The Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) arranged a musical night titled the ‘Fusion of East and West’ at the council’s auditorium to promote Pakistani music globally.
The event featured performances by Raja Kashif from UK, Amir Munawar and Mugheera Ahmed from Pakistan.
Munawar and Ahmed presented a delightful rendering of old and new Urdu hits including ghazals, filmi songs and folk songs.
The show started off with Mugheera Ahmed, who has won gold medals thrice in the ‘Music Conference’, singing ‘Tum Sung Naina Laagay’ followed by other ghazals, and folk and film songs.
Munawar sang ‘Bohat Khubsurat Hay Mera Sanam’, ‘Pyar Bahray Do Sharmeelay Nain’ and a few of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s ghazals, including ‘Aay Kuch Abr, Kuch Sharaab Aay’.
Kashif’s performances were the highlight of the evening as he presented a number of ghazals, and songs, starting off with a song dedicated to mothers titled ‘Maan Andheron Mein Roshni ki Tarah’ followed by other film songs and ending with the Punjabi hit ‘Sajna Nay Bohay Agay Chik Taan Lai’.
PNCA Director General Tauqir Nasir said on the occasion that the Pakistani youth was achieving performing arts milestones globally.
Talking about the 9 year-old Sitara Akbar who holds the world record for the youngest person to appear for O levels, Nasir said the country was proud of its youth and Sitara’s performance was a beacon of hope for other youngsters. He added that the PNCA would continue to promote art and culture.
Meanwhile, the PNCA also arranged a cultural show as part of the ‘Talent Hunt Bank Project’ at the France Colony slum area on Thursday.
The programme started with a puppet show by the National Puppet Theatre followed by singing, and dance performances by the young artists of the slum.
Nasir distributed prizes among the participants and said the PNCA was trying to reach out to the country’s corners and specially the remote and undeveloped areas and wanted to introduce new talent into the mainstream.
“These programmes were aimed at providing opportunities to the unprivileged children. We are here to entertain you and educate you about art and culture,” he said.
Sonia Naasir, sung ‘Ay Waton, Ay Waton’ at the occasion and was accompanied by Alina Waris, and Hashim Waris singing ‘Deindy Gali Gali Ro Ro Duayan’, while Aurangzeb and Aftab Khan Sono performed a break dance routine and Shahbaz Gulzar Masih sang ‘Tere Qadmoon Main’.
Asif Sonu, Danish Bazmi, Kirin Ashfaq, Mariyam Maqsood, Zeeshan Arif also performed on the occasion. Many senior artists, including Meena Gul and others also presented items for the audience.
