Introducing Rebel Rock


They have yet to make a visible mark in the Pakistani pop rock industry and already, their debut video has been refused airplay by a popular music channel, the reason being its blatantly political content. Falak, a desi rock band from Canada performed to a full house at a local lounge recently.

They carry the motto “I think therefore I resist”, and coupled with the wonders of the web and loyal friends, they have already managed to amass a small but loyal fan following in Pakistan. After having seen them perform live, one can safely say that they deserve every bit of it. Overall, they have performed over 200 gigs in Canada and North America; however, this was their first gig in Pakistan.

The lineup consisted of Farid Khan on vocals and rhythm guitar and Sid (Siddiq Muhammad) on lead guitar, both the boys being Falak band members. The featured bassist of the evening was Danish Mirza and the drummer, Kaiser, who is also the drummer for Pakistani band Strings. With a backdrop that had the cover of their extended play (EP), Standard Issue and sporting Daku t-shirts, they kicked off their performance with a Falak original, Yaadein. A fun number, it was soon evident that things couldn’t have gotten louder. It was delightful to see that after a very long time, this was a performance dedicated solely to rock.

The second song, Pukaar was dominated by soft guitars, courtesy Sid. Farid sang with heartfelt emotion while belting out the line So Gaye Jo (those who slept), complemented perfectly by Sid who might as well have been playing the keyboards as every single note he played was clearly audible. Farid maintained eye contact with his audience throughout the gig as if performing to each and every person there individually.

The song that followed after was in English and written by Sid, who also provided the backing vocals for this number. It is about Karachi and has been picked up by Ammar Zaidi, the ‘chief daku’ of the Daku line, for a t-shirt he has designed based on Karachi and which has lyrics from this song printed at the back.

Besides originals, Falak also performed a rocked-up version of Nazia Hasan’s Boom Boom, trying hard to cajole the audience into joining in. What was amusing to note was that one could hear some enthusiastic attendees singing along, their voices standing out from the rest. Kaiser did a little drum solo in the middle, seemingly concentrating on the intricacies involved in soft-rock drumming, which was a pleasant change from the boom bang crash that one is normally confronted with at such events.

The band then went a little reggae with their performance, clearly having fun and launched into a cover of the popular Bob Marley song, Smoked Two Joints, which pretty soon had everyone joining in. For the ending, they fused back into Boom Boom a novel concept pulled off surprisingly well.

Farid took centre stage next and after exchanging a bit of information about the band and conversing with members of the audience while handing out free Daku t-shirts, the band launched into another Falak original, Lately, a soft, mellow number. By then, the lounge was covered with a visible layer of cigarette smoke and the lack of ventilating windows was being direly felt. The energy was pumped back into the performance with a commendable performance of String’s Sar Kiye Yeh Pahaar.

Falak’s original, Blood for Oil, based on the Iraq occupation by the US, surprisingly had a light, upbeat and catchy tune to it. And apart from the lyrics and vocal rendition, the bass line predominant in the performance clearly stood out as Danish Mirza out did himself. This particular song was simply wonderful.

They rearranged after performing this number, switching to Danish Mirza on vocals, Farid on drums and Sid on bass guitar, and performed a cover of Slide by the Goo Goo Dolls. Even though all those present sang along and appeared to be having fun, Danish’s vocals paled in comparison after Farid’s high-powered performance. However, with Sid’s support, they managed to do a decent job, helping wind down the audience considerably as this was intended to be the last song of the evening.But on popular demand, Farid and Sid performed another original, Burn. A mesmerising number, the lights at the venue were dimmed down to create adequate ambiance.

One gets the sinking feeling that like most bands who attempt to rise above the regular love/party themes, there is a chance that Falak might not get the commercial attention it deserves. On the other hand however, coupled with catchy music and good lyrical content, the band just might be able to break from the mould of mass obscurity and make it big in the local pop scene. After the performance, when asked why they chose to carry socio-politically conscious themes in their music, Farid replied, “We feel music is a medium of expression and by simply creating discussion, it might lead to a positive change - however minute it may be”.


First Published:
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January 14, 2007

Afterthought ’06, forward to ’07

Jafri set some tongues rolling when he parted ways with Noori sometime in 2004, although amicably, at what would be considered the peak of their popularity. However, what really sent shockwaves much bigger than the ones sparked off by Jafri was the announcement earlier last year that Gumby was not going to be a part of the band anymore. For most, that signalled the end of Noori — what was a band without its backbone, the drummer? There is no doubt that no other drummer can complement the raw energy dominant in a Noori song the way Gumby can.

