Instep Desk
The greatest sports rivalry in the world:

India-Pakistan

Cricket between India and Pakistan isn't just an ordinary match. It's considered one of the greatest sports rivalries in the world. It's very unfortunate that cricket between the two countries doesn't take place more often. To fans of both teams, defeat is unacceptable. It becomes a matter of pride, as if the fate of the world and the human race depends on it. That's really how emotional and excited people get at the prospect of a cricket match between India and Pakistan.

Over the years, cricket between the two countries has taken a back seat after the Mumbai attacks in 2008. Since then Pakistan and India haven't faced each other in a bilateral series, playing only in tournaments like World Cup and Twenty 20 World Cup. The last face-off between the two countries was during the semi-final of the World Cup in 2011 and was labeled by fans as the 'mother of all matches' and the 'greatest match in the world'. Pakistan eventually lost to a stronger Indian batting line up but to his word, then captain, Shahid Afridi prevented master batsmen Sachin Tendulkar from getting to his hundred century.
But fans can rejoice as India and Pakistan are set to face each other later this year during the Asia Cup and the Twenty 20 World Cup.

Sur Kshetra

Scheduled to go on air tomorrow, the Indo-Pak singing competition is all set to make waves on both sides of the border. Apart from Atif Aslam and Himmesh Reshammiya heading the teams from their respective countries, the judges lineup is the casting coup. Indian singing legend Asha Bhosle and Pakistani folk sensation Abida Parveen will be balanced by the evergreen Bengali crooner Runa Laila. There are many who are more excited by the judges’ lineup than by Atif and Himmesh. There's the singing competition to look forward to and then there's the chemistry and the conversation. Atif has gone on record in India saying, “This show is different because artists from both Pakistan and India are going to share the same platform. There will be a lot of cultural exchange and the Indian audience will come to know about Pakistan culture.” A pertinent point to raise, there isn't much awareness about Pakistan in India yet, a romanticized version exists for the Indians - think Yash Chopra's Veer Zaara and other Bollywood films often well-intentioned that make it seem at the time of Partition, all of Lucknow came and settled in Pakistan. Even now, while we in Pakistan get a regular blast of India through Bollywood, they know very little about us. If successful, Sur Kshetra will be able to change that in a way that a 100 'intellectual' activities like seminars couldn't. People on both sides of the border will be able to enjoy it, here on Geo TV and across the border on Sahara One.

Karafilm Festival

The Karafilm Festival set a lot of balls rolling. A humble beginning at the Alliance Francaise in Karachi got the glitz when the late Jagmohan Mundra and Nandita Das turned up to support cinema and their film Bhawandar in 2001. Organized by Hasan Zaidi who ran the Karafilm Society the festival kept up the pace till 2006. In a slew of international films, it was Indian cinema that was the major attraction. However, public interest grew in watching shorts and documentaries too, each year showing a higher turnout than the last. Of course when Indian films were shown, the house was packed and people even sat on the floor. The high point was when Pooja and Mahesh Bhatt turned up in 2005 resulting in a media frenzy.  Karafilm was how the dialogue of opening up cultural avenues between India and Pakistan began and it would pave the way for Indian films to come to Pakistan. While the revival of cinema remains a question mark because of the lack of infrastructure, the revival of cinemas is definitely on. Only fools would disagree that allowing Indian films into Pakistan has made cinemas a lucrative proposition again. Anyhow, because of the security situation, a lack of sponsors and India Pakistan tensions Karafilm fizzled out in 2009. The biggest star who came was Ajay Devgn who arrived with writer and director Vishal Bharadwaj along with the brilliant Omkara in 2006. With Indian films being screened in Pakistan regularly, there is tremendous scope for the festival to make a comeback. We are sort of tired of all the invites to Indian film premieres at local cinemas, after all, what's a premiere without the stars?     

Carnival De Couture

Till fashion weeks came along, it was a charity fundraiser that was the crowning glory of fashion in Pakistan. Carnival De Couture arrived in 2004 via Zeba Husain (now the owner of Ensemble) who put her all into putting together an extravaganza. It was a fashionable one night match between Pakistani designers and their Indian counterparts. Our fashion design icons Sana Safinaz, Rizwan Beyg, Faiza Samee, Nilofer Shahid and Umar Sayeed showed alongside Indian fashion powerhouses like Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal and Manish Malhotra. With a happy hour, round tables, the crème de la crème of society attending it became the event that fashion designers were dying to be a part of. Of course the icing on the cake were the Indian stars Arjun Rampal, Shilpa Shetty, Urmila Matondkar, Milind Soman who flew down to be a part of the fashion carnival keeping media and sponsors interested in the event. The event got delayed and lost luster thanks to the problems between India and Pakistan, meanwhile fashion weeks took over, and it slowly dwindled. However, now Zeba and Shehrnaz Husain are talking about reviving the show after rethinking it and the idea is very welcome, as long as they turn it into a show over and above just straight runway. Fashion needs the glamour and the star quotient and a night oozing glamour and good times never goes out of fashion.

The musical omnibus


If there's one thing that's exciting about India-Pakistan, it's the music collaborations that take place between the two countries. Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt started this musical process when he visited Pakistan for Karafilm Festival and soon afterwards he roped in Ali Azmat, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam to feature on the soundtrack of some of his film productions. But that was then. It paved the path for future artists as well.
Now Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has become a regular feature on the soundtracks of some of the biggest films of Bollywood. Some of his credits include films like Dabangg, My Name is Khan, Sinngh is King among many others. Atif Aslam prefers being selective but he's made his mark too having sung for films like Race, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and Kismet Konnection. While Atif and Strings lend their voices to a film project, Strings have taken it a notch higher. They produce the music too. Some of their prolific projects include Sanjay Dutt starrers Zinda and Shootout at Lokhandwala. In addition to this, many Pakistani acts have toured India including the likes of Zeb and Haniya and Mekaal Hasan Band and continue to do so today.
On the other hand, Indian musicians too have a solid following in Pakistan. The famous sold-out Sonu Nigam show is just one example. Acts like Sukhbir and Euphoria have also performed in Pakistan to much fanfare. With the popularity of Coke Studio spreading across India (thanks to the Internet), this musical process will continue and hopefully grow.