When you think of artists from Pakistan, you think of legends like Ghulam Ali and Abida Parveen. Farida Khanam also evokes great response in India. However, in today's times when everything is dictated by the preference of the youth, it is the popular music from Pakistan which is finding takers from India. And now even a Rock band like Inteha is scaling the top of popularity charts.
The Inteha band from Pakistan was here to perform at Marwah Studios in Noida recently. Among the distinguished guests was the minister of Press, Pakistan High Commission, Manzoor Ali Memon and the first secretary to the High Commissioner in New Delhi Saima Saiyed. At the show the band sang 15 songs. Inteha guys started with some Sufi music by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and then went on to sing Hindi film songs like “Mere sanam mar mitenge hum”, “Jaane-jaan”, “Chaudhvin ka chand” and also some Punjabi numbers. The crowd, mostly the students of AAFT, was left asking for more.
After the tremendous performance Naukhez Jawed, popularly known as NJ, revealed a few things about the band. “Inteha was founded in 2005 in Lahore and in 2006 we released our first Album Daastaan and till now we have released six albums Anjaana in 2007, Yeh Pyaar and Kehna Chahta Hoon in 2009, Hum Rahein Na Rahein in 2010 and our last album titled Inteha-e-Rock containing 11 songs was released in 2014." Inteha is currently one of the top rock bands in Pakistan. In 2012 the band endorsed Pakistan's corporate giant Engro Foods’ ice cream brand Omore.
They have an India connect too. A couple of years ago the band also signed a contract with T-series and sang a Punjabi song. Now they are in talks with some Bollywood producers for playback singing. The members feel that their music is as well appreciated in Delhi as well as Lahore. "We have performed in many parts of the globe, we get to see the same kind of enthusiasm and appreciation while performing in Lahore, Delhi and Dubai. The reason behind this may be that both Indians and Pakistani people share the same culture and also the same language. This is our second trip to India and we would like to come and perform here again and again. People here are very loving, caring and they understand music very well."
Asked about the so-called Indo-Pak cultural exchange being a one-way traffic with Pakistani artists coming here and Indian artists not welcome there, the Pakistani group asserted that it is not true. “Indian films are released in Pakistani theatres, we watch Indian television shows with a lot of interest. Many Indians have recently gone to Pakistan for the literature festival.”
Before signing out Jansher Junaid, the lead singer, said, “Art and culture is the best way to eradicate the boundaries between the two countries."