What’s left is Ali Noor holding onto everything that Noori was, with precious little left to further it. Although Noor is immensely talented when it comes to making music that can stand on its own and yet cater to the masses, in this case, however, he just threw it all away.

Topping it all off was the announcement that his wife, Mandana Zaidi, would replace Gumby as a DJ artiste. Let alone having the weird notion of having a ‘DJ artiste’ replace the drummer in a pop-rock band, Mrs Ali Noor is not known to have the skills required of being a DJ. To put is simply, without Jafri and Gumby, Noori is the band that once was.

Not having quite recovered fully from the Noori-breakup, it was announced that Bryan Adams would be performing in Karachi, courtesy Shahzad Roy’s Zindagi Trust. Following the announcement, people went ballistic over Shahzad Roy’s cover of Sali. Does this show how much the person bringing an international celebrity to town can benefit from the latter’s popularity?

One must thank Shahzad and the ARY Digital group for bringing Bryan to town; however with proceeds of everything related to the concert going to Zindagi Trust, it is no wonder that ARY doesn’t air the show as much as would have been expected.

Around the same time, our television screens had been dominated by a hip-shaking singer called Annie, the self-titled ‘Princess’. One thing that needs to be made clear is that Annie Princess (or should it be the other way round) cannot sing. However, she more than makes up for it in terms of the entertainment factor. Posing on the cover of her album with a tiara on her head, she removed any misconceptions present about who the real princess was. With a dearth of good female musicians that this country suffers from, she was welcomed with open arms by the masses. Despite her inability to sing properly, when compared against the likes of Rabi Peerzada and Abeer — two women for whom singing is tantamount to being criminal — she seems like godsend.

Award-fever hit every other television network in 2006. Needless to say that most of them were terrible — it seemed that every network out there wanted to establish themselves as the authority on giving out kudos without really investing time and money on exactly how they planned to do that.

In the midst of all this mayhem, an award function that did manage to stand out was The Musik Awards, or TMA. They were everything that an award function in Pakistan should be — well-organised, well-invested and with a jury that consisted of well-reputed music critics, producers, musicians and professionals — thereby setting a new standard for award ceremonies in Pakistan. Most importantly, they understood the importance of what an audience takes with them when they go home and keeping that in mind, they rolled out the mother of all surprises, a performance by the father of Pakistani pop, Alamgir.

The comeback of Alamgir was significant in the sense that it was his first performance in Pakistan after a gap of about 15 years. He was one of the pioneers of establishing a pop-music industry in Pakistan and with the deterioration in free-media in the early ’90s, had decided to quietly leave and never come back.

Along with the comeback of Alamgir was the coming-back of EMI, the international record label that had closed its doors to the Pakistani industry in 1998 because of rampant piracy. What further set tongues rolling was that their first client was the popular English-language band from Peshawar, Sajid and Zeeshan.

The Sajid and Zeeshan album had been eagerly awaited for two reasons, the first being that they were one of the very few desis who had managed to sing in English and make it sound right; and secondly, they had a very unique style of making music which fused the acoustic and lead guitar, keyboard, synthesisers and turntables all in one. With a reputed, international record label taking care of their much-wanted debut album, everything seemed to go in the right direction for these boys — till it was discovered that even a month after its official launch, the album was not available anywhere in Pakistan, save for a few chosen music stores in Karachi.

To put it simply, EMI seemed not to have the infrastructure needed for an effective distribution of an album in Pakistan. Besides a couple of interviews on radio and one television interview, nothing much was done to promote the album either. The Sajid and Zeeshan album reached their hometown, Peshawar, several months after its launch, giving ample time for frustrated fans and pirates to make illegal copies of the album — so much for fighting piracy.

Just when one thought all of this excitement was too much to handle, the Indus television network launched MTV Pakistan in place of the popular music channel, Indus Music. Sceptics didn’t make much of it, labelling it as a revamped IM. One has to admit that where the VJs and the management is the same — save for one incredibly fresh and welcome face, VJ Mahirah — the channel did manage to look internationally acceptable. However; one is still waiting for that big bang, that extra ‘oomph’ that makes it more then just another branch of MTV.

Another little shocker this year was the signing up of Raeth by Universal India, making them Univeral’s youngest clients. Whereas one is all for local talent expanding its horizons across the border, and they do look adorable holding those big guitars, what is baffling is the level of popularity they gained in India. Although their first single, Bhula Do has a somewhat catchy tune to it, the second single is nothing short of plain horrible. This goes to show that if a band can’t attain an Atif Aslam-esque success in Pakistan, they just might in India.

