Jalandhar, Wednesday, December 26, 2012

04 variety

MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO RAFI

COLE TURNS DJ
DURING A NIGHTOUT

Pakistani band Raga Boyz created a perfect mlange of cultures at a musical evening

PHOTOS: MUNISH BYALA

Bhangra performers
were a perfect
accompaniment to
Sufi music

Raga Boyz in
action

Archna Matharu and Rohit

Sachdeva

tribute to Rafi calling him

Rafi Dilan Da Haani.
Brothers Wali Hamid Ali
Khan, Inam Ali Khan and
Nayab Ali Khan, who comprise the Raga Boyz band
and come from Patiala gharana, remembered Rafi and
shared information of a rich
legacy marked by their father
and grandfathers association
with Rafi.
We feel privileged to have
got a chance to perform in
Amritsar on Rafi jis birth
anniversary. Whether we
perform in India or Pakistan,
we never feel any difference.
Our roots are in Patiala, and

archna.matharu@hindustantimes.com

midst thick fog and

bone chilling cold, the
historic venue of Khalsa
College came alive with musical notes from across the
border. To pay tribute to legendary Punjabi singer
Mohammed Rafi on his 88th
birth anniversary, Pakistani
band Raga Boyz performed
at his hometown Amritsar on
Monday.
At a function named
Saanjh Sura Di, organising
TV channel Zee Punjabi paid

we love performing here,

said Wali. Nayab added,
Whenever we perform in
any part of the world, we go
on the stage only after we are
introduced to be from the
Patiala gharana.
While on stage, the band of
brothers set the stage on fire
with their more than onehour- long performance, in
which they regaled the audience with a mix of classical,
folk, Sufi and rock songs.
Starting with a classical
track, they followed it with a
song written by Bulleh Shah,
called Rang Ishqe Da
Chadeya, and later sang a

band Junoon and Dama Dum

Mast Kalandar.
A true fusion of cultures
was witnessed as artists performed bhangra to the tune
of these Sufi tracks while
Dholis from Pakistan accompanied the foot tapping
music of the band. Despite
the harsh winter conditions,
the spirit of Punjabis
remained unaffected, as the
crowd at the venue was seen
dancing to their songs.
As a tribute to Rafi, the
brothers also sang some
songs such as Madhuban
Mein Radhika. There cannot
be another Rafi, Wali said on

composition by their father

Ustad Hamid Khan, Minu
Tere Jaisa Hor Labha Nahi.
After a dose of classical
songs, the singers gave the
audience a chance to tap
their feet on the song Simmo,
which they have sung for an
upcoming film.
Proving to be a complete
powerhouse of talent, the
band of brothers continued
their performance with Shah
Farids kalaam, Umran
Langiya, Sufi songs such as
Alla Huu, Mera Piya Ghar
Aaya, Akhiyan Udeekdiyan,
the famous Jugni by Alam
Lohar, Sayonee by Pakistani

an emotional note.
Earlier, Dimple Bhangra
group gave a bhangra and
giddha performance while
Mohan, the winner of Zee
Punjabi Sa Re Ga Ma Pa,
concluded the evening.
Sanjay Vohra, editor and
business head, Zee News,
said that the channel started
the initiative from Rafis
ancestral village, Kotla
Sultan Singh, and planned to
take it abroad in the coming
years. He also honoured
Amritsar police commissioner Ram Singh and mayor
Bakshi Ram, who were the
guests of honour at the event.

Snow White

sequel in

the pipeline
Jessica
Alba

Gwyneth
Paltrow

Jennifer
Aniston

Julianne
Moore

Beyonce
Knowles

Hollywood
n
la
p
a
s
d
n
a
m
e
d

Celebs in the West have

come together in the wake
of the recent school killings

risten Stewart (A) has

revealed that the Snow
White sequel is in the
pipeline and she will be starring in it. After one of the
biggest celebrity scandals of
2012 involving Stewart and
Snow White director Rupert
Sanders, many speculated
that there was no way
Universal would be going
ahead with plans for a sequel.
Im not allowed (to talk
about it). The other day I said
that there was a strong possibility that were going to
make a sequel, and thats
very true, but everyone was
like, Whoa, stop talking
about it. So no, Im totally
not allowed to talk about it,
she said.

