Playing the strings of peace

Bilal Maqsood of Strings talks Indian love in resurfaced clip

Amid the Indian outrage over Diljit Dosanjh’s traitorous collaboration with the irrefutably Pakistani Hania Aamir in Sardaar Ji 3, there are two men who once melted away that geopolitical line like butter in a heated pan. And as music-loving millennials may have guessed, those two men were none other than Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia.

Banding together to form the pop tour de force that became Strings (can hits such as Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar and Duur ever be erased from the cultural stream of consciousness?) Maqsood and Kapadia proved that any heartstrings across any border can be conquered, if you pluck them just right. Now, during a resurfaced clip on The Rafay Mahmood Podcast, Maqsood recalled the sheer force of love Strings received from their Indian fans, and how they never once compromised their principles across the border despite being given every inducement to do so.

Launching pad

“I think we got a bit lucky in the sense that in 1992, Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar was a huge hit – but what was when we disbanded Strings and took a break,” recalled Maqsood. “We had some idea that we were a big hit in India — but we didn’t know just how big.”

The musical duo not knowing ‘how big’ they were in India became something of a recurring theme during their 2000 comeback with the Duur album.

“We made the album behind closed doors. We never thought music would be our profession. I had my own job, Faisal had his family business,” noted Maqsood. “We just decided to make some music, and that we would see what would happen. It was only later that we decided that we should burn all our bridges and focus on our music.”

The first indication that anyone across the border was taking any notice was when Indian Network Doordarshan sought their record company’s permission to air their music. Maqsood recalled being stunned at learning that Indian clubs and discos still resorted to Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar.

“We still didn’t realise how big we were; Faisal and I were both busy with our studies,” remarked the singer. “But when we released Duur – all the label companies asked, ‘Are you the same guys who sang Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar?'”

It transpired that teenaged fans of 1992 had now grown into adults who worked at label companies — a turn of events that opened up doors for Strings. “We had maybe 12 or 13 companies that we could choose from to release it [in India],” explained Maqsood. “That is how the legacy of Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar worked in our favour.”

Love from India

The Indian promotion of the Strings comeback album inevitably led to a whirlwind tour of the country.

“When Duur got released there, we stayed there and promoted and travelled all over India,” said Maqsood, looking back. “We lost count of how many cities and towns (big and small) that we visited. We played at clubs, at colleges — everywhere!”

One moment of an almost electric connection with a 10,000-strong chanting Indian crowd, however, has become cemented in Maqsood’s memory.

“There was this one time when we were playing in a Delhi Park singing this medley of Indian songs that we did in our set […] and there were these 10,000 Indian youths just chanting along for Pakistan!” said Maqsood in awe. “Faisal and I couldn’t believe it. There was this Indian audience, there was Strings, and there was nothing else in between. Zero boundary. No political or geographical line — in that moment, India and Pakistan were just one.”

Upon returning to Pakistan, the duo had started to get an inkling that perhaps stardom could be on the cards for them after all, despite the Pakistani musical landscape of the time wedded to more ‘dhol’-oriented music (think Abrarul Haq) and less of Strings’ signature pop sound.