The year 2006 also saw some promising new arrivals in the shape of Sahil which seems like a well-developed, well-practised Paki-pop band. Sahil consists of Hasil (musician/producer who is currently under the patronage of Mekaal Hasan) and Salaar. The band hit it big with Umar Anwar’s directed video of their single, Dil chahey. The video, which was shot in Karachi, completely transforms the way the city looks and has a surprise appearance by Gumby driving a truck at the end of the video. It looked at musicians from a fresh angle and for once, did not have the drummer behind a drum set.

Other notable newcomers that need to mentioned is the band Seige —with their funky single Najaney kyon, they provide a whole new angle to pop music in Pakistan in the form of energetic singing and a funky beat— and Ali Khan, who might just succeed Ali Zafar as the the industry’s blue-eyed boy. However, his songs have a much richer, heartfelt melody to them.

The band co-VEN also decided to debut on the tube last year as well. A band consisting of incredibly talented musicians in the form of Hamza Jafri, Sameer Ahmed and Sikandar Mufti, co-VEN has been around for almost 15 years. The songs that have managed to make it on air are all in English and have a somewhat grungy albeit mesmerising air to them. They are expected to release their album sometime early this year.

One of the things to look out for in ’07 would be an album by Zeb and Haniya, two talented singers who have already managed to amass a large fan following on the web and attract large audiences to their coffee-house perfromances in Lahore. With their track Chup already a hit on radio, it’s about time these ladies introduce their voices to the masses. They just might be the next big thing in female musicians after Hadiqa Kiyani.

The year 2006 closed with the launch of The Musik Records, the record label owned and operated by ARY Digital. And like all their events, they managed to create a bang in the music industry via the album launch of their first client, Aaroh. The title track of the album Raag Neela sees the band take a good laugh at them and it’s good to see that there are some people out there who don’t take themselves very seriously. Already having sold out its initial batch of CDs, the launch of Raag Neela was the perfect end to an eventful year.

Photos:
— Ali Noor (courtesy of nooriworld.net)
— Gumby (photo by Bilal Khan)
— Alamgir (photo by Fayyaz Ahmed)
— Sajid & Zeeshan (photo by Fayyaz Ahmed)
— Sahil (screenshot from Dil Chahey)
— Zeb & Haniyah (photo by Maryam)

First Published:
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January 7, 2007

All that’s jazzAt the recent launch of an international lifestyle clothing chain, the stage and the venue had been set in black and blue for a night of ‘romance and blues’, with an ensemble of musicians that boasted the likes of guitar virtuoso Aamir Zaki, drummer extraordinaire Gumby and two musicians who had been specially flown in for the event: Columbian saxophonist, Diego Miguel and Syrian cellist, Diaa Harb. The event also showcased the talent and skills of Shehrez Zaki, Aamir’s nephew, who played bass on several songs.

With a full attendance from the glitterati of Karachi, the performance was opened by Diego, who proceeded to perform a solo on the saxophone titled Summer Time. He was accompanied on off-time drums by Gumby, who is otherwise better known in local circles for his high-powered, energetic drumming during various rock concerts.

We see a different side of Gumby when he performs in jazz: he plays with a care and finesse that makes every beat stand out. One moment, his drums are barely audible as he switches to brushes, holding the composition together and building up anticipation for what is to come next. The next moment, he lets go and picks up tempo, playing fast enough to have his drumming dominate the performance entirely, albeit for several captivating moments. As a performer, Gumby demands attention — he plays with a heart and soul that reaches out to all those present.

Although Diego tried to punctuate Gumby’s drumming here and there, he mellowed in comparison and seemed to have given up in the end. The spotlight then moved on to a corner in the audience from where appeared the surprise performer of the evening, Aamir Zaki, who quickly took to the stage and launched into a cover of Funky Chicken, a popular number by renown bassist, Jaco Pastorious. A light, fun composition, Aamir seemed to enjoy the performance.

Holding the guitar close in the classical position, he plucked away at the strings, inviting applause and shouts of encouragement from those present. Now and then, he would motion towards the saxophonist who, for some reason, looked like he felt out of place and would politely toot on the saxophone while Aamir would take over the performance again. The performance ended with Gumby, Diego and Aamir each throwing in a lightly energetic solo.

They then left the stage to make space for Diaa, the featured cellist, who began by performing an Arabic-inspired composition. He started out slowly, blending in the melody gracefully. He could be seen peering in at the audience as if to gauge their response. Diaa played with a confidence that spoke volumes of his experience when it came to performing live and which starkly contrasted the polite hesitation that Diego had displayed till then.

