RAHAT IN JAM
POPULAR singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan took time out from his recent UK tour to have a classical jam session with talented British based musicians at the University of Oxford music room named after him. They included guitarist and singer Rushil Ranjan and ace keyboardist Rekesh Chauhan, who played harmonium. “Exchanging musical notes with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan opened up a whole new musician in me. We both have a colossal love for our roots in classical music, so we were able to take rare compositions by his uncle, the great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and explore musical phrases with each other. I was incredibly touched by his humbleness,” said Rekesh.
NEW ZAFAR SHINES
A STANDOUT star from the latest season of popular music series Coke Studio is exciting newcomer Danyal Zafar. The singer showed all the star quality of his elder brother Ali Zafar with his appearances. His impressive turns on the series included the duet Muntazirwith Momina Mustehsan. Danyal is currently working on his debut album and aims to start releasing new material by the end of the year. The dashing youngstar will definitely be one to watch on the music scene and don’t be surprised if he follows his brother into acting.
ROMA’S MODERN FEEL
SINGER Roma Sagar told me romantic Bollywood songs have inspired her latest song Be My Lover and that she wanted to create something with a modern feel. That is why she got Bollywood lyricist Kunwar Juneja to write the song. Talking about what was on the way next she said: “I have a few projects ready and am just deciding which one to release next. It definitely will be something upbeat and feel good, as this is the frame of mind I am in currently. I may have to ask my fans what they would like.”
KHAN’S SECRET’S OUT
THE super secretive Aamir Khan is furious that this grainy glimpse of his hotly anticipated movie Thugs Of Hindostan has been leaked. Despite being blurry, it shows a medieval type look that has been compared to Game Of Thrones. The actor has now put up a ring of steel and beefed up security for the remainder of the shoot. The drama, also starring Amitabh Bachchan and Katrina Kaif, will be released Diwali 2018.
FAST FOOD SNAP
ALTHOUGH everyone is talking about Riz Ahmed’s historic win at the Emmy Awards, one of the standout moments happened after the event was over. Instead of going to a flashy party or five star restaurant to celebrate comedian Aziz Ansari went to a fast food burger joint and queued up with his Emmy award, which he got for writing. When fans asked him for a photo, he said “of course, let me go get the Emmy”. The comedian received his award for the superb Master Of None, which is available on Netflix.
A MEETING OF MINDS
ACTRESS Priyanka Chopra had a fan girl moment when she met Malala Yousafzai at a high profile event recently and praised her on social media. The Bollywood star described the young Nobel Peace Laureate as smart, incredible, inspiring, encouraging, funny and anundeniable force to be reckoned with. Priyanka also said of her: “You are a role model to all the girls and boys that want to make this world a better place for the future.” Talking of Priyanka she has a number of Hollywood films on the way and will start work on Quantico season three soon.
Migrants in a dinghy crossing the English Channel
Sunder Katwala
