IT has been well over a decade that the music scene in Pakistan exploded and took a huge turn for the better. In this time, many bands have proven themselves time and again. At the same time, many have split and many have disappeared from the scene. I still remember 19th July 2002, when the winner of the Battle of the Bands were announced. It was Aaroh that came out of nowhere and won, not only the award, but also a lucrative contract with a local soft drink company. But more importantly, they became a household name and were the most popular guys at that time, mainly because of their music and partly because of their unique name, Aaroh which basically means to ascend in eastern classical music.
It’s been two years now that their first album Sawaal was launched. A new voice was heard for the very first time and the vocals were such that nobody wanted to forget them. Farooq Ahmed made us realize the dark side of life.
Born on December 8, 1976, in Karachi, the lead vocalist of Aaroh remembers singing for the first time at a domestic occasion. He recalls: “I was eight-years-old when I first sang, there was a function at home and I was the star entertainer. Since, it has been a passion for me.”
He started listening to western music a lot and simply loves to listen to western music. He says, “Initially I wanted to become a playback singer and in early 90s I started to listen to the likes of Metallica, Pearl Jam, Van Halen and Mr Big. In fact, I used to listen to western music a lot and when I returned from England after completing my A-levels, I recorded an English album. At that time I was a die-heart fan of Oasis.
“I won’t tell you the outcome of it because it definitely isn’t worth telling,” Farooq smiled as he moved away from the topic. But he surely seems to love rock bands a lot. However, at the same time, he reveals versatility in his tastes as he likes classical singers of the East also. Says he, “My influences are very mixed, for instance I (also) like Mehdi Hasan, Kishore Kumar, Muhammad Rafi and Amanat Ali Khan. Then my western influences are Bon Jovi, U2 and Michael Jackson. I am not much into rap; I am more like a rock music lover. Nowadays I like Creed and Linkin Park a lot. But mind you, I cannot copy things that these people do, for instance, I cannot or I won’t even attempt things that Michael Jackson does.”
As far as Pakistani bands are concerned, apart from Aaroh, he likes to listen to Fuzon, Junoon and Mizraab.
Trying to talk to this guy is like feeding bitter medicine to a kid; he’s definitely not very fond of books and remembers reading Jane Eyre in his school days. He adds, “I’m not a reader as such. Since childhood I have had an aversion to reading much. I remember reading Jane Eyre in my school days; apart from that I liked Jane Austin’s Sense and Sensibility a lot. Nowadays I normally read only the newspaper; in fact when it comes to books, I love to read spiritual material. Like what is Buddhism? What is Karma? Things on the life hereafter. Not really on the religious side but one can call them philosophical books.” Now this was the first thing that I could relate with his songs!
Watching television too is something that is not part of his daily routine. He says, “Frankly I really don’t get any time to watch TV. I am totally not into Indian channels. I used to watch Jutt and Bond; never missed a single episode. But nowadays whenever I get the time I watch new English movies that my cable operator airs daily. Apart from that I am an animal freak, which means I can watch Animal Planet and the Discovery channel for hours without getting bored. For example, in the three religious days of Muharram, I didn’t do any music because of respect, and I remember watching Animal Planet for eight straight hours!”
Talking about movies, this young guy seems very fond of them, especially the humorous ones as many of his favourite movies are comedy movies.
He says, “I liked Meet Joe Black a lot. Hera Pheri was a great Indian movie; I am so crazy about it that you’ll mostly find me repeating its dialogues. Andaaz Apna Apna was another great movie. Plus there is a never ending list of English movies because I simply love to watch them. Usually I am influenced by a good cast. At the same time, I don’t watch Indian movies, because I cannot bear sitting in front of the television for three hours watching a movie.”
Talking about his favourite actors, he says: “I like Brad Pitt and simply love Anthony Hopkins a lot (he reveals excitedly with brightness in his eyes) and Robert De Niro is a very good actor too. Plus I like Aamir Khan a lot. In fact, he has this ability of entertaining people a lot. For instance, Andaaz Apna Apna was a brilliant movie, then not to forget Dil Chahta Hai.”
His other hobbies include playing cricket a lot and not to forget the famous Counter-Strike. He says, “I simply love to play Counter-Strike a lot. For me life without it is meaningless. Apart from that I have a passion for cricket and play a lot of night-matches. Plus I am addicted to the Net and surf the web a lot; downloading stuff is my favourite online activity. And if I am not doing any of these things I’d go out to eat as I eat-out a lot.”
Asked to give a wild guess as to what he would have been if not a singer, he says: “I would have been a businessman if not a singer, because I have always wanted to do some sort of business.”
In his message to all his fans, he says: “I am thankful to all my fans that they have always been there for Aaroh time and again. Always remember one thing that the more effort you put in the better will be the results. Never feel miserable, whatever you have to get you will get it, as that Almighty has it written already.”
IT has been well over a decade that the music scene in Pakistan exploded and took a huge turn for the better. In this time, many bands have proven themselves time and again. At the same time, many have split and many have disappeared from the scene. I still remember 19th July 2002, when the winner of the Battle of the Bands were announced. It was Aaroh that came out of nowhere and won, not only the award, but also a lucrative contract with a local soft drink company. But more importantly, they became a household name and were the most popular guys at that time, mainly because of their music and partly because of their unique name, Aaroh which basically means to ascend in eastern classical music.