Following the performance, all the musicians took the stage, and with Aamir Zaki on lead and Shehrez Zaki on bass, they launched into a cover of Steely Dan’s classic number, Do It Again. Aamir, who was very much at home on stage, seemed to be providing cues to every musician to perform their individual bits. Shehrez on the other hand, was comparatively shy, keeping himself away from the limelight, playing a steady bass line throughout. The introductory notes of the next cover, Baker Street by Gerry Raferty were met with delightful yells from the audience. Aamir threw himself into the song and provided a heartfelt rendition of the lyrics. Customising the song to suit his own musical style, he concluded the song by swinging the guitar around in an energetic solo.

The final piece consisted solely of improvisations by each musician. One thing that Aamir and Gumby have in common is the sheer amount of energy that they both display when left to perform what comes to them naturally. Instinctively familiar with each other’s style, their performance was perfectly complemented. It was heartening to note that this energy seemed to rub off on Diego as well, who launched an aggressive solo on his saxophone. The composition was then brought back to the same Arabic-inspired number that Diaa had opened his performance with. Aamir played the same melody on his guitar and Diaa took the lead and complemented it on his cello.

There are very few performances that let you relive every single moment with the same initial excitement, and the Dockers San Francisco launch by event managers Dream Merchants happened to be one of them. More exciting than the performance itself was watching the music evolve with the musicians who instantaneously acquainted themselves with each others’ style of performing. Diego’s last solo in which he shed his inhibitions was significant in the sense that it was probably the only moment when he truly seemed to give himself to the performance.

The musicians’ personalities shone through each instrument they played, and the night, coupled with the impeccable ambience, turned out to truly be drenched in jazz and blues.

First Published:
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December 24th, 2006

A farewell to Kara

The Arts Council Theatre opened the doors of its auditorium last weekend for the screening of the last movie to show at the Sixth KaraFilm Festival, Immaculate Conception by Jamil Dehlavi. A huge crowd had gathered in the hallway, most waiting patiently while a few complained consequent to the 45-minute delay. Within minutes, the same crowd dispersed to fill the auditorium seats and the movie began. Post-screening, a question and answer session took place.

The Sixth KaraFilm Festival, which carried the Ghalib-inspired tagline of Tamanna Ka Chatta Qadam (the sixth step of desire), was symbolised by a butterfly over a desert rose, the desert rose being used as a symbol for Karachi. The sixth Kara also carried forward a tradition of having the film-maker and the audience interact, a move which no doubt proved to be popular among movie-enthusiasts, students of film-making and anyone who was interested. Instances in which a film began late were rare and occurred in a select few, which was a welcome change from last year’s Kara.

he venue featured a creatively done up stage with a grid of screens showing scenes from different movies towards the right side and the Kara butterfly set against colourful squares at the other end. Although beautiful to look at, the set-design was not ideal for performances since the sheer detail tended to distract the viewers’ focus from those performing during the ceremony. There were large screens scattered throughout the venue which displayed the names of the award winners and clips from the Ciepie- (pronounced seepee meaning seashell) winning movies.

The event was hosted by Adnan Malik and Zainab Qayyum to a full house comprising politicians, musicians, television personalities, businessmen and film-makers. Although their tenure on stage seemed well scripted, one could not help but notice how they, at times, seemed to blatantly read from the bits of papers they carried.

It was interesting to note that although the featured directors for the current Kara were Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi, British-desi film-maker Jamil Dehlavi and the French film-maker Frabcoise Traffic, the one movie that sold out before the day of its showing and which managed to elicit the largest crowd was the Indian import, Omkara, no doubt for the star power it wielded in the form of an appearance by Bollywood actor Ajay Devgan. This was evident from the small group of people that seemed to monitor every move he made and followed him everywhere (even to the restroom where additional security had to be posted) at the closing ceremony that took place at the PAF Museum.

The first performers of the evening were a French jazz band that went by the name of Caravan Quartet, courtesy of the Alliance Françoise. Although their backstage warm up depicted them as skilful musicians, they failed to create much of a presence on stage (save for those sitting near the front). A major reason can be accounted to the fact that the sound during their performance wasn’t good. They closed their performance with a song about “the relationship between a man and a woman”.

Begum Nawazish Ali took the stage before the second group of musicians came up and sent the audience rollicking with her cleverly humourous take on the film-makers present and on the movies that were meant to be. Donning a new blonde look, no one was spared from the Begum’s suggestive comments as she engaged the audience for roughly half-an-hour before prancing off stage.

