starbytes
Farah Khan moves Shakira
Ace choreographer/director, Farah Khan has been assigned to choreograph none other than the sexy hip–shaking Columbian singer, Shakira. Shakira will be performing live in L.A. on August 31 and Farah has been asked to help her do an Indianized version of the hit song, 'Hips don't lie.' Shakira will be dressed up in the ghagra choli combination, complete with the heavy Indian jewelry and her dancers will be costumed the same way. 

Hey Sister, Go Sister, Soul Sister

A prominent monthly magazine two years ago published a pull out poster with the who's who of the Pakistani music industry. One of the striking features of the poster was that amidst an odd 50 musicians, only one was female i.e. Hadiqa Kiyani. Perhaps the word to use here would not be striking, but rather alarming; 60 years down the road, and we have yet to boast of a proper group of female musicians?

To an outsider, that would be a warning sign, but to members of the music fraternity, it was nothing unusual. Stereotypes, social pressures and lack of music training schools have all contributed to the fact that there was no successor to Nazia Hasan, Runa Laila and even Hadiqa Kiyani.

But that was 2004, and things are a-changing. Thanks to the internet and the smattering of restaurants/hangouts where musicians can jam cropping up in metropolitans, there has been an outburst of talent from the XX chromosome-d population. Instep profiles the pick of this new crop...

Annie

Genre: Pop

Claim To Fame: The way she moves

Annie came into the limelight with her single 'Mahiya'. She appeared to be a one hit wonder, but thanks to the heavy airplay the video got, Annie has been embedded in the minds of Generation X. A mediocre album, and a new look in her latest video 'Princess' later, she seems to have carved a permanent place for herself. She does have the looks and persona to be the desi Britney Spears, who is also Annie's role model. Her debut album Princess is (at best) a mediocre effort but the success of 'Mahiya' has made people buy her album regardless. The only way Annie will make the journey from forgettable to unforgettable is if she works on her vocals and more importantly, her music.

Verdict: Annie has attracted the attention of the masses, with an average song like Mahiya. However, if she wants

to sustain her position, she had better take some vocal lessons, and fast. Annie also needs to start performing live - performing on DAT will not bring audiences at her feet, especially since the ability to perform live makes up a huge part of any musical career.

Rubya Chaudhry

Genre: Alternative

Claim to Fame: Actress/Model

Rubya Chaudhry has made her mark as a model, VJ and TV actress, but she first came to my attention when she performed on the Rola single 'Mujhe Yahan Se Utha Ke Wahan Rakh Do', where her voice takes on a tone reminiscent of the burning revenge of Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. While Rubya's forte seems to be modeling and acting, she is a permanent member of Uns Mufti's brainchild Rola, and according to Uns, is featured on a number of songs in the album. She's also been singing in Urdu, which gives her a wider audience, and has steered clear of cover songs and two minute performances at award and 'cultural' shows. The Rola album is due to be released sometime this year, so fans and foes alike have to reserve judgment till then.

Verdict: This multitalented woman has the potential to go a long long way - she's sexy and smart, and most importantly, has a voice that is unforgettable!

Abeer

Genre: Don't know, couldn't care.

Claim to fame: Horrendous vocals, eardrum shattering music

Remember a music video that aired sometime back on local music channels? A woman, in long dyed hair, screaming on the top of her lungs, trying to attract the attention of the men encircling her on motorcycles? Remember the sight of Abeer head banging that made one want to slice their own necks?

Verdict: If you still remember it, please contact the directors of Men in Black to gift you with a memory erasing gizmo, and delete all memories of Abeer from your mind.

Sandra

Genre: Pop

Claim to Fame: Thumkas and jhumkas

Sandra is Pakistan's answer to the dancing queens seen in remix videos from across the border. While her musical talents are below average, her dance moves can give Shakira and Jennifer Lopez a run for their money. This Pathan singer again burst on to the scene with her video 'Jaan - e Jaan' on the local music channels, and since then she has been seen performing on various award shows. While Pakistan is in dire need of someone who can shake their booty ala Beyonce, Sandra ends up looking tawdry, instead of classy like Shakira. Perhaps if a good stylist such as Nabila or Tariq Amin took her under their wing, she might end up surprising the nation.

Verdict: Great moves, no voice.

Rabi Pirzada

Genre: Punjabi Pop

Claim to Fame: Making out with the mike

Originally from Lahore, this 20 something has been making definite ripples in the music scene with her mediocre sound and bubbly looks. It's not that Rabi is anything to write home about - it's just that sexuality has never been so overt in our female musicians. An album and a couple of low budget videos under her belt, Rabi desperately needs a makeover. Her look is OTT. She sings in Urdu and Punjabi, and adds a couple of English lines here and there perhaps to stay in touch with Bombay Rockers or closer

to home Annie. Her latest musical effort 'Mujhay Ishq Nay Mara Hay' is very pedestrian but the real success of the song lies in the way Rabi moves, struts her stuff and thrusts her ample assets. So if she can't sing and is no style icon, what makes this girl tick? Her stage presence is full of energy and that makes her popular among the channel show audiences. Think Komal with tighter clothes... ba ba boom!

