 |  | Special feature by Manish Gajjar, site user
On Friday 11 October 2002, a gala reception was held to mark the start of the South Asian Film season at the Light House Wolverhampton Media Centre.
This celebration, which is expected to end on 4 December, includes a Bollywood poster exhibition Bollywood film screenings, workshops, performances and guest appearances. The exhibition has been curated by Mr Baldev Sahota, director of The Eastern Film Society.
In the company of Taz - Stereo Nation
| |  | Taz of Stereo Nation signing autographs
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As part of the celebration, Taz of Stereo Nation made a special guest appearance. Dedicated fans had the opportunity to listen to Taz as he talked about his career to date.
"I still remember my younger days", started Taz in a very informal way, "when my parents travelled to India, I used to tell them to bring back some Indian instruments. My fascination with music started from a very young age.
"Coming from a wealthy family, my parents expected me to be an architect or a doctor, but my heart was always in music. This shocked my parents but because I truly believed in myself, I achieved my goal against all odds.
"My music has always been a fusion of East and West. My compositions are a mixture of Punjabi and English. It's my way of conveying a message about who you are. Above all you must never forget your roots or your true identity."
Biography of a great pop idol
| |  | Taz at the gala reception
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Tarsame Singh, aka Taz, is a Coventry born lad, who was also formerly known as Johnny Zee.
He established himself in 1989 as a recording artist with the release of his debut album Hit the Deck, a fusion of bhangra and reggae.
In 1999, Taz stormed the UK Asian Pop Charts, with Hit the Deck spending 36 weeks at number 1. The album went on to become one of the biggest selling Asian fusion music recordings to date. But that did not deter the Coventry kdi from striking out further.
Next he had a meg-hit with Don't Break My Heart from the album Spirits of Rhythm. In the same year he successfully released his first UK solo album, called Nasha.
Recent successes
| |  | Taz with one of his fans,Tarenjit Singh
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The new millennium saw the release of the track Oh Laila from his album, Slave II Fusion under the name Taz of Stereo Nation.
Recorded partly in Birmingham and Mumbai, this album proved to be a worldwide phenomenal success. So much so that it was released into the mainstream UK charts.
The ongoing success gave Taz an opportunity to record a song sequence for the Bollywood film, Tum Bin which was released in 2001. The Punjabi number, Daaroo Vich Pyar was written, composed and sung by Taz himself and became an instant hit on the film's release.
His recent success includes Taz-Mania with the hit track, Ishq undoubtedly the most popular. Fans who were present at the gala reception got the privilege to see both these musical videos on the big screen between his talks.
So what has Taz been up to recently? He has just recorded a song sequence for a Bollywood film called Koi Mil Gaya (Have Found Someone) which stars the Bollywood heartthrob, Hrithik Roshan.
Produced by Rakesh Roshan, this film is predicted to be the biggest Hindi film blockbuster when it gets its release early next year.
An inspiration
| |  | Taz with some of his dedicated fans
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Taz shared one important piece of advice with his fans at the gala. He said: "...always believe in yourself and in what you do. It's the only way to achieve your goals."
I, like millions of others out there in the world, will certainly take heed of this advice, as Taz is a great inspiration!
Imagine Asia
Imagine Asia 2002 is a programme of films, talks, exhibitions and events at the Wolverhampton Light House Media Centre. For more information on the events, please follw the link to the Light House website, on the left.
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