Truly one of the best video directors in Pakistan, Sohail Javed has come a long, long way. His videos have left a mark in the Pakistani pop music industry, and have been an inspiration for the new generation of video directors.

How many years have you been in this field?

It’s been eleven years. I started out in 1993 as a director, borrowed money from somewhere and made a programme.

Were you assisting someone?

Nope. I’ve never assisted anyone. I am not the sort who would assist someone. I know people who were assistants eleven years ago and are still assistants, or are trying to figure out what they want to do or have changed their profession. They’ve been let down and mistreated.

Under which banner are you working?

My company is called Saya films. It’s an independent film company. We ‘ll be starting a film this January.

Film as in film?

Yes. It’s basically a 100-minute English film. The script is 70% in English, 20% in Urdu and 10% in Punjabi. It’s called Baavan (52). Shahzad Nawaz is producing it, and I’m directing it. We’re making it on 35 mm.

Loving every minute of the fame and fortunes that have come so early to her in life, Anoushey Ashraf is geared to meet new challenges and make her mark in the world of show-biz. The youngest presenter to have been selected for the Lux Style Awards held in Dubai last year, she is going places with her bubbly personality and touch of panache. She shares her glories and dreams with Fashion Collection.

How did it feel being the youngest presenter at the LSA last year?

It was quite an honor for me being there with the cream of the industry, and I had a great time.

Fuzon is one of the very talented bands in Pakistan. Recently band has released video of song “Khamaj” which is worth watching. Director Saqib Malik come up with very impressive video this time featuring Shaan and Zara Sheikh. Do watch out this video on Indus Music. The band is all set to release their new album next month. Their debut album “Sagar” got great response and we hope that this new album would also do good business.

Pop music is rapidly taking over the Pakistani music scene, despite the moral brigade and diktats of the clergy. “Pop, along with soft rock, is growing in popularity. It has developed in a very short span of time and shows more promise than even Indian pop music,” claims Saadia, 19, a student of business studies. Most of the songs are in Urdu set to western music. There is a lot of talent coming here. Music experts say there are about 15 established music bands and a dozen pop music stars in Pakistan today.

A far cry, all agree, from the early 1980s, when during President Zia-ul-Haq’s regime, listening to or creating pop music was aggressively discouraged. However, after the Music ‘89 show, aired on the government-owned Pakistan Television (PTV), who was also the official sponsors, things appeared to change. At the show, 30-somethings danced to the music of the then pop idols - Nazia and Zoheb Hassan, Ali Azmat and bands like the Vital Signs.

Finally TJ Kool’s video of song “Aaja Goriyee” has been released in Pakistan by Indus Music. It is a nice bhangra track with good video. We congratulate TJ Kool and look forward to see more of his videos in Pakistan.

Indus Music (IM) will hold the first pop music awards ceremony in Pakistan at the Alhamra Arts Centre on July 24.

The channel has also signed an agreement with MTV whereby IM will broadcast old English songs in a show called ‘MTV Classics’, presented and produced in Pakistan.daily Times reported.

The IM music awards focus exclusively on the popular music scene in Pakistan. The awards target two specific areas of Pakistani music: the history of pop music in Pakistan and the new groups and singers that have performed on IM and new albums that have been released.

Many new bands and singers are releasing their videos these days. Most of these could be watched on “Indus Music” or “The Muzik”. Some of the videos and songs are really impressive. One of the new singers is Shuja Haider who released video of song “Kiya Ho Gya”. I simply love this song because of excellent vocals, composition and video.Lets hope that Shuja Haider would come up with more of such tracks.

Sajjad Ali is back in the music scene with the big bang. Its none other than video of song “Koi Nahi” from his latest album “Rangeen”. The song has got very popular these days because of its excellent composition, great vocals and nice video. Do check it out on IM these days.