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Aaroh ( ) is an
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band from
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
,
Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
, Pakistan, formed in 1998. The band was founded by keyboardist Kamran Khan and lead guitarist Nabeel Nihal , who were joined by, singer Farooq Ahmed, bassist Khalid Khan and drummer Adnan Hussain. The band achieved fame in 2002 when they won the national Pepsi Battle of the Bands competition. Soon, after the success of the battle of the bands, Hussain was replaced by drummer Jason Anthony and then the band went on releasing their critically acclaim debut album, '' Sawaal'', in September 2003. Singles from the album like ''Sawaal'', ''Na Kaho'', ''Jalan'' and ''Jeeyay'' were a success and topped several local music charts. In 2004, band members Ahmed and Chishty went into a dispute that who owns the rights for the band's name. This saw Chishty and Kamran Khan leaving as the band officially announced their split up. The band then recruited Haider Hashmi on lead guitars as a replacement for Chishty. Aaroh, with their new lead guitarist, then went on releasing their second studio album ''
Raag Neela Aaroh ( ) is an alternative rock band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, formed in 1998. The band was founded by keyboardist Kamran Khan and lead guitarist Nabeel Nihal , who were joined by, singer Farooq Ahmed, bassist Khalid Khan and drummer Adna ...
'' in 2006, receiving critical acclaim. Singles such as "Raag Neela", "Pyaar Ka Jaal" and "Janay Kyun" did well at the local music charts.


History


Formation (2002)

In early 2002, during this time
Pepsi Battle of the Bands ''Pepsi Battle of the Bands'' is a Pakistani television series, originally based on the concept of Battle of the Bands, first aired in 2002 on PTV Home. The show was revived in 2017. Season 1 ''Pepsi Battle of the Bands: Season 1'' aired in J ...
advertisement began to air on television; the competition called upon entries of aspiring bands from all over
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
. This saw the band taking participation in the competition by the name "Aaroh", given by
Shoaib Mansoor Shoaib Mansoor (; born 4 February 1951 Karachi) is a Pakistani television and film director, writer, producer, lyricist and musician of Mahajir (Pakistan), Muhajir origin. Active in the Television in Pakistan, television industry since 1976, w ...
. It was during this time Aaroh officially came into being. Aaroh band members got together for the Battle of the Bands and went to perform at the competition. The band first took part in the digital round of the competition, where the band went on head to head with twenty hundred bands from across the four provinces of Pakistan. The competition included bands like
Entity Paradigm Entity Paradigm (Punjabi language, Punjabi, , in English sometimes shortened as EP) was a Pakistani rock band from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, formed in 2000. The band was founded by songwriter and guitarist Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan, Xulfi, vo ...
,
Mekaal Hasan Band Mekaal Hasan Band , (sometimes shortened to MHB), is a progressive rock band, founded in 2001 by the Pakistani guitarist,composer and producer, Mekaal Hasan. The Mekaal Hasan Band is known for being innovators of a progressive style of music w ...
and
Mizmaar Mizmaar ( ) is a Pakistani pop rock band, formed in 2000. It currently consists of guitarist Kashan Admani, lead singer Asad Rasheed, and drummer Alfred D'mello, and . The band rose to fame in 2003 after the release of 'Kash', their debut al ...
, which also later on became well known popular mainstream rock bands coming from the
underground music Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, Popular music, mainstream popular music culture. Underground styles lack the commercial success of popular music movements, and may involve the use of avant-g ...
scene. During the competition, the band performed songs "Sawaal", "Aag Ki Tarhan" and also covering the
Vital Signs Vital signs (also known as vitals) are a group of the four to six most crucial medical signs that indicate the status of the body's vital (life-sustaining) functions. These measurements are taken to help assess the general physical health of ...
song, "Ajnabi". After a sixteen months hiatus, during which the competition was being aired on national, cable and satellite television programmes, viewers polled for their favourite band in the competition. By then the results of the Battle of the Bands came out and it was told that two bands who made to the finals were Aaroh along with Entity Paradigm. The band went on perform to compete at the finals of the competition held in
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
,
Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
. The band won the competition by a narrow margin to Entity Paradigm, who came runner-ups, in front of an audience of around 4,000 at the NRA Golf Club, where the finals were held.Entity Paradigm interview
Retrieved on 14 May 2009


Success (2003–2005)

On 21 September 2003, the band went on releasing their debut album '' Sawaal'', through the record label Sadaf Stereo all over
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
. Shortly after the release of ''Sawaal'', the lead-guitarist Nabeel Nihal Chishty and the keyboard player Kamran Khan did the title track for the 2004 Bollywood film
Rakht ''Rakht'' () is a 2004 Indian supernatural horror film, written and directed by Mahesh V Manjrekar. The film stars Bipasha Basu, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Dino Morea, Amrita Arora and Neha Dhupia. The film is a remake of the 2000 American fi ...
using the band's label which led to band members Khalid Khan and Farooq Ahmed having dispute with Nabeel Nihal Chishty and Kamran Khan. Farooq Ahmed and Khalid Khan kept the Aaroh brand and were joined by Haider Hashmi on lead guitars and Jason Anthony and release the music video of ''Na Kaho'' which became their most popular song to date.


2006–2009

Aaroh released a few music videos from their new album ''Raag Neela''. The full album was released in late 2006. Aaroh disbanded in 2009 concentrating on their personal projects. Farooq Ahmed, vocalist and Haider Hashmi, lead guitarist, went on to pursue a career as solo musicians, while bassist Khalid Khan went on performing as a session player for the band
Fuzön Fuzön ( – literal English pronunciation: "fusion") is a Pop music, pop rock band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan formed in 2001. The name was derived from ''Fusion (music), fusion'', as the former lead vocalist of the band, Shafqat Amanat Ali ...
. Farooq Ahmed moved to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in 2010, one year after Aaroh disbanding.


