Why Strings Snapped

Finally, we know what caused pop band Strings to break up after 30 years of great music and memories. Giving an online interview, Faisal Kapadia, the lead singer of the group, cited the reasons for the split, one of which was, “Me and Bilal just turned 50 this year. We thought 50 is a great number and now we need to spend more time with our families. Our kids are grown now, they’re in college. That was a very conscious decision. As a band to make things work, you have to let go of and sacrifice a lot of things. But now we thought let’s do whatever we want to. You know, we have lived a great life with Strings, for Strings, as Strings and now we just move on. It was a very conscious and deliberate decision and I am really happy about it. You always remember things that happened on a good note.” Indeed a good… but not so melodious note.

Obama Care

Folks, former US President Barack Obama has unveiled on Twitter his music playlist for this summer season. Our very own Arooj Aftab’s song Mohabbat also features on the list. Isn’t that wonderful! The track is a haunting reworking of the famous Hafeez Hoshyarpuri ghazal ‘Mohabbat karnay waalay kam na hongey’ originally and masterfully sung by the legendary Mehdi Hasan. Arooj A has been around for quite some time; we’re glad that her talent is now being recognised at an international level. Some might call it, presidential level.

Marriage Prospects

Rumour has it that Taapsee Pannu is dating former badminton player Mathias Boe. Good for her.

When a journo asked her about her ideas on the institution of marriage so that he could elicit a response on her new beau, she replied that she will never marry someone who her parents were not fine with. The actress added that she only invests time in a relationship “if it has any future in it”. Taapsee P made it amply clear that she has no interest in doing “time pass”. Well, that’s what you call a forecourt smash.

Future Disruptors

Ayushmann Khurranna is known for picking film subjects that are daring and distinct — and has proven that his choices are spot on most of the time. The Bollywood actor is also an avid social media user. Here, too, his reason for using the medium is a little peculiar. He says he follows a big number of young poets, singers and dancers who are yet to burst on to the scene. He’s always awed by their talent. So his intention is to steer social media in a direction that can draw everyone’s attention to the “fantastic artists” he feels are the “future disruptors”. What about the past disruptors, Ayushmann K?

Ahsan the Poet

July 8 was the great philanthropist and social worker Abdul Sattar Edhi’s death anniversary. To mark the day, Ahsan Khan posted on his Instagram page a beautiful message for Edhi sahib, highlighting his invaluable services to humanity. A noble gesture on the actor’s part, indeed! Along with that, he also wrote some lines in Urdu in the form of a verse. Ahsan K, acting can perhaps be learned without a teacher or technical knowhow, but that’s not the case with poetry. There’s a discipline called ilm-i-aruz which needs to be learned in order to compose Urdu poems in metre. Come to think of it, Ilm-i-aruz could also be the title of a TV play. What do you say, Ahsan?

Basic Instinct?

This is a little hard to believe. Showbiz insiders say that the 63-year-old Hollywood heartthrob Sharon Stone is going out with a 25-year-old rapper RMR (pronounced ‘rumour’). In recent times, she has been spotted with RMR on a few occasions, the most prominent of which was at a bar, The Highlight Room in Los Angeles, where he was seen putting his arm around her. Last week, however, when she was out shopping with her son Roan, who is just four years younger than RMR, a paparazzo bluntly asked her whether she’s dating the musician. The actress replied in the negative. According to her, they’re just friends “learning from each other”. Hmmm… could Sharon S be learning how to rap?

Published in Dawn, ICON, July 18th, 2021