They are not the first Pakistani singers knocking on the doors of Bollywood. But Zebunissa Bangash and Haniya Aslam are in Mumbai with a reputation and a story. They are cousins and are Pakistan’s only all-girl band, and the success of their funky debut album Chup is currently the toast of the nation. They are also Pakistan’s first female vocalists to be writing their own songs and composing their own music and are being touted as the modern face of Pakistan’s pop music after the legendary Nazia Hassan.

And when MTV Pakistan Music Awards recently recognised them as the Best Live Act, it was as much a tribute to their Pashtun roots in the war-torn and Talibanised North West Frontier Province (NWFP), where music has been a particular casualty as the militants have branded it as vulgar and anti-Islamic. But for the girls, both 30, their band is all about music. They are in no mood, they insist, to be hailed as the poster girls of the revival of pop music in Pakistan.

“Ours is a more soft rock band, we throw in a bit more of estrogen to soften the experience,” they describe themselves, adding that they just want to reclaim their culture. “Taliban is a rogue group. That group is waging war on our country and also on our culture. The good thing is that youngsters in Pakistan have come out to reclaim our culture. There is a sense of ownership and positivity in the youth especially with regard to art and cultural activities,” adds Zeb. A sign of that resilience, claims Haniya, is how music shops in the troubled regions keep coming back even after the Taliban bomb them.

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