Maheen Sabeeh

It’s the new way of life. After the takeover of digital music around the world, it’s blogs that are gaining some serious momentum.

Stars agree that it is the most honest, direct and easy of communicating with fans. There are no chances of getting misquoted and it is just simple.

Let’s take a look at some blogging stars in Pakistan and from around the world…

Slowly picking up pace

The trend here is slow. Partly because Pakistanis by nature are cautious of what they say and especially of what they don’t say. It happened with YouTube.

While Americans were happily posting away personal stories from their bedrooms, we’ve been uploading mujras and mostly videos of musicians, being interviewed, live in concerts and so forth.

Amongst the youth though, blogs have become a hit, at least the educated lot and those are still not that many.

When one speaks of people in the public eye, the biggest blogger is Ali Zafar. He has a blog and he is a fairly regular writer.

Ali Zafar’s blog is however not about picking up issues. And that is not a bad thing. His fans want to know what his life is like.

And his blog manages to reflect that very well.

For instance, from his blogs, one knows that he likes Tufail Niyazi, he is a decent tennis table player, his mother has been encouraging him to write a diary/journal since he was a kid but he never adapted well to the habit. But now he is trying. Hence, the blog.

The blog, like Ali Zafar, is simple, sweet and hopeful on most occasions.

In comparison is Aunty Disco Project (ADP) front man Omar Bilal Akhtar’s blog.

Unlike Ali, Omar has a blog that is often humourous and is not safe. In other words, if one really wants to know where ADP music stems from, Omar’s blog is the one to read.

From getting disillusioned to losing confidence and gaining it back, to personal relationships and a reflection on days gone and those that lie ahead, Omar is honest and he is actually a pretty decent writer.

While some days, Omar broods, as does his blog, other days it is funny enough to make you laugh all day.

One example is ‘Ugly Baby and Advertising’. The whole piece is a smart, humourous take on how print and television ads have become redundant and pointless.

“What is up with all the ugly babies? Man babies are supposed to be cute and cuddly. Instead we have these uggles lining up on tv selling diapers shaking their wrinkly asses and wiggling their unibrows. I hate ugly babies…they creep me out almost as much as clowns. And the worst bit is ugly babies act all cool and shit, like they don’t know they ugly. They pick on the cute ones. Whatever uggle-muffin, I know you ugly, and I know you wax your back,” says Omar.

This might sound a bit bizarre but if you read the entire piece, you’ll understand how right Omar is.

Beyond Ali and Omar, music industry still has a long way to go when it comes to blogging. The concept is lost on most of our musicians and there could be a variety of reasons. But it has to be said that not only is blogging therapeutic but it is also a way to build an unbreakable bond with fans.

It also brings stars closer to fans, makes them reachable and relatable.

Around the world

Indian celebrities have really picked up this trend. Of the lot, the most famous blogs remain that of Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan.

Aamir Khan bought a dog (whose name is Shahrukh) and decided to write about it. His blog is filled with complaints and Aamir is now in some trouble with fans.

The star who refrains from giving too many interviews unless he has a movie to promote, says that blogs are his way of taking time out for fans. Aamir gets points for being extremely regular and keeps in touch as he promised when he started out. And for naming his dog Shahrukh, fans have given their views and most of them are hugely disappointed. As a result, it has become a massive story in Indian media.

Amitabh Bachchan is more regular than Aamir. He writes on a daily basis, from his visit to Cannes to refuting allegations that he was paid to write a blog to his court cases, attack by media, Big B is pretty consistent.

While the response has been incredible, his blog is simply for those who adore him. Otherwise, it’s boring. There is no humour. It’s all very serious and methodical. But for an actor of his stature to attempt a blog is definitely applause-worthy.

Others like critic and filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, Santosh Sivan among others also have blogs but due to severe inconsistency, these blogs don’t get as much attention.

Wild wild West

In the west, it seems that everybody blogs. Some are opinionated and self-deprecating, which is always a kick. Moby is serious as well as funny, referring to his brain as “Swiss cheese” after heavily abusing certain drugs.

Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes is open to talk about Derek and Meredith and tries to answer as many posts as possible and she gets tons of them. Ellen Degeneres like her show is extremely entertaining.

Alyssa Milano picks up issues like botox and its repercussions, while Daniel Radcliffe admits to life after Harry Potter as the film franchise is near end in two years.

Other stars include actors Jennifer Love, Pamela Anderson, Zach Braff. Alec Baldwin, hosts Rosie O Donnell, Ellen Degeneres, musicians Moby, John Mayer, Britney Spears, Barbra Streisand, Gene Simmons (Kiss front man), Lily Allen, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and Avril Lavigne among countless others.