Bollywood's musical duo Salim-Sulaiman, the famous girl band of Zeb and Haniya from Pakistan besides bands from eight other countries will enthral music connoisseurs for three days at the South Asian Bands Festival to be held at the historic Purana Qila here beginning December 2.
Hosted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in collaboration with the External Affairs Ministry and Seher, the fifth edition of the music festival has become a melting pot for talent in the South Asian region.
The music produced by Zeb and Haniya, who belong to the conflict-torn region of Peshawar, speaks of a shared base of human experience. They pen their own songs and rework existing melodies of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to create commercially successful music.
According to ICCR Director-General Suresh Goel, the South Asian Bands Festival has been popular because the participating groups touch the hearts of people from all age groups. “The presentation and working together of artistes of various genres also enables creative artistes of this region to get to know each other's creations and opens up possibilities of working together in the future.”
The Sri Lankan fusion band Thriloka (three worlds) has been entertaining local audience since 2006, delivering an innovative blend of traditional Sri Lankan folk music, Indian raga, jazz and rock.
The Maldivians have been creating music in their country for over a decade under the recording company “Super Muzik Faktory”. “The band's mission is to present traditional music in an easy way so that the young generations can understand. They combine traditional music with pop, Latin and electronic fusion,” said a representative from the band.
Robin and the New Revolution band from Nepal exudes a lot of energy in its live shows. Bohemian band comprising Shams Bin Quader and Mahbub Farhan was formed with the intention of creating a unique brand of rock music in Bangladesh, one whose melodious music would attract a large audience.
