Inzi Post-Bob: An Interview this article is in very, very poor taste especially considering that Bob was murdered and that the investigation is still ongoing. you should have restricted yourself to Inzi and the team. there`s no need to bring in Bob in this.

Filming the Prophet Re: # 32

interesting stuff. there are two major problems with this theory:

1) the crusades. I guess the pope started having second thoughts about the Arabs capturing and holding Jerusalem for him?
2) I don`t think Islamic teachings advocate the preference of Christians (or Catholics specifically) over Jews. you could argue mullas teach equal opportunity hate but the real teachings do say that both Jews and Christians are people of the book. but hey, I`m no scholar.

Filming the Prophet Re: # 31

``
......... the only problem might be with fitting in the 14 plus heroines in a three hour film - even if he does three songs with each that is 42 song and dance numbers which will take up more than half the movie .......... oh well, we will let the professionals figure that one out .......``

hahaha.. man you`re really something...

Why Superwomen Have it Bad wow.. scary stuff. good article and amusing read though.

Vital Signs: A Personal History wow... for me personally this is the best article you`ve ever written NFP. loved the behind the scenes insights. also it`s strange but I agree with your assessment of every single VS album. Hum Tum was very much in the mould of VS2 and was their best album. Aitebar apart from some good songs was not upto the other albums` mark particularly Junaid vocals were a little lacking and the music seemed synthezied and somewhat juvenile especially when compared to sound and direction of VS2...

had a few questions for you if you`d be kind enough to shed some light on:

1) you didn`t mention the bit where Rohail was trying to find a replacement for Junaid and Ali Azmat actually auditioned for the Signs while he was part of Junoon. I saw you talk about it on TV. riveting stuff though for me VS wouldn`t have been VS without Junaid`s voice.

2) I`ve been following Rohail`s Fried Junkies project. he has some samples of his work with Rahat Fateh (I`m sure you`ve heard them) on his website. brilliant stuff. amazing to see how far Rohail has come along as a composer and musician. but why does he not pursue anything seriously. he seems to start projects, gives up and just leaves them in the middle. he even packed up the Fried Junkies for a bit and now the website says it`s back. what`s up with him? is he too much of a perfectionist? is he ever going to release the ``Charkha`` album. probably a better question to ask Rohail but maybe you`d share some insight if you speak or have spoken with him..

Inzamam and Allah farhanarif7,

you aren`t an Abdalian by any chance, are you?

Under the Influence don`t know how or why Hadiqa deserves to be in a top ten of any kind. her voice is extremely ordinary. she`s done well for herself, she markets herself well. most of her stuff sound the same. she`s been there a while but surely vocal abilities count for something if you`re a singer and she falls short - very short - there.

from the new generation, I would put Shabnam Majeed, Fareeha Pervaiz and Arooj Aftab above her in the talent department. Shabnam has got an absolutely divine voice. her problem is that she doesn`t have a good team around her. but you give her a composer like Shoaib Mansoor and she`ll do something spectacular like Anarkali. Fareeha hasn`t done justice to her talents in any of her solo offerings. but if you want to see what she`s capable of, listen to the soundtrack of ``Umrao Jan Ada`` a Raana Sheikh drama. she was just brilliant in it and she didn`t disgrace herself when singing with Mehnaz which is a huge deal. she won my respect there. Arooj sounds amazing from her releases on the internet. wish Fareeha and Shabnam would surround themselves with some professional, talented people. they`re very, very capable technically. need a good composer.

coming back to the list, I would`ve had Ali Haider in Hadiqa`s place. it`s a pity that he`s lost it completely. it`s been all downhill after Jadu. its lack of commercial success seems to have really confused him. regardless of that as the guy who gave us such songs as ``Purani Jeans``, ``Zalim Nazron`` and ``Ga Raha Tha``, he deserves a mention.

agree with the rest of the list particularly with VS being at the top. they are/were peerless. Shahi and Rohail still go great work whenever they come out of hibernation. Rohail started that Fried Junkies thing - they had some great clips on there particularly the Tina Sani one. and now the website says that the gig is dead. what a waste of a talent.

