Xulfi announces Junaid Khan’s exit from Call

LAHORE: 

Call has managed to gather a large fan base over the years with its edgy pop-rock sound. After rocking in Pakistan, it made its way across the subcontinent to India where it gave the crowd songs such as “Laree Chooti” and “Yeh Pal” and left them spellbound.

In an exclusive interview regarding his latest project Nescafe Basement, guitarist Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan, more popularly known as Xulfi, disclosed some shocking news: Junaid Khan, the lead singer and guitarist of Call, will no longer be a part of the band. As a replacement, Mustafa Zahid from Roxen, has been playing with the band instead.

“He [Junaid Khan] is very busy with his acting and personal commitments,” said Xulfi, expressing disappointment about Junaid’s solo career on the rise. He also said that Junaid is recording his own album. “This was news to us. He is busy doing his solo stuff.” Expanding on the rift, he added: “We have lost our common ground. When that happens, the band cannot survive. I have done other projects too, but they have always been under the name of Call. You have to pick one identity.”

When asked how different things would be after losing an integral member, Xulfi said that as long as he was a part of it, the essence of the band will remain intact. He added that unlike other countries, bands in Pakistan face the dilemma of making a living solely from their music career. According to him, bands such as Entity Paradigm (EP), Overload and Jal also lost members and had to reform their line-ups and they ultimately did survive.

He further revealed, “Junaid was recording his album and we didn’t know — it was the way he wanted to go and we didn’t want to stop him just so we could continue to perform as a band.” He did not wish to share further details.

Junaid’s manager Hadi Imran confirmed this development, saying “This [Junaid’s departure from Call] had been decided a while back; it is being released to the media only now.” However, when The Express Tribune contacted Junaid for a comment, he said he would prefer not to make a statement.

Nescafe Basement

Speaking about current projects, the introverted yet talented Xulfi express confidence that Call would continue to perform and remain alive as long as he was a part of the band. He talked about a project called Nescafe Basement, which aims to bring together skilled musicians from lesser known backgrounds on to one stage to perform together. “For me, promoting young blood is not about pleasure but about intent — if we don’t promote music amongst the youth, we won’t be able to create a positive future for the Pakistani music scene,” said Xulfi.

“I have this belief that the best music comes out of a jam. When I say ‘best music’, I am not talking about the audience or myself; I’m talking about the feel music creates,” he continued. “I was not a mentor that was forcing them — I was a mentor that was guiding them.” The project has brought together 15 ambitious artists who have recorded a total of 24 tracks.

Support from the industry

Xulfi explained that the biggest challenge for the music industry is to ensure that every entertainment medium provides unconditional support in promoting Pakistani music, whether it’s the TV/drama industry or cafes across the country. Appreciating TV shows such as “Humsafar”, he said: “I am so happy that our dramas have soundtracks which contain pure Pakistani music and lyrics. Everyone has the right to play anything they want in cafes or even on TV but industries are made when every other medium [sector] lends out its support allowing the industry to develop and prosper.”

Meanwhile, Xulfi remains excited about the future of his band Call, despite having lost Junaid. He hints at an upcoming video, which will be a surprise for his fans, along with the possible production of music for an Indian movie which releases next year. “It’s not about the number of songs you are doing there, it’s about what you are doing,” he said, referring to his contribution to Bollywood. “If you’re just lending your voice to their [Bollywood’s] music, they are using you. But if you’re giving your own music, then that’s another thing.”

Filmstar Laila and Family Hosts dinner for Meera

Friendship between Meera and Laila stronger!

Lahore is famous for many things one for the animosity between the film stars and the second for the love between them. Everyone knows that Laila and Meera have been best of friends in the Lollywood Industry, and to prove more of their lovely friendship Laila and her family invited Meera to her house for a nice dinner! Laila’s mother and brother Omar were great hosts too!

Talking to Lollywood Cafe, Laila said, “Meera and I have been friends for a very long time and now our families are very close as well! Both Meera and I are so close that we consider eachother sisters! we behave like sisters and so does our families!”

 Laila also said that she is busy these days with her upcoming movies and TV commercials.

Photos of Meera and Laila (Lollywood Film Stars of Pakistan)

Young lovers Saira and Shahroz tie the knot

She’s the youngest of four sisters; he’s the only child of Mr and Mrs Behroze Sabzwari. She’s composed, with a charming, girl-next-door appeal; he’s the talkative and hopelessly romantic ladla. Meet TV actors Saira Yousuf and Shahroz Sabzwari, who got hitched last month after years of on and off romance.

Welcoming The Express Tribune into his home on Saturday evening, 25-year-old Shahroz and his better half were ecstatic about sharing their romantic journey and their intimate nikaah ceremony.

“We met at a mutual friend, Ali Tariq’s wedding,” Shahroz begins, talking about the first time he saw Saira before she joins us. “That was six years ago! I was 19 and she was 18. During events like the mehendi, dholkis, dance practices, I started to like her,” he says. Abandoning all notions of bashfulness, he adds: “Before that, I had seen her in a couple of ads and had thought to myself — who is this cute girl in town?”

Wearing a casual red shirt with jeans, Shahroz gets comfortable on a sofa and talks about his induction into showbiz. “I am a parchee,” he says, admitting that he had help from his father Behroze, who is a senior actor in our entertainment industry. He also says that his father saw the talent in him. “Dad would initially make phone calls [within the industry] to cast me as an actor in upcoming plays,” he adds. He then smiles and reiterates his initial view: “That makes me a parchee.”