Verdict: Rabi is average at best. The desperate dearth of female singers is responsible for making her big enough to get decent coverage. That said, being bubbly and bootylicious and having a stage presence may just ensure she's here to stay.

Arooj Aftab

Genre: Independent Pop Based on Contemporary/World Vocal Technique

Claim to Fame: Cover of Aamir Zaki's Mera Pyaar

The song 'Mera Pyaar' by Aamir Zaki has achieved somewhat of a legendary status in Pakistan, perhaps due to the fact that it is one of the few singles that Aamir ever released. While the pain in Zaki's voice is hard to match up to, a female singer from Lahore managed to ace it. Arooj has been recording cover songs for the past three years now, of which two notable examples are Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb' and Jeff Buckley's 'Hallelujah'. The songs got heavy airplay on the local radio stations as well, hence helping Arooj build up her fan base. Arooj won an online music scholarship at Berklee College of Music, and is currently pursuing a four year degree there. Her only original number that was released on the internet is 'Walking', which did receive much praise, but then again, one song does not maketh an album. Arooj is yet to release a music video, but has been featured on the popular show On the Fringe, hence giving her some exposure to the general population. Currently she's studying vocal technique with classical singer Sara Zaman, and working on her debut album.

Verdict: While Arooj is talented, she still needs to go a long way, considering tthat she oesn't really have original material yet. It remains to be seen whether Arooj will make it big amongst the mainstream, especially since she sings in English, which greatly limits her audience range. However, after the success of Sajid and Zeeshan, she might have a good shot at amassing a loyal fan following in Pakistan.

Haniya and Zeb

Genre: Acoustic/Fusion

Claim to Fame: The single 'Chup'

The single 'Chup' was floated around on the internet some two years ago. Strangely addictive, the song floats into the recesses of your mind and makes a permanent place for itself. Behind this addictive number were two girls - Haniya and Zeb, incidentally cousins, hailing from Islamabad, who started composing music seriously in college. Since then, fans have been breathlessly awaiting what this cousin duo will release next. Following the highly positive response from fans, Haniya and Zeb have continued on the musical journey, and have recorded a few rough tracks with Mekaal Hasan, unmixed versions of which are available on the internet. While their website is no longer functional, their songs are available for download on soundclick.com. The striking feature about this duo is that unlike other underground musicians, they have not performed a lot of cover songs, hence setting them apart from the rest of their brethren. That aside, their songs are in Urdu, which gives them a wider audience, especially in the long run. Haniya is currently abroad and Zeb is learning classical music, but come September, they plan to start working on their album.

Verdict: This duo is extremely talented, and while their music may not be what the masses want, they can certainly cater to Generation X, the safest target audience these days.

Conclusion:

It is sad that one hasn't heard of any established female artist like Hadiqa promoting fellow female musicians, since these young women need all the encouragement and help they can get, considering the fact that there are no established music schools like Berklee College of Music in Pakistan. Female musicians on the other hand need to realize that things in terms of perceptions and stereotypes will take some time to change. Sitting in a dark basement crooning away to your friends will not change stereotypes, it's only when they put their selves and their music out there, will they have a chance to educate an entire generation and expose the bhangra loving masses to different genres of music. If Entity Paradigm could expose half of the teenage population in Pakistan to a band like Tool, these girls can do it too.

About two years ago when Zeeshan Parwez and I had just started On the Fringe, we were by the Daewoo stand when we saw all the members of E.P. getting on the bus.

I still remember how shocked I was that they were taking the bus because by then they were top draw in Pakistan. I wanted to say hello to them but since we didn't want to bother them, we sort of chickened out.

And that's it.

E.P. has no further relevance to this article. I just saw them once on the Daewoo.

But Daewoo interests me a lot, not as a company, but as a theme on how our society is changing and becoming more mobile. It demonstrates public transport (private in this case) can work, things can happen on schedule and you can have lower middle class women working amongst men from all strata's of society.

Not everyone thinks so.

I was talking to a friend of mine recently, who is a western diplomat, and he asked me about something a Pakistani colleague had told him.

He asked me if was true that in the chai khanas along the route to Peshawar a green tube light signaled the availability of female prostitutes, a red fluorescent tube the presence of young boys for molestation and a white light as an indicator for alcohol.

I was appalled that a Pakistani could make up this bile for the consumption of an unsuspecting foreigner who would take it face value because he didn't know any better.

I am not denying these things exist, but not in the way it is mentioned. It just gives away the thought process of the Pakistani who passed on this information, that Pakhtuns are a molesting, sexually predatory, imbibing race.

It's a simple case of stereotyped reductionism because all the elements of the false story are related to basic instincts, in a way that people have similarly marginalized Africans, Arabs, Muslims and even Pakistanis.

When a race is described primarily in terms of blood lust and animal instincts, jokes about them being dumb soon follow.

But the next story passed on to me by my western diplomat friend (again as told to him by his Pakistani colleague) was what really upset me.

