Memorable Performances
by Lollywood Stars in Fullerton and Santa Clara
Memorable evenings to
remember. This is how one could sum up the performances
of Lollywood stars in Fullerton and Santa Clara on July
22 and 23 respectively.. People from far away places came
to see the Pakistani celebrities perform on one of the hottest
days of the year in the San Francisco Bay Area. The weather
in Fullerton a day earlier was quite pleasant.
 |
Waris
Baig, Shabnam Majeed, Mazhar Rahi, Rafia Bano, Lavina
Benjamin, Sheen |
The musical event,
which lasted proved highly entertaining and the audience
sat spellbound andenraptured by the impressive performances
both in Fullerton and Santa Clara. Shabnam Majeed, Waris
Baig, Sheen, Rafia Bano Mazhar Rahi won the hearts of the
crowd and seemed to cast a spell. Dr Tariq Mirza was equally
impressive and cracked several hilarious jokes as MC on
both the show venues. It is a pity that this laudable venture
of Sarfraz Khan was not fully enjoyed by the local communities
in the Los Angeles and Bay Area. The crowd should have been
much larger and those who kept away from the program were
the obvious losers.
According to Talat Sattar, our representative who covered
the event in Santa Clara and filed this report, the set
design was of unmatched quality. Artistically decorated
with colorful lights, the Mayer Theater in the Santa Clara
University, appeared to present a cheerful look as if happy
to host the galaxy of stars from every corner of Pakistan.
Rafia Bano took the stage and entertained the crowed with
Pushto, Hindco, Punjabi and Urdu songs. The audience was
very pleased with her performance and was not inclined to
let her leave the stage. Everyone requested her to sing
more songs. Rafia Bano is a talented artist and can sing
all types of songs. She can sing ghazal and film songs with
equal ease.
The second performer who is a model and an actress was Ms.
Sheen. Sheen performed beautiful dances on several songs
from “Pakeeza” and “Umrao Jan Ada”.
When she took the stage the audience was mesmerized, stunned
and went dead silent. People were glued to their seats as
if entranced by her movements, beauty, and performance.
Sheen goes by only one name as many Pakistani do. She is
a bright star, a beautiful young actress and has a full
career and future in front of her. She dropped out of college
to perform in TV serials and took a modeling career.
Waris Baig is an established singer and every song that
he sings becomes a hit. His songs were very much enjoyed
by the audience and with every song that he sang; he took
the audience with him too. "My parents wanted me to
concentrate on my studies and then join the family business,"
he said. His family did not approve of Waris’ music
career. "I went along with their wishes but continued
with my music as well, and one fine day it took control
of me." With no training in music but a mind full of
melody and a heart full with euphonious strains, the guitar-playing
Waris Baig of the 80s became the most sought-after film
playback singer of the 90s. The song, Saathi Merey, which
was my first attempt at playback singing, won me the prestigious
National Film Award and this song was recorded in one go."
Waris has sung many hit film songs in the last four years:
Aa Pyaar Dil Mein Jagaa (Sangam), Raat Nashilee Baat Banalei
(Chief Saab) and Nazara Dekh (Yes Boss) to name just a few.
He attributes his success to a number of things: "I
am very careful about the selection of poetry. It has to
be romantic and soul stirring. And when it's time to sing,
I put my heart and soul in it."-
A
group photo of the Santa Clara event shows the Lollywood
artists |
Shabnam Majeed is one
of the most popular singers in Pakistan today Her songs
“Agar Teri Aankn Main”, “Dil ueh Tujh
Pe Sanam”, and “Kabhi Palkhon Ko Uthana”,
have won her recognition in the Pakistan music industry.
She started her career as a child star on Pakistan Television.
She was also the singer for the movies, “Babu”,
“Shararat” and “Anar Kali”. She
has a very nice pitch and voice quality for love songs
Mazhar Rahi entertained the crowd with songs from his own
album.
At the end Mr. Sarfaraz Khan thanked the audience for their
participation, the sponsors and volunteers. Mr. Khan reiterated,
“I am a patriot Pakistani and will bring Pakistani
stars if the Bay area audience will come to the shows and
encourage Pakistani stars.” Sarfaraz Khan thanked
Pakwan Restaurant, Shahnawaz Restaurant and Zafran Restaurant
for their hospitality and the delicious food served to the
artists.
This beautiful evening was organized by Sarfaraz Khan of
Khan Construction who is a very successful businessman in
the Los Angeles Area. Sarfaraz is known for staging high
caliber entertainment shows not only in California but in
the entire United States of America. Local arrangements
were made by Samina and Faisal Khan of Samina Fabrics and
they did a superb job of advertising and spreading the word
about the show. Asma Hamdani was part of the team too. Raana
Faiz was also active in reaching out to the community to
make the show a success. Every one deserves credit for a
job well done and those who missed this show missed not
only once in a life time opportunity to listen to top musical
stars from Pakistan but missed a great show.
Sarfraz Khan was extended a helping hand in arranging the
show in Fullerton by Rehana Qamar, Jameeel Bhatti, Zafar
Abbas, Dara Khan and Munawwar Khan. All of them deserve
the wholehearted gratitude of the community.
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