As the conversation progresses, Saira walks into the room, radiant and adorable in jeans and a white top, bearing her contagious trademark smile. As he glances at his pretty 24-year-old wife with Afghani features, his eyes light up. Clearly, he is head over heels in love.

But while the young couple started dating in 2006, their relationship saw its shares of ups and downs. Both, however, refuse to acknowledge that they had ever completely broken things off.  “We were together on and off,” Sabzwari says disappointed. “Other things mattered more at the time and we grew apart.”

Shahroz adopts a sincere and open stance as he explains the shortcomings he had when he was younger. “For a 19-year-old, I was really immature and Saira was way more mature than any girl at 18!” He adds, “I was very insecure and over-possessive about her then.”

He fondly recalls memories of their teens. “She literally grew up in this house! We used to hang out so often. Our families knew each other and her parents often visited our place,” he says.

At this point, Saira speaks up. She says that even during their break-ups, she knew they were made for each other. “He started dating again and went out with a couple of other girls,” she says, in a playful tone. But Shahroz is quick to interrupt her as he interjects with “just a few!”.

With a chuckle, Yousuf continues. She explains that in her heart, she knew that there was a strong connection between them. “I somehow knew he will come back to me!” she shares.

Shahroz continues, saying that the couple has scores of mutual friends who always pictured them together, despite them being apart. “It was always ‘Saira-Shahroz’ for them even when we weren’t together,” he says with a smile. Even when they were not dating, they say they were always civil towards each other and accepted TV play offers, when they were cast in the same production.

It was the new drama, “Tanhaiyaan: Naye Silsilay” that brought them back together. “In this play, there were love scenes between us; either she was wooing me or I her,” Shahroz says with excitement. “Although we were always civil with each other, the passion was there and I fell in love with her again.”

But Saira felt differently. “I was cordial and the attraction was there, but at the end I knew it [being formal] was going nowhere!” She continues, “I told him we should stop fighting. For him, whenever we were civil, we ended up talking about marriage.”

He took the plunge and popped the question, asking for her hand in marriage and — like the romantic that he is — wanting to elope. “Let’s go to the mosque and do it,” Shahroz had said to her at the time. “We will let the families know later.”

Saira was more composed, and decided that involving the families is a better idea. “Let’s go the right way,” she had told him. That’s when Shahroz told his father. From being a ‘baat pakki’ event, upon the parents’ insistence, it transpired into an intimate nikaah ceremony. Shahroz’s mother designed an ivory-coloured chicken-kari outfit with kaamdani work for Saira. Thus, on October 21 — the date when they were supposed to exchange rings — they became husband and wife.

Saira shares how their friends’ reacted to the development. “When we were hanging out, it was acceptable to everyone because dating and party ‘scene on hai’,” she says. “But when we announced our marriage, they felt it was too early for us to settle down.”

“They forget that we grew up together,” Saira adds. “We experienced each other as friends first; then we grew apart and came back to one another. I believe we are good together.”

Since then, some friends have bombarded Shahroz with questions like: “When is the doomsday, yaar?”  Other people in the media industry, have said: “Your career is over, dude!” Shahroz doesn’t appreciate such remarks, “Bakwas! We believe in fate, we will be together,” he says with pride. “With this development, we have gained immense popularity and respect from our fans.”

Agreeing that the feeling of being married has not sunk in yet, both of them say that they will support each other in their professions. “We don’t like to control each other. We give each other the space that’s needed. I don’t like to interfere in her work or her life and neither does she in mine,” says Shahroz.

With a rukhsati ceremony scheduled to be held in December this year, the honeymoon is likely to be in either Australia or Europe. “We like old heritage buildings,” says a beaming Shahroz. “We’re fine with a cup of tea at a roadside café,” he smiles.

As our meeting came to an end, Shahroz lovingly put his arm around his wife. The couple laughed as Shahroz said he is happy to spend money on their honeymoon, cheekily adding that she is a shopaholic. We wish them a happily married life!

Miss Pakistan World 2012 “Zainab Naveed” New Shoot

Miss Pakistan World 2012 “Zainab Naveed” New Shoot
Shoot by Nida Warsi
Make up by Essra Tunechi

About Zainab Naveed
Zainab Naveed is a current Miss Pakistan World 2012, she graduate of Pace University in New York. She studied Business Administration as her associates and choose Finance and economics as her major for her Bachelors degree. While attending college, she was employed with companies such as MBIA and Sublime Wireless Inc. There she learned to enhance her skills in various different genres of the business world. Later she found herself more interested in Entrepreneurship and currently is a self-owner of her own business. Zainab loves adventure and is well known to be an out door person. A few of her hobbies are dancing, swimming and playing sports. She enjoys traveling and meeting new people. She believes that every culture is a beautiful gift from god that we must admire and acknowledge.

She always had a liking for pageants from a very young age. She enjoyed watching beautiful and intelligent women represent their countries and culture in various ways. The pride that these women embody for their country is similar to what she has for her country Pakistan.  Zainab wants to be part of all international pageants to represent a Pakistani women of today.  She believes that a Pakistani woman is meant to be more then just an average housewife. She states that we are beautiful, educated human beings that can peruse any career or make choices that our heart desires.