MUMBAI: Zeb and Haniya, Pakistan’s first female rock band, are as far removed from the rock musician stereotype as sunlight from strobes. In India to perform and also do a spot of professional networking, they’re vastly excited at the prospect.
The Lahore-based duo, originally from the Taliban-infested North West Frontier Province, missed the opportunity to perform at an event in Chennai just after the 26/11 terror attacks. “Our visas expire in November,’’ says Haniya, who plays the acoustic guitar. “So despite being down with flu, we decided to come to India. I’ve been to Mumbai in the past but it is Zeb’s first visit.’’ The two young women, whose first album is called ‘Chup’, will also meet Louis Banks in Mumbai. “If things work out, we will come back to India to perform, and if people like our music, we will keep coming back,’’ says Haniya.
The last time India heard a female pop singer from across the border was, perhaps, the late Nazia Hasan who rocked the nation in the 1970s with ‘Baat ban jaaye’. But things have changed somewhat after that, especially in the last few years. Many India regulars like Atif Aslam and Shafqat Ammanat Ali have cut down on their visits to India after the terror attacks, while there has been resistance in certain quarters of the music industry to Pakistani artistes living and working in India.
Zeb and Haniya, however, are unfazed. “This opposition from the Indian music industry has certainly slowed down the business of Pakistani artistes, but music is something that has no boundaries,’’ declares Haniya. “And if people like our music we will certainly come back to India.’’ What about the terror scenario? “There’s a threat perception everywhere, so we don’t really worry about it,’’ says Zeb. On 26/11 and Pakistan’s alleged culpability, she adds, “It was a tragic event and we are really saddened by it. We don’t know about the blame, but whoever is involved should be brought to justice, because we as a nation have suffered too.’’
The women may be Pakistan’s first female band but they will certainly not be seen wearing T-shirt and jeans while performing on stage. “I normally wear a salwar kameez, but Haniya wears a kurta and jeans,’’ says Zeb. Haniya recalls a moment on stage much before they started their own band, when the Pakistani public hooted at her. “We were at a friend’s performance—she insisted that I go up on stage and perform,’’ she says. “I was in a salwar kameez, and the moment I went up, the public started screaming, ‘Aunty, get off the stage.’ But after I started playing the guitar and singing, they all fell silent. By the end of it they were shouting, ‘Aunty, we love you!’ ‘’
Zeb and Haniya’s music bears traces of the Bollywood influence, particularly of composers like O P Nayyar, R D Burman and A R Rahman. “Our song ‘Aaha’ is directly influenced by one of O P Nayyar’s compositions,’’ says Zeb, adding that both love Rahman, R. D. Burman and Shankar Mahadevan.
Do they recall Nazia Hasan, Pakistan’s only female pop star that made a mark in Bollywood as well? “We’ve heard her songs in our childhood,’’ says Haniya. “She managed to create an avant garde kind of music for her time. If we manage only one quarter of what she did, we’ll be happy.’’
Both Zeb and Haniya feel it is important to dispel the stereotypical image of Pakistani women in the outside world. Says Haniya, “There’s this impression that Pakistani women are oppressed, not allowed out of the house and not allowed to do what they want. This is so not true!’’
