By Madeeha Syed
With 2010 slated to be a comeback year for the music industry – provided everything goes as planned – here is a concise look at Pakistani pop music this past decade
From 2000 to 2001: Slow beginnings
Pakistani rock phenomenon Junoon was at the peak of its glory and had just released an album titled Millenium Edition, a compilation album which contained 12 previously released popular Junoon songs. The album also contained a live version of Allah Hu and Laal Meri Patt as well as a song titled Azadi – a somewhat haunting number – which they did for the soundtrack of Jamil Dehlavi’s film, Jinnah. The year 2000 also marked Junoon’s decade as a band in the industry. Pakistani pop band Strings got together after a hiatus of eight years and released Duur (which was later re-released in early 2002). The first single from the album Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar was a massive hit which was later followed by the hugely popular title track Duur. Although the reformed band was two members less and now consisted only of Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia, Duur marked a very strong and popularly-received comeback of the band.
So, the Jawad Ahmad vs Abrar ul Haq episode is still not over yet. Jawad Ahmad has recently filed a lawsuit of Rs100 million against Abrar ul Haq saying that in a talk show he (Abrar) leveled baseless charges against him claiming that he (Jawad) collected Rs600 million for Taleem for All Trust through a telethon at a government-run TV channel, alleging that instead of investing that amount in the trust he used it for producing his film Virsa, he told this at a recent press conference held at Lahore Press Club.