Sajid and Zeeshan, the second act to perform, started off with their animated single, Freestyle Dive. Complementing their performance were clips from their videos and graphics that were being displayed on the screens around the hall. They went on to perform a non-video single off their debut album titled Free And Underestimated, and subsequently closed the performance with the extended version of their single King of Self, which they dedicated to Kara. The sound during their performance was much better and could be heard clearly. Though one isn’t sure whether their performance fully catered to the audience present, the response they elicited was much better than the one that was given to the Caravan Quartet.

But the real stars of the evening were Faisal Kapadia and Bilal Maqsood of Strings, also the last act to perform and by then the evening had dragged on into the wee hours of the morning with the audience quietly raving for food. They performed some of their most popular singles from Na Jaane Kyon to the rock version of their recently popular number, Yeh Hai Meri Kahani, with which they closed their act. They proved to be immensely popular with the crowd, both young and old.

Besides the incredibly prolonged duration of the event, the only other criticism is that there just seemed to be too many awards that were given out. Most of those who were given the awards weren’t present and out of those who were, Ahmed Rizvi’s acceptance for the awards given to Man Push Cart was the most memorable. The sixth KaraFilm Festival has come a long way from its inception, and anticipation for the seventh one has already begun.


Kara Awards

Best live action short:
Tricko (The T-Shirt) by Hossein Martin Fazeli (Czech Republic) Avatar by Llvis Quilez (Spain)

Best animated short:
Adjustment by Ian Mackinnon (United Kingdom)

Best Pakistani film made for television:
Daani directed by Farooq Rind and produced by Khalid Ahmed

Best documentary:
AFSPA, 1958 by Haobam Paban Kumar (India)
Fuego de Angel (Angel’s Fire) directed by Marcelo Bukin (Spain and Peru)

Best female actor in a leading role:
Nathalie Baye in Le Petit Lieutenant (France)

Best male actor in a leading role:
Saif Ali Khan in Omkara (India)
Ahmad Razvi in Man Push Cart (US)

Best female actor in a supporting role:
Rukayya Prachi in Ontorjatra (Bangladesh)

Best male actor in a supporting role:
Raza Jaffrey in Infinite Justice (UK-Pakistan)

Best cinematography:
Marcel Zyskind for The Road to Guantanamo (UK)

Best editing:
Mat Whitecross and Michael Winterbottom for
The Road to Guantanamo (United Kingdom)

Best original screenplay:
Jaideep Sahni for Khosla Ka Ghosla (India)

Best adapted screenplay:
Vishal Bharadwaj, Robin Bhatt and Abhishek Chaubey for Omkara (India)

Best musical score:
Vishal Bharadwaj for Omkara (India)

Best direction:
Ramin Bahrani for Man Push Cart (US)

Best feature film:
Girish Kasaravalli for Nayi Neralu (In the Shadow of a Dog) from India

Lifetime achievement award (1):
Talat Hussain

Lifetime achievement award (2):
S. B. John

KaraFilm Society award:
Mahesh Bhatt


First Published:
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December 24th, 2006

Keeping it real with Josh



Contrary to belief, the Josh lads turn out to be rather nice. They were in Karachi recently for the launch of their third album, Mausam, and despite a hectic schedule during their three-day stay, they agreed to a last-minute interview.

The current line-up of Josh comprises Q (Qurram Hussain) and Rup (Rupinder Magon). For this particular interview, Q is the first to turn up in a new afro hairstyle and a pair of shades that make him look uncannily like Lenny Kravitz. He laughs at the similarity, and then proceeds to relate how he once gained access to a club in Morocco pretending to be Kravitz himself. Q is originally from Karachi — he stayed in Pakistan for some 15 years before moving to Canada with his family. Compared to Rup, he seems eager to answer questions first, turning out to be quite a chatterbox.

Rup, who arrives shortly after, is quieter with a tendency to add a witty remark here and there. He is more on guard and — as I later discover — is primarily in charge of the ‘business side’ of Josh. Hailing from a somewhat religious Sikh family, Rup picked up the tabla at the age of six and later on advanced to the harmonium. He also knows how to play the piano.

The spiritual aspect to Josh’s music appears to come from Rup, whose first musical experience came when he accompanied his mother to the gurdwara (Sikh temple) where she would sing hymns supported by his tabla beats.

Teaming up with his brother, Rik, and Shazi Hussain, they formed Josh and went on to perform covers of various popular films and Punjabi songs, qawwalis and ghazals. Around that time, Q was finding his own musical voice, which in turn ended up as a contribution towards Josh’s debut album: he composed and wrote the title track Mein Hoon Tanha. The album was released sometime in 2001 and received a lukewarm response. By the time their second album, Kabhi, was released in 2004 — that brought them into international focus as a promising new band — Rik had left Josh.