Return (2013–14)

With Farooq Ahmed living in the US, Haider Hashmi, Khalid Khan and Jason Anthony started thinking about reforming with a new vocalist Rizwan Anwar. Aaroh released a new single ''Mera Pyar'' in 2013. There were plans on working on an album as well. Haider Hashmi died in 2014 due to brain tumor which led to Aaroh disbanding and plans for the album being cancelled. In 2016 Nescafe Basement paid a tribute to the late guitarist in the seventh episode of the fourth season of the show.


Comeback (2017–present)

Pepsi Battle of the Bands ''Pepsi Battle of the Bands'' is a Pakistani television series, originally based on the concept of Battle of the Bands, first aired in 2002 on PTV Home. The show was revived in 2017. Season 1 ''Pepsi Battle of the Bands: Season 1'' aired in J ...
was being resurrected in 2017 and Farooq Ahmed was asked to be a guest judge in the auditions round, which he accepted. Aaroh confirmed its comeback while speaking to the
Express Tribune ''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Lakson Group'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the '' Intern ...
. On August 1, 2017, Aaroh released a teaser of their new track titled ''Jeet Banjae Apna Nishaan'' which was released in February 2018 titled as ''Jeet'' and was a tribute to the
Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL), also known as HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Founded by the PCB in 2015, the league features six city-bas ...
. The band performed
Raag Neela Aaroh ( ) is an alternative rock band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, formed in 1998. The band was founded by keyboardist Kamran Khan and lead guitarist Nabeel Nihal , who were joined by, singer Farooq Ahmed, bassist Khalid Khan and drummer Adna ...
in the second episode of the second season of Pepsi Battle of the Bands featuring
Kashan Admani Kashan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kashan County), Central District of Kashan County, in the northern part of Isfahan province, Isfahan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. History Earlies ...
of
Mizmaar Mizmaar ( ) is a Pakistani pop rock band, formed in 2000. It currently consists of guitarist Kashan Admani, lead singer Asad Rasheed, and drummer Alfred D'mello, and . The band rose to fame in 2003 after the release of 'Kash', their debut al ...
, officially marking their comeback and have been performing at different venues since then. The band also performed Na Kaho in the last episode of Pepsi Battle of the Bands. In late 2017, Asad Ul Hafeez joined the band on lead guitars. Later on 3 December 2017, Aaroh in partnership with
Patari The Patari are a community found mainly in the Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, India. History and origin There are various theories as to the origin of the Patari tribe. According to the tribe itself, the Patari are by origin Gond tribal ...
released ''Mein Nahi Manta'' (''Dastoor'') a rendition of
Habib Jalib Habib Jalib (; 24 March 1928 – 13 March 1993) was a Pakistani revolutionary poet and left-wing political activist who opposed martial law, authoritarianism, military dictatorship and state oppression. He wrote several poems in Punjabi and ...
's ''Dastoor'' accompanied with a music video. The song was released as a
Patari The Patari are a community found mainly in the Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, India. History and origin There are various theories as to the origin of the Patari tribe. According to the tribe itself, the Patari are by origin Gond tribal ...
exclusive on the streaming site and
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
.


Awards and nominations

Aaroh's most significant achievement was winning the Pepsi Battle of the Bands in 2002. Aaroh has also been nominated at the ARY Asian/Bollywood Awards for the "Best Band" award in 2004 and received a nomination for the "Best Lyrics Award" for their song "Na Kaho" at the Indus Music Awards in 2005.The 2nd Indus Music Awards
Retrieved on 1 April 2011


Discography

;Studio albums *''Sawaal'' (2003) *''Raag Neela'' (2006) ;Soundtracks * ''Rakht'' (title track for the 2004 Bollywood film
Rakht ''Rakht'' () is a 2004 Indian supernatural horror film, written and directed by Mahesh V Manjrekar. The film stars Bipasha Basu, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Dino Morea, Amrita Arora and Neha Dhupia. The film is a remake of the 2000 American fi ...
) ;Singles * ''Mera Pyar'' (2013) * ''Mein Nahi Manta (Dastoor)'' (2017) * ''Jeet'' (2018)


Music videos


Band members

;Current line-up *Farooq Ahmed – Lead vocals (1998–2009) (2017–Present) *Jason Anthony – Drums (2003–2009) (2013-2014) (2017-Present) *Khalid Khan – Bass guitar (1998–2009) (2013-2014) (2017-Present) *Asad Ul Hafeez – Lead guitar (2017–Present) ;Former members *Rizwan Anwar – Lead vocals (2013–2014) *Kamran "Kami Jee" Khan – Keyboards, Backing vocals (1998–2004) *Nabeel Nihal Chishty – Lead guitar, Backing vocals (1998–2004) *Adnan Hussain – Drums (1998–2002) *Haider Hashmi – Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar (2004–2009)(2013-2014) ;Session musicians *Saeed Ahmad Mughal – Drums (2006)


Timeline


See also

*
List of Pakistani music bands Pakistan's music band scene was discovered in the 60s. The Panthers, a Karachi-based band founded in the late 60s, consisted of Norman Braganza (Lead Guitar and Vocals), Fasahat Husain Syed (Keyboard, Sitar and Tabla), Eric Fernandes (Bass Guit ...


References

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1998 Pakistani musical quartets Pakistani rock music groups Musical groups from Karachi 1998 establishments in Pakistan Articles which contain graphical timelines