Amidst cheering fans, curious bystanders and various media persons, the music of the upcoming Pakistani film, Moor was launched earlier this week. The Atrium Mall in Karachi was buzzing with electric energy as Ayaz Samoo, one of the film’s cast members, played host and introduced the soundtrack of the film while spending some time talking to the cast and crew as well as the music dream team, Strings. The arrival of Strings drew the most cheers as Bilal, Faisal and lyricist Anwar Maqsood shared their collective experience of working on the film’s score and soundtrack.
Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia of Strings interact with the audience at Moor’s music launch.
“We have worked on film scores before,” said Bilal Maqsood, sighting examples of the band’s foray into Bollywood (Zinda, Shootout at Lokhandwala). “But this project was different because we had to compose about eight tracks and the whole background score. It seemed like a difficult prospect at first but the kind of film that Jami has made, there are so many different emotional and visual textures, the mountains of Balochistan, fast speed of life in Karachi – it becomes easy for a composer because you then get an opportunity to experiment with different, distinct genres. We had a great time working on this film.”
Addressing Ayaz Samoo’s questions, Faisal Kapadia, the other half of Strings, shared that though ‘Jogiya’, sung by Javed Bashir was his favourite track on the album, the entire album merits a listen because it features a combination of singers, musicians and songs that are situated on different situations and storylines. “It is a milestone for us, to produce this film score. After releasing our albums for twenty-five years, today, finally, we’re launching this album.”
Faisal Kapadia spoke passionately about the joy of working with other musicians and industry stalwarts, as well as all the other involved musicians. “It’s a fortunate moment for us. We have sung just two songs. We just enjoyed working with all the others like Meesha and Javed.
Anwar Maqsood, who has penned several Strings albums, an obvious choice for the role of lyricist, shared some anecdotes and said, “Bilal composes difficult melodies. He prefers to create the melody first, and only then, the words are written.
Jami, the man with the vision behind Moor, wearing his trademark black kurta, also drew quite a few cheers from the crowd as the film’s trailers and songs ran on a huge screen, on a loop, in the background.
The various cast members of Moor, headed by Shaz Khan, also had their moment as Ayaz Samoo invited them to share their experience and stories about the film, which is set to release on independence day, later this month.