Rup elaborates why: “He left during our pre-Kabhi days and decided to take on a more spiritual side to life. He didn’t want all the media attention; he just wasn’t built for that.” While previously Rik used to be around their studio a lot, Rup says he rarely ever visits now. “He actually sang on Kabhi. If you the read the credits, his name is there.”

Apparently, he is still quite an indispensable entity. “He started the band,” adds Q. “He is still the first guy we can go to to get the most honest opinion.”

The band members started Josh Entertaiment some two years ago with the idea that they would start producing artistes. Have they been successful in finding and producing an artiste so far? “Every time we get round to it, something new comes up. The idea is still there and we have done some projects that we haven’t released just yet. It’s just a company where we produce different artistes, from the music to everything, including the lyrics,” says Rup. “More importantly though, it is very difficult to find new artistes or accept new artistes who are serious.”

“We are willing to guide them if people are willing to work hard,” adds Q. “People have this misconception that it’s easy to put out a song and the rest takes care of itself.”

With Josh based in Canada, who are the people they are working with? “We’re predominantly working with desi people at the moment, but even now, we’re not sure whether the record is going to come out,” says Rup. “We can take artistes from anywhere because we meet a lot of people through our channels. But right now, Josh Entertainment is a very small thing. The reason we started it is because we’re primarily producers, not just singers.”

“The songwriting aspect allows us to do so much more with our talents, so we have that window of opportunity open,” adds Q, elaborating further upon how they make music: “We’re always making music whenever we can. An idea will generally come when I’m not sitting in the studio but driving, etc. I call myself on my home number and I leave a message about that idea. So then when I go back home, I make a piece based on that idea.”

Musicians don’t start out making a lot of money; most of them have to keep on working on their music and learn to take rejections before they finally get their big break. But even after becoming ‘successful musicians’, most of them continue with their day jobs, since a career in music does not guarantee a paycheque at the end of each month. Both Q and Rup had day jobs before Kabhi; do they plan to continue with them? “When Kabhi was popular, we were doing a lot of shows, and we expected that by the time we would be ready with our next album, we would put it up,” says Q, adding, “But what we didn’t take into account is that the business side of things can take very long. Kabhi was our first successful album, but I guess we weren’t experienced enough.”

“We are still poor musicians,” says Rup simply.

“Being successful in desi music is not the same as being successful in North American music, especially while living here. It is a big problem on its own as far as the monetary aspect is concerned. We can’t do shows as often, among other things. That being said, we are able to sustain ourselves. But we still have to think about budgets,” says Q.

“Things are very good, actually. The fact that we’ve gone through the ghareeb phase, our habits are still the same. We are still not going to go and spend exuberant amounts of money for nothing; we are still going to look for a good deal. It has a lot to do with the training we got from our parents and that we don’t believe in wasting money. There is no point in being flamboyant; there is nothing to gain from it,” says Rup reflectively. Relating this to the album, he says, “In fact our first track, Mahi Ve, speaks about that. It has a Sufi touch to it, ‘Mahi Ve Mahi Ve Arz Karan, Menu Di Asmani Fitrat De,’ which means give us those heavenly habits. The idea was to talk about a song where we could remain humble.”

Q has previously admitted to having been an ardent follower of Slash and has listed Sound Garden, Pearl Jam and the Stone Temple Pilots as some of his favourite bands. The music found in these bands (primarily rock) is not the kind of music that Josh is known for. How did that come about?

“I guess it’s because I wasn’t looking out to make a rock band,” laughs Q. Rup adds thoughtfully, “Listening to something doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to make it.” “The other thing is that then there have been so many other things that have influenced me,” says Q. “We used to have a lot of arguments in the beginning. Coming from rock, I had a different idea of not only how music should be made but how it should be promoted, etc. But then it changed after meeting Rup, who was listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and a lot of heavy eastern music like qawwalis.”

“There is a song called Ajnabi in Masuam that has predominant guitars,” adds Rup, referring to the album. “I think that’s the most guitars any song of ours has ever had.”

“What is good about going through a lot of influences is that there is evolution in music and you will see that in Masuam, from song to song,” finishes Q, bringing the conversation back to their album. The title track of the album, Mausam, is a cover of a Pakistani song. What is the story behind that? “Q always talked about this program called Fifty Fifty. So we got the DVD and there were these hilarious skits which we thought were fantastic,” answers Rub. “In between these skits, they used to play a song once in a while. One of these songs was Aaey Mausam Rangeelay Sohanay by Zubeida Khanum. I fell in love with it and I kept singing and humming it. I said we should do a remake of this song.