He asked if it was true that a lot of the women of the Daewoo who worked as hostesses actually doubled as prostitutes in their off time. It was obvious that the Pakistani colleague of my diplomat friend had a wild imagination that was lending itself to elaborate explanations for people he found uncomfortable.

This is quite typical of middle class Pakistan actually, especially when it comes to working women. The classes that can afford to keep women at home because they don't need additional income often disparage those who do.

They find it disgusting that women leave the confines of their homes to work for other people or at organizations and give up their housework. They refuse to comprehend the imperatives that force women to leave their home and go to work at jobs with exceedingly poor conditions, or leave them prey to predators.

Obviously that's one of the perverse justifications for the sexual harassment of the working woman. If they can leave the home then they aren't like our women who are respectable, so they won't mind if we make constant advances.

It's just another facet of how poverty dehumanizes people, especially women. In a way it was oddly opportune when I got a text message from a friend of mine about a presentation at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) from a group called Corrective Action on a case study of the hostesses of the Daewoo bus service.

The report made interesting reading, and much to the credit of Daewoo it was actually made with the consent of the company. Daewoo allowed itself to be subject to some very harsh scrutiny, and I am sure a lot of multinational firms would not be as open to an external gender audit, and Daewoo deserves to be commended for that.

Without a doubt, the women who work as Daewoo hostesses have it hard. Often we think that women who hold jobs are somehow empowered and free. But no, despite their apparent mobility they are just confined in different ways. The irony is they work on a bus and they still cant move.

By taking on the job as a hostess, it looks like they can leave the home, but actually the circumference of their freedom is just expanded to include the company. They can't really be free elsewhere. Secondly, the jobs they have offer them no real vertical or horizontal job prospects, so in a way they have been stereotyped as caregivers and servers only because they are precluded from management jobs.

Many undesirable or financially unrewarding jobs have been similarly gendered, like teaching, cleaning, nursing and care giving.

So that makes the job of a hostess a subtle reproduction of social stereotypes, but this time not just in society but actually in the private sector. The woman is thought to be good only at serving at home, and now only good enough to be serving in a bus.

The positions that actually can give them some abilities to improve their lives are denied to them. Additionally, they are subject to the occasional harassment of passengers (and one odd thing here is that the more conservative the place, like Peshawar or Multan, the less likely the chance of harassment by passengers) and the slurs attached to the profession like the one mentioned by the Pakistani colleague of my diplomat friend, it makes being a hostess quite a trying profession.

So why do they do it? They need the money. In fact to be precise, their families need the money. They often subject themselves to these conditions for their siblings to be able to afford an education.

Even more shameful is that these hostesses report that female passengers from the upper classes look down on them because they consider them nothing better than domestic help.

So much for sisterhood.

Whenever I am in Karachi I find this phenomenon of our working patterns really interesting, especially considering how it is involving our youth culture.

I see a lot of young women in retail, and the sudden explosion of part-time working opportunities for the adolescent is something that didn't exist in my youth, at least in Peshawar.

I have often wondered how these women fared in their jobs, and now with the Daewoo case I think I know. Too bad no one has written a song about it.

E.P. could. But we would have to Call them back from being Rubberbands.

Catching up with Ayesha Masood

Limited Editions, famous for stylish leather handbags, is Ayesha's claim to fame. After opening on Zamzama Boulevard last year, Instep catches up with this young entrepreneur as she opens a second outlet Park Towers...

Instep: What motivated you to start a business in leather accessories?

Ayesha Masood: Essentially I felt that when you needed a good leather bag in Pakistan, you had nowhere to go. Jafferjees is good but perhaps too sedate and Hub Leather somehow lacks a variety in styling. I personally love shoes and bags and always wondered why women in Pakistan stuck to black, brown or white bags. This business was started as a passion.

Instep: Did you have any technical training or expertise to handle leather?

AM: Yes, I've had leather experience. Let's say that I understand how it works. The group behind Limited Editions is Nova Leather - the largest leather outerwear manufacturers in the world outside of Pakistan. That is the backbone of this company. They provide to a lot of international brands and asked me to start a retail market in Pakistan. I brought my expertise to the value chain.

Instep: Priced between 4500 rupees and 12000 rupees, the bags are not inexpensive. So what exactly is your target market?

AM: We have two lines: Urban Basics and Evening Glamour. Personally I'm interested in women who will know how to carry both without spoiling the style of the bag. We're aiming for young as well as older, well traveled women who will recognize quality and style. Limited Editions is perhaps too steep for teenagers.

Instep: And how is the Park Towers outlet doing so far?

AM: Extremely well. You see, when you convert the currency, the bag actually costs less than a hundred dollars. It is inexpensive, especially for the quality you get. No where in the world can you buy a pure leather, branded bag for this much. There are women who walk in and ask why a locally manufactured bag is so expensive but then I don't expect them to become customers. There are others who appreciate the bags and don't mind paying the price.

Instep: There are some bags in the store that seem 'inspired' from designer brands like Louis Vuitton and Chanel. So is there a specific design philosophy to Limited Editions?

