Just came back from “Hyderabad” after recording of my first song. I bought the lyrics, composition, music, melody and all the **** they said costs them having a song ready for me to sing. After alot of misinformation (details later), I was handed over a song to sing. I sang and it was recorded in less than four hours. They did not let me hear the final recording and gave me no contact of the muscian or anyone else… just paid them out of the lum sum amount i gave them… so finally i return to lahore… to find out that they need more money from me in order to give me the song WHICH I HAD ALREADY BOUGHT. so now although i do not have what i paid for and to have it im supposed to pay them what they are asking for only then they would give it to me. since i disclosed the whole matter to my dad and i can borrow from him but there are so many things which they lied to me about and i found it but i did not ask them many questions cz i knew i was working with and trusting my PAKISTANI brothers… so now they kind of black mail me to pay them more if i want my song otherwise, they would make someone else sing the same song and ofcourse i would never be able to have my own song. the whole process has pissed me off so much they i told them to bugger off with MY PROPERTY that they are using to black mail me. not only this but they are not even returning my karaoke tapes which i had given them to find a muscian matching my style. i have no proof that i gave them those tapes to confront legally.
i told them right before any proceedings that it would be closed to impossible for me to come to perform at a concert every few months cz of my job and they had no problems with it. now that i know how this business in pakistan works… and now that i know how they lied to me and how they have suddenly changed their eyes after the recording, i know how they are gonna fool the sponsor in the furture who wants me to perform in a concert. the greedy ba$tards are gonna grab money from them too and promise them i would perform whereas the first thing i clearly told them was that I CANNOT COME TO PERFORM IN CONCERTS FROM ABROAD.
another interesting thing they strictly told me not to get in touch with anyone by my own and only they would promote me and speak on my behalf but hey see how their greediness has intensified only after the recording of the song, i can visualise how the state would further change when i pay them for the vdo and other stuff. so ive stepped back. yes, this project was the dream of my life but should i continue and let them abuse me (for money) and others (for money too) involved in the project and those who would come in the picture in the future (including the vdo director) bcz i am not supposed to get in direct contact with them. i cant talk to them on my own. fine i have no objection but i cannot allow them to distort my image as an artist… an image which has not even established… i have realised that all the want is money and they would sell anything to get that so what big deal would it be for them to make promises on my behalf and spoil my reputation??? no big deal… i know this would happen, i can see it coming so, i step back. i know im not working with right people and i cant allow it to continue.
i wanted to be known as someone from pakistani media… to be known as a pakistani artist… wasted my money, my time, the efforts i put into the project inluding travelling to hyderabad and coming back sick and dehyderated. right… THIS IS PAKISTAN and these are PAKISTANI PEOPLE!!!
“khurram”, IM ASHAMED OF HAVING KNOWN YOU. my biggest mistake… my trust in you. i did not feel a need to have anything in writing hence did not demand. all was by word.. that was my biggest mistake.
P.S 1: “Im gonna post details of who these people are for the sake of those young and ambitious who may not understand too soon what ive understood before it is too late. and i would also send my experience to the local newspaper where i live.”
P.S 2: "there are several things which i have not mentioned cz im still trying to figure what sh!t i have been through. im still trying to gather the whole experience.
It is quite common in Pak and other countries as well. Entertainment is not a clean business. When going into a business relationshp, always have a signed contract/paper so that you have something to fall back on. In this case, it might/might not have helped considering the sad state of the Pakistani legal system.
thanks shikra - yeah i can request my uncle (a prominent figure in pakistan's legal sector) to help me but i was actually thinking of letting it go. after all, it was my mistake to trust blindly my PAKISTANI brothers which is the reason i do not have any proof that they have my stuff. and about bribing.... i dont do that, cant do that.
RB - yeah, ive realised the mistake i made. and yes i agree, it's not a clean business. look i've only "started" and what i've faced already.
I went back to Pakistan for the first time in 2001. Traveling in our car, highway cops stopped us on highway and asked us “chai paani k paisay” in direct words. I didn’t want to bribe them but my uncle (who was with me) gave them 100 rupees and they let us go. Otherwise, they threatened to issue us a ticket, take our car to police station and what not.
I went back to Pakistan for the second time a few weeks back. My friend and I were on a bike, just standing and chilling. Cops came to us and for no reason asked for the license and paperwork etc. We weren’t doing anything, just standing by our bike and talking. We didn’t have the paperwork with us. So we just gave them 50 bucks and they let us go. I didn’t feel bad
Advice # 1:-
Use Pakistani print media and unleash your wrath in loud and clear words. Tell them that you are not the one they thought to be. Bring in the change and book them for what they haev done.
Advice # 2:-
Apply all sorts of pressure on them to give you your treasure. Dont let them run away with the thing you have been aspiring for and for which you have worked and paid.
Advice # 3:-
Do some homework as to how you would do this all.
shikra - i have heard many similar stories from various people. infact i myself was in a similar situation when booking our returned seats from hyderabad to lahore. the guy wanted money to give us the seats of our choice but i ignored it. i booked in a different train to have the kinds of seats i wanted. but i agree that sometimes they would demand it and would threaten to put you in trouble. then you have no choice but we must avoid this dirty thing as much as possible.
seedha saadha - thanks for your input. i thought of sending an article a local newspaper where i live but i dont think i can even do that cz of various reasons i dont like to state here. how can i contact the local (pakistani) media? i guess i would do that i hope i can do that through the internet.
you know i was so disappointed when they dropped the bomb for the first time that i could say only one thing, "i dont need no sh!t from you" and banged the telephone. later, i said to myself, "how can i let them take away from me my own something which was so impotant to me." so i pressurized them (to give me receipt of the cash i gave them and return my karaoke tapes) by threatening them. they have been ringing me since but i feel so much frustrated at the cheap thrill they have shown that i could not make myself waste another minute of my time to talk to them.
finally i have actually made myself accept that i cannot... infact i DO NOT want to fulfil my dream working with these people. i have only recorded one song and suffered this. what can i expect in the future. i decided to contact my uncle but realise i shouldnt have been so naive working in this business. so i'd rather leave it to God. i did tell them to go and eat laddu cz they've "won" my song but if they ever used it in any way, im gonna sue them so hopefully, they wouldnt dare to do that. if i cant have it, they cant too. probably they were just black mailing me for more money knowing all about my dream. probably they expected me to fulfil their demand. probably all the new comers do that but my priorities are different. i cant never entertain such @$$holes.
yeah i thought alot abt it. and im gonna let it go. i think pakistan is no good for me and i am no good for pakistan.
i finally threatened them for one last time. they promised me to send mail my tapes and receipt of the cash received from me within 24 hours. they took my mailing adress. i gave them. today is the third day im still waiting. instead i received a phone call from the muscian from hyderabad who had composed for the song. he told me to send him another 25,000 for all his hard work on the song else he would sing the song and upload on his website. wow… i told him to go get his fu*king money from those two greedy @$$holes who took from me. he said i was dealing with them and he has not been paid for his hard work. when i told him those two guys were fraud, he said, “they are my good friends”… so what does that mean??? these three good friends are after me for money??? i mean they did not give me the musician’s contact telling me that was not “professional” and now this “musician” contacting me on my cell, is THIS professional???
I AM STUPID FOR DECIDING TO WORK WITH THESE CLOWNS!!!
Below is their website adress and Im avoiding to mention the names of those “two” guys but im sure the whole company is a bunch of suckers!!!
