Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks has given rise to conflicting opinion’s about Pakistani artistes who have been associated with our music industry. With some sections taking a stand to ban Pakistani artists, there are others who maintain – music has no boundaries.
Talent and terrorism are too apart to be gauged on same parameter, believes Music composer Anand Raj Anand. While having patriotism for our country, we should not develop hatred for another country. Also, during this sensitive time, we should not ignite such issues which can be better ignored at the moment….
Palash Sen shares the same thought, he says, I strongly believe music should not be regionalized, religionized and politicized. It is meant to sooth hearts, gives pleasure transcends every boundary
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It is a myopic thought to severe bonds with Pakistan and we must look a little beyond that, opines Musician K J Singh. “There are some Pakistani legends who have proven themselves and the younger crop are yet to prove their metal over a period of time. Instead of adding musical barriers we need to strengthen our border security and deal with it in a reasonable way….
Abhhijeet Bhattacharya, who is known for his outrageous remarks said, Pakistan has nothing to offer to their artists, they don’t have a music industry, film industry, music companies, theaters, event management companies. There is a dearth of work in Pakistan so every person who thinks he can sing is trying his luck in India….
There may be legends in Pakistan but I believe they should stay in their own country instead of settling here. They make money and fame in our country and don’t even pay taxes. There is no dearth of talent in our country and we could give Indian singers opportunities instead of working with the Pakistani singers,… he suggested.
Indian singers touring in Pakistan
Palash Sen tour with his band Euphoria band in early May this year presents a rosier picture of Indian singers in Pakistan. Says Sen, The common man there doesn’t differentiate with Indian musicians and the politicians there think like politicians here. We were the first band in many years to go and tour in Pakistan and it was an eye opener of sorts for both the countries. It is disheartening that we are talking about marginalizing a complete nation who welcomed us with open arms….
One cannot help but mention the Pakistani tour in 2004 when Sonu Niigaam escaped bomb blast before the concert. Sowmya who was a part of the entourage recollects, We narrowly escaped the bomb blast just before our show in Karachi in April 2004. I don’t know of any Pakistani artiste, greeted like that in India….
Singer Rabbi Shergill was denied visa by the Pakistani Government for permission to shoot a track for his album Avengi Ja Naahin in Karachi. The singer has left everything behind and has no hard feelings for the musicians coming here. Pakistan was going through turbulent times and if given permission, our production house was required to constantly be in touch with the security forces. I know of many Pakistani film makers who shifted their shooting to Malaysia and it was better for us to avoid travelling to Pakistan during such times. But abandoning Pakistani singers in India is not a solution for it….
Commenting on the current scenario, Anand Raj Anand avers, Looking at the current situation, it seems that there can be halt on their artists performing here or us going there. But things would be normal once everything settles down….
Is the industry united?
With varied point of views in the industry, there is an ambiguity on the stand the industry should take. I believe that our way of thinking, vision and line of thought should be positive at this moment and industry should stand together,… says Anand Raj Anand.
Sowmya states, There are lot of artistes from across the border who have become a part of our industry over the years, and most of our artistes would have developed a personal rapport with them. And it definitely becomes very awkward to refuse to work with them all of a sudden, for no direct fault of theirs. There’s no point in just one or two people declining to work with Pakistani artistes, it has to be a collective decision, or not at all. Until an official order to that effect is passed, there’s not much we can do singularly….
Giving an industry perspective, TIPS VP Rajiv Sogani says, After the terror attacks, the sentiments of Indians towards Pakistani artists are not good and we would be putting a hold on our Pakistani artists at the moment. We have to follow what the industry does and wait till things get normal to resume working with them….
T-Series president – marketing media publishing Vinod Bhanushali, After the number of attacks that India has suffered, talks on severing bonds with the neighbouring nation was bound to happen. We have to act patriotically, flow with the sentiments of the people and cannot go against their sentiments….