“In three albums we haven’t done any remakes. One day, Q called me up and said that he had made the music for it. I came over and listened to it and was wowed,” continues Rup. “We’ve actually changed the melody on it and a word or two as well. The music is all completely different.” Since Masuam is a Pakistani song, Josh is planning to shoot the video of the song in Pakistan as well.

It’s good to know, though, that the band members of Josh have a good head on their shoulders. They have come a long way since their first album, Mein Hoon Tanha, and despite whatever they might say, their music is still very commercial — their primary listeners are the masses.

A number of artistes complain that they often have to concentrate on the business aspect that distracts them from making music. Rup says, “Any successful artiste will tell you that, but you have to remember that it’s a race out there and it keeps you on your toes.”

Adds Q, “I don’t think it has affected us creatively as far as music is concerned. We don’t think about how to make a saleable album.”

Mausam seems like an album for all seasons (as the cover will also display: there are tiny icons beside every song depicting what season it belongs to). But whether it rises to the magnanimous success of Kabhi is something that is yet to be seen.

note:
— photograph 1: Josh, Q and Rup.
— photograph 2: Qurram Hussain aka Q.
— photograph 3: Rup aka Rupinder Magon

credits:
Photography by Amean J

First Published:
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December 3rd, 2006

Here to the future

Change itself is the only true constant in life. That phrase rings closer and closer to home with each passing day given the rate at which advancements in technology in almost every field imaginable are being made. Nowadays, with every other person possessing enough skills to be considered half-a-techie, it is becoming increasingly difficult to catch up to where the cyber-world is moving. It makes one wonder that how are we, as people who supposedly benefit from these advancements, going to be affected by it.

The area of technology affecting our lives at home has been debated upon a countless number of times. Intel recently made the first real breakthrough towards having a digital home through by rolling out VIIV technology. Through this, home entertainment and all forms of communication can fit in one box and accessed from various places from around the house. The implications of technology are not limited to the home only and are affecting more and more people in their work lives and skills pertaining to them.

Newer communication methods have made it easier to work from home. High-speed internet coupled with e-mail and web-conferencing does away with the need for a person to be physically present in the workplace. Documents can be e-mailed and web-conferencing can always be employed when a constant presence is essential Services offered by numerous companies like Skype and Net2Phone allow users to make telephone and video calls over the internet. This has made web-conferencing easier and much more convenient for not only the business user but the average home-user as well.

An increase in such technology-related advancements and creations will signal a gradual demise of the traditional brick-and-mortar business along with the birth of what is referred to as ‘hidden economies’. People working from home for companies that are not located in the same country as them earn in local as well as foreign currencies, while spending that income in their home country. Teleworking has also assisted in the recent increase of cafés with high-speed wireless internet and customised corners for coffee-fans to station their laptops on and work. The reasons behind users logging on from coffee shops while having their own reserved corners are due to the environment being less stressful than a workplace and offering less distraction then at home.

Faster and easier communication has also served in flattening the tall hierarchical structures in the workplace. It has become much easier for a person situated near the bottom of the hierarchy to communicate directly to another placed near the top. This serves to hasten up the decision-making process since a person does not rally through numerous individuals to get the point across to the top management anymore. This also creates the need for working individuals to possess greater communication skills and develop faster decision-making since faster and effective communication would require a person to display quick judgement, leadership and initiative (in an ever-changing world, you cant stick to one concept for too long). There will be a greater need for individuals to think far ahead, develop strategies and have the ability to be able to see it through.

There will be a lesser need for manual labour since most of the manual work is expected to be done by robots. That only leaves the task of supervising the robots and ensuring the whole process goes trouble-free. Also, generic skills such as reading, writing, and problem-solving will also be in demand since individuals in almost all fields of work will be expected to deal with little gadgets now and then.

On the social front, with more and more women entering the workplace and things becoming easier for housewives to work as well, we will witness an increase in dual-income families or, in the case of single-parents, single-income families. However, with work potentially spilling into overtime (or time reserved for children at home), there could be an increase in conflicts and crossovers between work and family life.

Technology is not just changing the way we live or work. It is currently in the process of reshaping entire industries. Entrepreneurs with small-scale businesses catering to a certain niche in the market only are now popping up everywhere. Collectively, they pose a significant threat to large-scale corporations serving the same product or service on a wider level.

At this point it wouldn’t be practical to predict whether technology is good or bad, what is important is that it is here to stay. Whether one likes it or not, technology will infiltrate every aspect of a person’s life: at work, home or during play. Sooner or later individuals will have to learn to adapt to it. The way things are going, the sooner done the better.