AM: That one particular bag takes inspiration from the Louis Vuitton shape but we have used our own brand colours and lines. Many of our bags may look similar to what you see in international magazines; let me make this clear that I do look westward for inspiration. I do look at what's happening around and cut/paste styles. I'm not reinventing the wheel. I travel a lot and simply keep an eye in fashion trends and follow them here. I'm even following the four seasons in bag trends, as is done world over. I am certainly not claiming to be an accessory designer having visions of what to create. They are inspired, yes.

Instep: Are you manufacturing anything besides leather bags?

AM: Since the backbone of our company is Nova, so we are making other leather products like leather jackets and leather cushions. We intend to start leather furniture as well.

Instep: A lot of fashion designers are making bags these days. How do you regard yourself as a potential member of Pakistan's fashion industry?

AM: Let me make this very clear: for me this is a hobby. It's a passion. I'm a Management Consultant by profession and the word 'designer' is nothing but a four-letter word for me. I am definitely not one. I'm not interested in self promotion at all. Of course it pleases me to see women appreciating the brand but that's all part of the passion. The process excites me and that's what I'm driven by, not self recognition.

Flash

Goth is the new glam this autumn. Gone are the feminine pastel and neutral coats we've been applying to our nails all summer and in comes a brooding, dark and dangerous palette. Blood red, deep amethyst, ripe plum and burnt brown may sound like colours of a cult, but in fact they are the most wanted shades of winter. What more, Chanel is endorsing Black nail polish and their limited edition Black Satin nail polish from their autumn/winter collection is already sold out everywhere in the world. With young style icons like Lindsey Lohan, Mary-Kate Olsen, Gwen Stefani, Nicole Richie, Hillary Duff and even Victoria Beckham going rock with black on their nails, the trend is sure to catch on. So when you paint your nails black this season, the style statement you'll be making is glamour and not goth, punk or rock. Mothers, rest assure your kids are not secretly sporting tattoos, safety pins and body piercing studs just because they are wearing black on their nails. This time, black is about being 'in style' not in rebellion!

To new beginnings

The year was 2004 when one first heard the words, "You've got a fast car/But you're not a rockstar." The phrase was catchy and the music catchier with its simple acoustic guitaring and tech beats in the background. The lyrics of this song made more sense than most 'love' inspired ditties that one finds rotating on airwaves these days. The track was 'King of Self' and the duo behind it was Sajid Ghafoor and Zeeshan Parwez. Now after two years, three singles (each track accompanied with a unique video), two Jazz awards and one LSA nomination later, Sajid and Zeeshan are out with their debut album. But unlike other upcoming artists, these guys offer something new. Theirs is an all–English language album and they are the only ones in the local music industry to have a record deal with a legitimate, world–renowned record label operating in Pakistan, namely EMI. Neither of the two things are a first in Pakistan. They do, however, mark a new beginning…

 Go back in time

Junoon have tried their hand at English songs ('No More', 'Lady Magic') before alongside Aamir Zaki's English rendition of 'Mera Pyaar' and 'People are People' and new guy on the block Hash with his 'My Moments'. Underground acts such as Coven and Corduroy have released entire English language albums as well. But all efforts prior to this duo's launch have failed. Most music listeners in this country don't understand a word of English. It is not easy to pull off English on an entire album. Sometimes, a Punjabi accent kicks in ala Ali Azmat. For the given few who do understand and enjoy English language songs, fresh sound, melody, catchy beats and effective lyrics are important. S&Z's music promises just that. Therein lies the secret success of this Peshawari duo.

S&Z's album also marks the re–launch of EMI in Pakistan after a gap of 12 years. EMI was a major player in the growth of Pakistani music in the old days. From Noor Jehan to Iqbal Bano to Vital Signs, Alamgir and Junoon – all were signed up with them and all albums released were copyright protected. As new illegitimate record labels opened up in Pakistan, EMI fled the country while piracy increased to staggering heights.

Speaking of EMI, Sajid Ghafoor commented, "EMI is the oldest record label in Pakistan. We gave more importance to their knowledge and experience than any other record label. As far as money is concerned, it was never about the money. We wanted to put a good album out there and EMI was able to help us achieve that goal."

The role of a legitimate record label

Distribution is not the only task a record label has to deal with. Promoting and marketing them and providing them with facilities such as recording studios, finances for a video and working towards making them a world known artist through releasing their albums in almost all parts of the world is also their job. More importantly, it has to be done legally. But this doesn't happen in Pakistan. Normally, any album that is released here is illegal because, the cds and cassettes that are used for recording are from software that is illegal. Cheaply produced, the profit margin on every sale is five times more than the cost. There is no concept of intellectual property rights and royalties. Every time a CD is sold, a musician has a right to be paid and as long as sales takes place, he should be paid but he's not. Moreover, without copyrights protection, any song can be copied or used as 'inspiration' and legally, a musician has no leg to stand on.

The reason why musicians continue to work with these labels despite knowing the truth is a lack of other alternatives. Here's one example – last year, a number of CD manufacturing plants shut down because of FIA raids. But this action caused uproar in the entire music industry. The albums that were releasing were delayed, those who had just released their albums (Ali Azmat, Faakhir) had no one to turn to when production and distribution stopped. Consequently, the first half of 2005 was an absolute disaster for musicians and fans alike. Simply put, our musicians are dependent on pirates if they want to remain in the industry.

