Beyond Kismat: Lahore gets some Josh

Rup and Q visit the historical city to shoot their latest video.


Sher Khan January 31, 2012

LAHORE:


South Asian-Canadian fusion band Josh came to Lahore to film the second music video from their recently released album Beyond Kismat. According to the band members, the album has already become a glittering success and sold over 55,000 albums in four weeks. The band was on the rooftop of Mian Yousuf Salahuddin’s haveli trying to reincarnate Delhi in the city of Lahore. The single “Yeh Zameen”, which is being directed by Maram and Aabroo, was actually composed by Rahul Dev Burman in 1982. The song has been modernised and given a ‘Josh twist’. The Express Tribune spoke to band members Rupinder Magon (Rup) and Qurram Hussain (Q) about their latest video.


Band member Rup kick-started the conversation with details about the main theme of their video. “We want to highlight Lahore’s beautiful inner city and to show the commonalities between the sub-continental culture of India and Pakistan.” Besides portraying the neighborhood culture, the video is also an interesting tribute to Rahul Dev Burman (RD Burman). The video features Rup courting a neighbourhood crush played by Karachi-based actor Aamina Sheikh.

“This part of Lahore has the scenery of the sub-continent, if you go to the older parts of Delhi, you will get a similar sort of scenery,” says Q. “We are just excited and blessed that we still have sceneries such as this in Pakistan and we are excited about revealing it to the world.”

Regarding the location of the video, Q says, “It really does not matter where we shoot it. It will be interesting when people see the video and do not realise that it was shot in Lahore. They will get the message that it’s all just one and the same.”

Aamina Sheikh was really excited about the band’s recent plans. “They have done a commendable job,” says Sheikh. “Lahore has the most attractive backdrop in Pakistan. There is so much to offer here.”

New direction: Bollywood days

Although the band found their initial popularity in Pakistan and their hometown Ontario, they’ve now moved towards another direction altogether. “We are busy with several projects right now.  We will be creating songs and doing vocals as well. It’s a little bit different in India because when a director takes an artist for their film, they make all the music,” says Rup.

At the same time, they don’t plan on compromising on their original music. “We will continue releasing singles from Beyond Kismat. However, our focus has shifted to Bollywood.”

He adds, “We release in many territories. It’s easier to release in Pakistan or the United Kingdom but in India it is different as it is a Bollywood dominated market.”

According to an insider, Josh is set to compose an album for an upcoming Indian film featuring Akhshay Kumar and Bipasha Basu. The band, which has developed an international following over the years, maintains that the decision to focus on Bollywood will not distract the band from releasing their next album.

Besides Bollywood, some of their songs have also featured in Hollywood films. In the past, they have recorded the song “Chaddi Wale Yaar” for the Canadian hockey based film Speedy Singhs which had been produced by Akshay Kumar. Rup also made his acting debut in the same film. Besides acting and singing for films, Rup has also ventured into writing. In September 2011, Times of India reported that the band member had been busy authoring a recipe book for men.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2012.

COMMENTS (2)

BS.Detecter | 12 years ago | Reply

I mostly enjoy their songs.

Roshni | 12 years ago | Reply

They shot "mausum" in Lahore too and its one of my most cherished songs ever.. They definitely deserve all the recognition and respect they can get. Good luck to the boys.

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