019In my emerging days as an artist, I have seen younger generation giving lot of respect to their senior artists. They were ready to listen to their advice. They were ready to learn music from them despite long hours of learning. With the passage of time, things changed. The new generation became song writers, musicians, […]
An evening with a legendary speaker and columnist on February 22, 2019An evening with actor and scholar Naeem Tahir was held at Alhamra Art Centre’s Adabi Baithak on Monday, organised by Dr Abrarul Haq and Bazm-e-Anjum Roomani Secretary Zamad Garewal. Despite rain, the Baithak was full with a sizeable audience present to pay homage to the living legend Naeem Tahir. Masood Akhtar, Syed Asim Bukhari, Neelma […]
Three uniquely shot Pakistani film songs on February 17, 2019When I think of movies made in the subcontinent, almost all turn out to be musicals. In the 50s there was a trend of having eight to ten songs in an Indian or Pakistani film, different to the present day with only four to five songs per movie. Film songs that have been artistically shot […]
A fine selection of poetry on February 15, 2019A selection of some of the best couplets by Murtaza Barlas have been published in Laal-o-Gohar printed on excellent paper by Nastaaleeq Matbuaat, Lahore. The selection of poetry is done by Mujtaba Afroze and Irteza Razi. Barlas is a very powerful voice and the medium he has chosen to transmit his message is poetry. Born […]
Remembering iconic music director Kemal Ahmad on February 13, 2019Whenever I think of Rangila, the comedian’s role as a singer, the name of music composer Kemal Ahmad comes to mind. The thought of Rangila singing songs was not really a plausible idea but when he sang for his films ‘Diya Aur Toofan’ and ‘Rangila’, his songs were liked by masses. His song from the […]