The stakes are high

One Light Year at Snail Speed was slated for a July release. Despite a formal press release, the album was delayed. It has yet to hit stores. Investigating the reason behind the delay, that has enraged S&Z's cult fan following, Instep spoke to Head of EMI, Ameed Riaz, "Sajid and Zeeshan had sent us a mastered copy of the album through which the album is made. There was a sound of two clicks in one of the songs. The person who was checking the sound thought that it was deliberate and a part of the sound. Later, it became clear that it was a technical glitch. Sajid and Zeeshan have sent in another copy. All problems have now been resolved."

Despite the delay in album release, this attitude of striving for perfection is one prime example why EMI is important for Pakistan's music industry. No other record label has adequate knowledge to distinguish the difference between a technical glitch and proper sound. Will pirate record labels give importance to the sound of each and every song and not consider two clicks irrelevant? Usually, problems in the sound of a local album are infinite. There are few artists who know how to make the sound of an album impeccable. As a result, if a musician does make a mistake, chances of a record label noticing it or fixing it are slim to none. The existing record labels (the biggest of which are owned and operated by pirates) here don't bother because it is not the artist they are working for. They work for themselves and for monetary gains.

What EMI hopes to achieve

Instep spoke to Ameed Riaz to find out how EMI plans to break into Pakistan's music market where everyone and everything is painted with piracy. "At the moment we don't have the kind of equipment that musicians would need for recording. We have opened up after years. But if we sign up an artist who cannot afford to record an album on his own, we will hire a studio for him and incur the cost ourselves. There is a budget for everything and that includes videos as well. The royalty that we will offer solely depends on the commercial viability of artist, sales figures and cost structure. There is also the question of international releases. We do not offer guarantees but every time EMI will release an album, it will be forwarded to EMI Arabia and they will forward it to EMI UK. I cannot influence them to release it because everyday EMI receives numerous demos from artists. But we will recommend albums to them and possibly even release them. That's what we hope to achieve. We will work on international releases for all our artists. Middle East, UK, Europe and India – all these places are on our list.

Last time EMI left because of piracy as well as losses that we incurred in sales. This time, we do have a plan of action. I don't want to go into many details but we are planning it out. I was told by EMI UK to release one cd for 250-300 rupees but we won't do that because we know that no one will buy it then. We are here for the long race so things will move slowly. We want to be stable. And we will sign more artists and offer them all the things that a record label should but that will take some time."

Go legit!

Piracy cannot be eradicated completely from Pakistan… ever! These illegitimate record labels have built their own system over a long period of time. And they have only gotten better at it. But piracy can be restricted if proper infrastructure and support is provided to labels like EMI. As time passes by, EMI will play a significant role in the battle against piracy. They are well aware of copyright laws as well as global trends that are followed when an album is released. They may not have the biggest studio in Pakistan but they certainly are a cut above the rest. EMI is a part of EMI group, which is one of the top four record labels in the world. An artist signed up with them has more chances of reaching international audiences than with a local pirate label.

But their existence will only mean something if the government takes serious action against all illegal pirates and holds them accountable. Moreover, it is important for musicians to show more concern about the product they put out for the public to hear rather than wait for hefty cheques to swing their way. Most members of the Association of Music Professionals of Pakistan (AMPP) are currently released by pirate record labels. And it is yet to be seen what action AMPP will take against piracy. It is a long process and has to be tackled intelligently.

In the end, one can only hope that musicians take a stand for themselves and cease the opportunity while they have the chance. Our music industry has the talent but not the infrastructure. A proper system will only be created when musicians and legitimate record labels join hands and fight the battle for copyrights together. May the force be with them!

Footnote: Sajid and Zeeshan's One Light Year at Snail Speed just might be in stores now. Do check!

After all those years in the music business and being the only recognised female pop artist, one doesn't expect Hadiqa to do what she has done. And that is her latest video 'Mehr Ma' in collaboration with some unknown British rap artist called Khiza. The choice of the collaborating artist is one problem in the video but having said that, it is not the only glitch. Not only that he is not a known face but he also fails to impress the listeners with his rapping. An artist of Hadiqa's standing should be doing some high profile collaborations instead of an average venture like this one. Something similar to her previous collaboration with Atif Aslam. The second major problem with the video is the drastic styling and makeovers Hadiqa has gone through – all of which are not complementing. The tight perm look, the short haired punk look and the classic blow dry somehow fails to gel with her personality and the song itself. The result is awkwardness. Hadiqa may be an icon in her own right but when performing to a mediocre song, her radically changing image cannot save the song from scrap. She's appreciated for her music rather than her style and we hope she commits herself to that cause in the next venture.