Inzamam and Allah lame.

Catch 22 1/2 NFP:

while I can somewhat understand where you`re coming from in that Zia did encourage that sort of a model for Pakistani men - stubborn, close-minded, hawkish etc. but Amjid Islam Amjid`s Chauhdry Hashmat was much more than that. some of his regressive personality attributes could`ve been popular at the time and perhaps even encouraged. but Amjid Islam Amjid did not glorify the feudal system and its adherents which is why there were constant references to the upcoming plan to build a dam over the village and the impending relocation. which eventually culminated into the self-destruction and death of the zameendar family and symbolically that of the feudal system for that village. if there are people who actually got inspired by Hashmat as a person, they must be pretty sick and twisted to begin with - not the drama`s creators fault.

I`m a little surprised at how different our interpretations of the play are. and yup, I am a drama geek.

My Dudley! enjoyable, funny and a very good read. well written Asmaa. :-)

especially liked how you worked in Pakistani pop culture references - increased the Pakistaniyat of the story. you don`t see that often and particularly not done as well as this.

Catch 22 1/2 it is Sahira Kazmi, not Saira. and Waris did everything BUT glorify feudal lords. I don`t think too many feudals would want to be depicted as Chauhdry Hashmat, Mehboob Alam`s legendary character.

this is sloppy work really. you write about these guys and consistently get factual details wrong. I read the piece you wrote on Pakistani TV directors and enjoyed it a lot. but you got names wrong there as well. and they`re simple mistakes that a quick google search could`ve fixed. I don`t mean to nitpick (which I know I`m guilty of right now) but as a loyal and long-time fan of Pakistani dramas, I feel it necessary to point out these inaccuracies.

Songs of Dissonance some of the stuff Junaid comes up with now is just shocking. as a longtime VS fan, if I ever meet him I`d like to ask him wtf he thinks he is doing. I could relate a lot more to him when he was normal. if I wanted a moulvi telling me how I was doomed for eternity, I would rather hear it from Maulana Diesel-ur-Rehman or Qazi Hussain Ahmed. that way at least I could dismiss them right away.

it truly is a loss to see someone who was considered to a modern, intelligent man turn into an empty rheoteric spouting cliche.

Death Be Not Proud II Ali you`re not the only one who felt a tremendous loss when your grandmother passed away. she was a great woman - an inspiring rolemodel for the Pakistani women of today. I was also very, very close to my Nani and felt like I`d lost my mother when she passed away. so, I can relate on a personal level there. Nanis are very special.

re this article: you have a wonderful way of being able to articulate a myriad of emotions and feelings that others feel but can`t express as eloquently.

No Burial for Balakot as usual everything in Pakistan is rotten. everyone is corrupt - the army, the government, the moulvies, relief agencies. heck even the people who died are corrupt.

at a time like this, only one man stands between Pakistan and armageddon and he is Dr. Pervez Hoodboy.

An Interview with a Pakistani Fan I didn`t reply earlier because it just seemed inappropriate to reply to a piece on a lighter theme in wake of the tragedy in Azad Kashmir. anyway... thanks everyone for reading and commenting:

kaalchakra and burpinder: thanks for reading.

ally: I can`t take credit for all the names to be honest. The MTW bit omes from Fifty Fifty. This comedy show from PTV`s golden days had a running joke about Mustansar Hussain Tarar (a well known Pakistani writer, TV host among other things) and his unique name. they came up with Mutazalzaluzzaman Tarar. And Wattamaar comes from a Farooq Qaiser (well known writer, satirist and one of the world`s very best puppeteers) show.

temporal: that was the point. just wanted to highlight the plight of the armchair critics who feel the need to constantly criticize and nag for fear of being ignored otherwise. though in retrospect, I should`ve avoided some of the cliches. but some of the stuff that seems ridculous is based on stuff that I`ve actually heard from these passionate fans.

Immigrants: Na Idhar ke, Na uddhar ke forgot to congratulate you on the very well written article. Reading it was like going through the story of my own family. Scared me for a bit. :-)