|
|
the-south-asian.com June/July 2004 |
||||
|
June/July
2004 Culture
Shamaila
Khan
Lehngas - a limited collection Books Between
Heaven and Hell
|
|
||||
|
OI! SHAMALIA by Avinash Kalla
Dressed in a shimmering bejewelled black dress she may pass off as one of the stunning new girls on the music video circuit. But Shamalia Khan is no model-turned-star on the Indian television/music album circuit. In fact she is not even Indian. This Pakistani girl from London is all set to rock the music world with her debut album Oi! " I have high expectations from this album and hope it does as well in India as it has done in the UK," says Shamalia whose promotional ad sends a warning to pop diva Jennifer Lopez beginning with Watch out J-LO. "In presentation and energy levels I see my album at par with J-Lo’s musical works and see no reason why I can’t be where she is." Oi! is a youthful collection of eight tracks that are a blend of soulful numbers, Bhangra, Reggae, and Rap that give the album a complete look. Releasing it in India first was a planned move by this marketing studies’ graduate from Thames Valley, in England. A die hard Big B fan, Shamalia grew up on a staple diet of Bollywood movies and Lata Mangeshkar songs. "Lata was my original inspiration," says the Lahori singer and adds, "I want to become this era’s Lata." Daughter of Pakistani film producer Mohammad Salman, Shamaila started her career as her father’s assistant and simultaneously learnt classical music for four long years before breaking into the music scene. On the side she also did some modelling and walked the ramp for leading designers of her country. "I had this thing very clear in my mind that if I need to make it big then I must understand all the aspects of the glamour industry," says Shamalia adding that it took her two years to release the album "I underwent intensive training and long hours of dedicated riyaz to develop my voice and fine tune it, getting the minutest detail right." Launching the album in India has done the trick for her as she has already sung for two films - the forthcoming Lips and Aftab Shivdasani starrer Mere Baap Ki Shaadi Hai. "I am looking forward to working with people like Anu Malik, Nadeem Shravan and A.R Rehman," says Shamaila confident that once these music directors listen to her album offers will come pouring in. But as of now Shamalia is ecstatic about the successful launch of her new album. "After it became a success in the U.K. I decided to launch it in India instead of Pakistan as the TV exposure is really big here. There are so many channels dedicated to music." Considering most Indian channels have a huge clandestine viewership in Pakistan, it is a double whammy for Shamalia. ***** |
|||||
| Copyright © 2000 - 2004 [the-south-asian.com]. Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. | |||||
| Home | |||||