One thing that is common between Mekaal Hasan Band and Zeeshan Parwez is performance videos, or at least it has begun to be so. 'Andholan' the second video in a row directed by Zeeshan Parwez is yet another performance based video. Although it is a good song, the video seems overly simple and similar to 'Jhok Ranjhan.' The only difference between both the videos is perhaps the contrast change – if the former was bright and sharp, the latter is dark and shadowy. However, the feel is the same and at times, even some shots are the same. It seems like Mekaal Hasan Band and Zeeshan Parwez together are treading a path to simplicity but there are more ways than one to make a simple video and it doesn't always have to be a performance based video. Zeeshan is a brilliant director and he has proven this time and again with videos like 'Freestyle Dive', 'King of Self' and even 'Jhok Ranjhan' as they all came with a fresh feel to them. It's about time the Mekaal Hasan Band decided to experiment a bit too.

"And I figured out that the reason I couldn't get through the day as well as I can now is because I had too many things on my mind, on my plate, you know, for one person to have. So I started to eliminate some of the things that were too heavy to carry and unnecessary." -- Erykah Badu

1. Chal Ren Dein

- Sajjad Ali

2. Sun Re

- Abbas Ali Khan

3. Be The One

- Omer Inayat

4. Jilawatan - Call

5. Mantra - Faakhir

1. Fanaa 2. Dil Diya Hai 3. Killer

4. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna 5. Bas Ek Pal

1. Loose - Nelly Furtado

2. PCD - Pussy Cat Dolls

3. Oral Fixation Volume 2 - Shakira

4. Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chilli Peppers

5. Switch - Inxs

It's Karan Johar's third venture as director and follows the same sequence of having its name begin with a 'K', a star cast including Shahrukh Khan, elaborate sets, foreign locales and good music. The only thing different is the storyline – Karan Johar, with this 40 crore blockbuster, finally moves away from college kids to explore adult relationships. The next two weeks will ascertain how the film fares in comparison to this year's previous box office hits Rang De Basanti, Fanaa and Krrish, but the opening week has been an incredible success. The film enjoyed a record breaking advance booking and if that's not a great start, nothing is. In this poll, Instep asked some of our industry's experts on what they expected from the film. Here's what they had to say…

 Sahira Kazmi

Director

I haven't seen the film. Karan Johar always makes entertaining, fun films without being vulgar. I liked Kal Ho Naa Ho and KKHH with its music, dance and comedy. K3G I felt was overdone with the sentimentality content. For me it was Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Bum. India's doing too many thrillers, which I really can't take so this one, will provide that much needed gap from the thriller genre. One doesn't have to be married to tackle marital infidelity as a subject. Ultimately, it depends on your exposure to the world around, what goes on in the west and more importantly, what's happening in India. KANK looks different but I can't say how good or bad the film is going to be unless I see it and I plan to.

Hasan Zaidi

Director Karafilm Festival

I haven't seen the film yet but I am going to. If I go by KJ's old films, then I don't have any expectations since I'm not a fan of his work. But the synopsis of KANK seemed interesting so one hopes it might be a different sort of a film.

Mehreen Jabbar

Filmmaker

I'm not the right person to ask. I haven't seen the film yet but I do want to. From the trailers and promos, all I know is that the film is about adultery. I really liked KKHH. I just feel that at times KJ gets a bit too melodramatic in his films.

Samina Peerzada

Actor/Director

I have not seen KANK but I want to. Usually, KJ films are entertaining but they're also clichéd. Films like Iqbal and Maqbool have dared to be different and they have done good business at the box office. This film however looks different from Karan Johar's other films. I want to see why marriages fail and why spouses cheat on each other. I'm looking forward to it.

Usman Peerzada

Actor/Director

By and large, I don't enjoy Bombay films. I have seen Kuch Kuch Hota Hai but it's not my kind of cinema. Sometimes the storylines are picked up. Other times, there is too much gloss and less scope of acting. A film has to touch my heart, my mind, and soul. It's not that Indian films aren't capable of doing it, just not Bombay films. I'd rather watch Children of Heaven. KANK as a film does not interest me or stir any curiosity within me.

Immu (Fuzon)

Musician

I haven't seen the film. I do like KJ films. They are family oriented films. One example is K3G. KJ films always have a big cast and his films sell because of its star cast. He always plays it safe. To be honest, I'm a great fan of the Bachchan family and Aamir Khan. I don't care much for SRK's acting. However, I do want to see the film and my reason is Shafqat. He has sung 'Mitwa' in the movie, which is picturised on SRK and Rani. It is a huge accomplishment, the song is a hit and I want to see how his voice works for SRK. It's not like I don't want to see this film but I find all KJ films somewhat predictable.

Yousuf Salahuddin

Patron, Pakistani cinema

Normally Shahrukh Khan's movies never appeal to me as they have the same formula. I prefer films by Aamir Khan, because the films he does are different and always have some sort of a message. He doesn't just do glamorous movies with beautiful people. I really liked Rang De Basanti, Lagaan and even Mangal Pandey because they all touched different issues. I have never been a SRK fan, there is a lot of glamour and fantasy and obviously a lot of money is spend on his movies. I suppose that is very entertaining for the masses. Karan Johar's movies are quickly forgotten too. I am not too keen on them. I feel that Indian and Pakistani cinema have been making the same stuff for years now. Again, the story line is not unique or new for Indian cinema. Silsilay was made twenty years ago and touched the same issue, so it is not something new or different.