Jamie
Foxx

ilm, television and

music stars including
Jeremy Renner,
Gwyneth Paltrow
and Beyonce Knowles have
recorded a hard-hitting
video, urging action on gun
control following the recent
Newtown school massacre
in the US.
Julianne Moore, Jamie
Foxx, Selena Gomez and
Chris Rock also appear in
the video, backing a
Demand a Plan campaign

Kate
Hudson

Reese
Witherspoon

which notably seeks a ban

on assault weapons, as well
as criminal background
checks for every gun sold in
America. How many more
colleges? How many more
classes? How many more
movie theatres? How many
more houses of faith? How
many more shopping
malls? the celebs intone in
the black-and-white video,
list the names of Americas
worst gun massacres of
recent year. The video, also

ANI

Rasta revolution on the way

Nirmika Singh

nirmika.singh@hindustantimes.com

f youve been festival

hopping or been clued in to
the indie music scene, you
might have noticed the
increase in the number of
reggae bands and gigs lately.
Even though the genre has
never been out of fashion
invariably every poprock
band tends to incorporate the
style in their repertoire
India had never quite
witnessed any dedicated acts
that performed only reggae.
But now, there are several
EDM and live acts Reggae
Rajahs, The Ska Vengers,
Su-Real and Delhi Sultanate
that are changing the
scene.

Expanding beyond the

expat audience
Delhi was the first city to
witness the trend, as many of
these bands are based there.
Till about two years ago,
a regular gig in Delhi by a
niche act such as Reggae

PHOTO: ARNAU MACIA

Independent reggae bands have grown in popularity. Heres a look at the scene
gae, reminisces singer
Raghav Diggy Dang, who
performs with both Reggae
Rajahs and The Ska Vengers.
According to him, YouTube
has been pivotal in bringing
on board new fans. It has
exposed people to music that
they havent listened to
before. Now they know that
theres more to reggae than
just Bob Marley, says Dang,
who performed to a packed
crowd at the Ragasthan festival last month. And thanks to
the multi-city network of live
music venues such as Blue
Frog and Hard Rock Cafe
that have given visibility to
such acts beyond the
standalone gigs.

Thanks to YouTube, now

people know that theres
more to reggae than just
Bob Marley
Diggy Dang, singer
Reggae Rajahs members DJ MoCity, Mr Herbalist and Diggy Dang

Rajahs would see a rainbow

crowd comprising mainly
expatriates. Youd find
the usual dreadlocked
Rastafarians, besides
hip-swaying westerners,
who swore by the infectious

vibe and sociopolitical

relevance of reggae. When
we started out, it used to be a
small affair supported by
very few people, mostly
expats who were acquainted
with and interested in reg-

Experimenting with
new sounds
The Ska Vengers, that specialises in the lessexplored
genre of ska a fastpaced
rhythmic style that gave rise
to reggae also performs
Afrobeat, jazz and soul.
However, Stefan Kaye, who
plays keyboards, says theyre

not harking back to the

bygone era. Were not
revivalists. We play sub
genres that are related to
reggae, but our sound is
contemporary. Youd even
find punk styles creeping into
our music. The band will
soon be performing at Blue
Frog on December 27, as a
part of their album launch.

Dancing to their tunes

If theres a reason for the success of these bands, it is inarguably because reggae music
has the ability to make people
dance. With a strong emphasis on danceable grooves and
singalong melodies, reggae
is synonymous with music
that makes you happy.
Brass instruments play a
huge part in reggae. And as
Indians, dancing to the
tunes of brass bands, at
weddings etc, comes
naturally to us. The fact that
our music makes people
dance also explains why we
happen to be the only live act
at Sunburn, says Dang.

featuring Ellen DeGeneres,

Jon Hamm, Reese
Witherspoon, Cameron
Diaz, Jennifer Aniston and
Conan OBrien, appears on
the website of the campaign
to demand that President
Obama and Congress step
forward with a plan to end
gun violence referring to
the elementary school in
Newtown, Connecticut,
where a gunman killed 20
children and six adults
AFP
recently.

heryl Cole (below)

decided to learn a
new talent during her
evening with boyfriend
Tre (above) on Friday
being a DJ. The singer
apparently set the club on
fire when she
clambered onto the stage
during her fun night at The
Rose Club with Tre, the
Mirror reported.
The venues official
Twitter page said,
@CherylCole most definitely set the club on fire
!!#HipHopThursdays
(sic). Cole was certainly
dressed for the part of DJ,
rocking a serious amount
of pleather in MC
Hammer-style trousers
and a cute baseball jacket.
Boyfriend Tre looked
equally street in his leather

jacket and red trainers.

The pair appeared to continue the party when they
got home, cracking out the
mulled wine and slipping
on their Christmas
jumpers (before forcing
the dog to wear one too).
Posing with lily, Cole
tweeted: Me, my
Christmas jumper and my
Lily hahaha With her
assistant being called Lily,
a tipsy Cole thought it was
hilarious that she was
actually posing with a
FLOWER. Haha I bet you
all thought it was
@Lily_England didnt you
??? Im sooo funny !!!
Hahaha #YouLittleMugs
LOL at
myself#TooMuchMulledW
ine(sic), she added.
ANI