Resham

Actress

I haven't seen the film yet and I'm planning to go to Dubai and catch it in the cinema. But I have been reading about it and from the promos and the fact that it's a film about relationships really excites me. After all, the time span for relationships is decreasing these days, they are becoming more and more short lived and we're seeing more divorces and separations now than even before. Karan Johar has taken up a brilliant subject. He's a very gifted director and all of his films have depth and intensity along with the glamorous presence of good songs and great locations. This one has Shahrukh, everyone likes him and Abhishek, who is very sexy. I recently met him at the IIFA Awards. The whole cast is great. For all it's worth, this seems like a promising film.

In the picture

The wait is over! The most anticipated film of the year is out and it doesn't disappoint even though it has some loopholes.

KANK is the story of two families – Sarans and Talwars living in New York – both of whom are not interlinked. Dev Saran (Shahrukh Khan) is a failed football player who has a troubled relationship with his independent and successful fashion magazine editor wife Rhea (Preity Zinta) and son Arjun. On the other hand Maya (Rani Mukerjee) is married to happy–go–lucky PR consultant Rishi (Abhishek Bachchan).

Both marriages lack passion and more importantly love. After years of being in a bitter relationship that was always a compromise, one meeting by chance brings Dev and Maya together. Small talk and therapeutic sessions about how to save their disastrous marriages soon turn into love. From there on the film changes its course completely.

This is an important film to see. Focusing on daily life problems between married people, it ultimately aims to show how love, passion and compatibility are the essential players in making a marriage work. But this is no Chalte Chalte. It is far more complicated that that.

And there are many ways to looking at it. What a man goes through when his wife is the breadwinner in the household, what a woman must feel like when she can't bear a child and how two people so completely opposite each other try to make a marriage work and what happens when all their efforts fail. Another important thing to look at is the breaking of a marriage. It is not a relationship that one can just walk away from. Marriage is not just two people holding hands and vowing to be together forever, it is also a merger of two families and if a child is also in the story, the outcome is even worse.

KANK takes a look in the minds of all these people with a microscope and shows the grey side of each character. For this effort alone, Karan Johar must be applauded. After KKHH and K3G – both traditional films glammed up with grand sets, beautiful clothes and clichéd endings, KANK is a groundbreaker for him and for Indian cinema. Films like Arth and Silsila have tacked infidelity as a subject matter before but it is the presence of stars like Shahrukh Khan that makes one stand and take notice.

The lesson that this film tries to teaches is this: it is better to walk away from a relationship that has nothing but fights, trauma, lovelessness attached to it. It may not be a traditional solution but the times that we live in, it is also not inconceivable. It happens in the west all the time but when it comes to the subcontinent, a woman must always stand by her man and therein comes the punch of the film. It doesn't have to be this way. A woman can be more successful and she can cheat on her husband. It is not always the man who is at fault.

The only glitch in the film comes with the ending. Even though, it is not traditional in anyway, it manages to send every character off to their new destinies. A little less concentration on making every character happy would've made the film much more realistic. As they say, some things should be left unsaid. Perhaps, Karan ended the film on a happy note because he wanted to send audiences home feeling happy and satisfied.

But overall, this film breaks barrier for Indian films because it has defied traditional norms.

Here it must be said that even though KANK deals with a delicate storyline, the humour in the film is absolutely hilarious. The one–liners between Amitabh (playing Rishi's father) and Abhishek, Amitabh and Kirron Kher (Dev's mom) are blocks of comedy for the masses.

Acting wise, Shahrukh Khan steals the show. The intensity with which he delivers his lines is simply electrifying. And it feels good. After a long time, SRK plays a role that in its essence has grey matter written all over it. The way he is sarcastic about everything around him is a character totally unlike him and for it, he deserves to be lauded. Rani Mukherji and Preity Zinta too do justice to their roles. But it must also be said that this film is more about SRK and Rani than any other actor. Abhishek plays a role that is very close to his personality. But he too is stunning in the second half of the film when he discovers the betrayal he has just suffered. Rani Mukherji, unfortunately reminds one too much of Chalte Chalte. Nonetheless, her acting is superb. Ditto for Preity. Unfortunately, the role given to Amitabh Bachchan isn't as meaty as one would've hoped. His flamboyancy is at par as far as acting is concerned. But then again, the master print isn't out yet. Therefore, there are many scenes missing from the film and who knows how many scenes our friendly pirates have chopped out.

Overall, KANK has tried to be different. And for this reason alone, it is a must see film. But beware; the print doing rotation in market these days is heavily cut. Our advice: wait for the full print to understand KANK as it was meant to be seen. Only see this version if you're really, really desperate!

--Maheen Sabeeh

*YUCK

**WHATEVER

***GOOD

****SUPER

*****AWESOME

Ace choreographer/director, Farah Khan has been assigned to choreograph none other than the sexy hip–shaking Columbian singer, Shakira. Shakira will be performing live in L.A. on August 31 and Farah has been asked to help her do an Indianized version of the hit song, 'Hips don't lie.' Shakira will be dressed up in the ghagra choli combination, complete with the heavy Indian jewelry and her dancers will be costumed the same way. You can expect to see a lot of belly dancing and pelvic thrusts in this number, as no one does them better than the Latino. Farah will by flying to New York to audition for dancers and then later she will be rehearsing with the singer. On being asked whether she was excited, Farah replied, "It is an honour to represent the Bollywood fraternity on a world platform. When the show producers called and asked me if I knew Shakira, I told them our whole country was obsessed with her! I think Shakira is one of the best dancers in the world right now and is undoubtedly the hottest thing."

It continues to be a good year for Big B. It has been announced unofficially that Amitabh Bachchan will be winning the Best Actor National Film Award for his performance in Black. This will be his second National Award; the first he won for Agneepath in 1990. Amitabh will be defeating Kerela superstar Mohanlal and Anupam Kher by a meager margin. Saif Ali Khan very proudly received the same award last year for his role in Hum Tum. Unfortunately Rani Mukerji does not share the same luck. In a neck–to–neck contest, Sarika, the female lead of the yet–to–be–released Parzania, is believed to have narrowly beaten Rani Mukerji in Black. One of the actors that Amitabh outscored – Anupam Kher – will win a consolation Special Jury Prize for his performance in Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara. Naseeruddin Shah's performance in Nagesh Kukunoor's Iqbal will fetch the veteran actor an award in the Best Supporting Actor category. The Best Film award will be going to Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Bengali film, Kaalpurush – Memories in the Mist, while Rahul Dholakia has been named the Best Director for Parzania. Black, which ran Kaalpurush precariously close, will probably be getting the Best Hindi Film award. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti was adjudged the best film promoting national integration. Aparna Sen's 15 Park Avenue will win the Best English film award. (The list has been announced; it simply awaits a legal seal to be released officially.) These awards go beyond Bollywood and consider the entire Indian film industry that includes the enormous south. Reportedly, this year the feature film section holds 125 entries while non–feature film section has over 160 entries.

Abhishek loves Preity

Is it Aishwarya Rai? Is it Rani Mukherji? No, it's Preity Zinta. Abhishek Bachchan has finally confessed whom he loves. In a recent interview Abhishek Bachchan, who shared screen space with actress Preity Zinta for the first time in Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, said he loves Preity very much. Though Abhishek and Preity earlier worked together in Shaad Ali's Salaam Namaste, it was an insignificant shot. In KANK, Abhishek and Preity share an extra–marital relationship and according to sources, they got along very well on the sets. Abhishek called Preity one of his favourite people on earth. "She's one of the nicest persons I've met," he commented. Abhishek and Preity will be seen together again in Shaadi Ali's Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom. "I'm looking forward to working with Preity. I'm sure we will have a great time during shooting," gushed an excited Abhishek. Now who would have thought good old Preity had a chance. Though this declaration of love is more platonic than lovey dovey, we'd advise Ash to keep her eyes on her man. Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom might just become an unfortunate Alvida for her.

Aishwarya Rai isn't the only actress gaining and losing weight for roles these days. Beyonce Knowles, the singer famous for her curves, recently lost six kilos in ten days in preparation for her role as Soul Diva in her upcoming film Dreamgirls (shot in the Twiggy era for which she had to be reed thin) and is getting it back by eating doughnuts. She has rubbished reports that she is enjoying being too thin. She said in an interview, "I put the weight back on as soon as I finished, so I am no smaller or bigger than I've always been. It was strictly for the movie…The funniest part was putting the weight back on and eating my doughnuts and all the other things. So now I'm back to my body. I'm very conscious of being a curvy woman and I'm very happy that I am a curvy woman." And how exactly did she achieve the speedy weight loss? It was an entirely liquid and maple syrup diet. Despite having done it herself Beyonce has gone on record saying that it is absolutely not an advisable way to lose weight. The actress is quoted as saying, "I would not recommend it if someone wasn't doing a movie because there are other ways to lose weight."

Until Suri Cruise has been fully revealed to the public's adoring eye, speculations on how she looks and whether she exists at all will continue to make their rounds around the grapevine. It's been four months since the baby was born and so far only the Beckhams and Tom Cruise's former girlfriend Penelope Cruz have been allowed to meet her. Well, recently in a surprise trip outside the confines of her home, Suri made a guest appearance at Will and Jada Smith's son Jaden's birthday. Not very polite timing, as the poor little boy, about to cut his eighth birthday cake was probably upstaged by the small child making a sudden entry. Anyway, Tom made sure that no one took pictures of the kid, touched her, spoke to her or even looked at her directly. Sound like a fun party? There have been promises of public photos being released, but so far none have come through. Taking Suri out seems like Tom's idea to kill speculation over the existence of the baby. Guarding her from the public eye stems from Tom's commitment to Scientology that suggests everything the baby comes into contact with influences her for the rest of her life. How she'll survive Tom's influence is what worries us.