First Published:
Spider
December 2006

Overboard with Overload


The concept of enjoying music that is purely instrumental is still relatively new in Pakistan. In a country where most of the music listening population relates more to the lyrics of a song then to the music, Overload, primarily a drums and percussion band, decided to host an all instrumental gig in Karachi’s Bahria auditorium. Along with themselves, they featured the ever popular Puppo Sain and his student, Jhoora Sain.

Coming to the performance with only a hazy idea of Puppo Sain’s dhol-swinging stunt, and not knowing what to expect, one was confronted by a dimly lit stage on which separate platforms had been set for each musician to perform on. The arrangement was such that every musician on stage was clearly visible.

The gig started roughly around an hour late, much to the annoyance of the band who waited until the people filled up the auditorium seats. Coming one by one, each band member settled into his desired place with light-works being displayed to accentuate their arrival. With of different seasons and places on earth being projected in the background, Overload, featuring the Sains started off with a relatively mellow and slower number number, Days gone by, which eventually merged into the more upbeat Only to the deafeningly energetic Storm. One must mention here that once the band starts performing, they do not stop after every song and continue playing till the end of the performance. Each song transitions into the next smoothly and without any interruptions.

The light work and the scenes projected would alternate and change according to the beat and the mood of the song that was being played. The sound quality can be described as delightfully-deafening. Every beat could be heard clearly and every chord from each instrument could be deciphered singularly. The coordination between the bandmembers was flawless: Farhad (drums) would nod to Puppo and in turn Puppo would nod and Jhoora, and lastly Farhad would exchange muted looks with Hasan (tumkinari – Egyptian drums) whenever a slight change in the beat being played was needed. Sheraz, who was on keyboards, did not seem bound by any such confirmations.

Overload closed their performance with Dhamaal, which incidentally will also be their next video on television. In this track Puppo swung his dhol around in the middle of the stage and continued playing it while swinging it —a feat he is famous for. After performing Dhamaal, the band left rather abruptly. The audience was left seated in their chairs with several of them demanding an encore. And so the bandmembers reappeared a few minutes later to render their performance of Dhamaal.

At the end of it all, Farhad introduced the band members, at popular request spoke in Punjabi but switched back to Urdu since not all present could understand Punjabi well. At the mention of his name, Puppo got a standing ovation and it was amusing to watch him wave back.

What was notable about the performance other then the lack of a vocalist was the attempt at creating an ambience for those attending. Keeping an audience engaged for an hour is no small feat, and Overload managed to do more then just that —they left an audience hungry for more.

credits: photos taken by Amean J

First Published:
Images
November 26th, 2006

Ali on the edge

Ali Zafar is not just a pretty face. Behind the dreamy, often dazed eyes and dimpled smile that has adorned many billboards (with many more to come) is a person who knows what he wants — and is willing to do just about everything to get things the way he likes them.

For this interview, he came dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a T-shirt, no grooming and no pretensions. What becomes immediately noticeable is that he appears to be extremely dazed and spaced out while conversing. He apologises and tends to say what is at the back of his mind. When we start talking again, his eyes develop a sharp focus and he transforms into a serious, focused person, quite unlike the light-headed, fun-loving guy we are used to watching on screen.

Ali has an uncanny ability to observe little details and has a knack for making insightful observations that appear ironic most of the time. He is also a lot smarter than he lets on.

The second album is always the trickiest, say the sages. More so if the first album has been successful. The second album determines whether the artiste in question is a one-hit wonder or the ‘real deal’. The second album also determines how an artiste has moved on from his/her debut. Questions such as ‘has the artiste experienced growth and if so, was it positive’ arise and it’s no wonder that most artistes complain of being under extraordinary pressure when working on their second set of songs.

For Ali, rising up to the success of his debut album will not be easy. He needs to control every aspect of it — from songwriting to production —leaving no margin for error. It has now been almost three years since Channo came on screen and launched Ali Zafar as the blue-eyed boy of Pakistan’s music industry. A vocal reincarnation of Kishore Kumar, not only can he sing well, he has good looks to spare. And he puts them to good use. While songs off his album scored one hit after another, Ali could be seen smiling down from larger-than-life billboards, endorsing everything from mobile phones to biscuits to telephonic connections. And why not? After all, an artiste has to eat.

After spending almost two years in the studios and running around the globe, Ali’s second album, Masty, is finally ready to be launched in the market. What is this album going to be like? “That’s always been the most difficult question for me to answer. How can you define an entire art form and tell what properties and characteristics make it different? It’s music. It’s something very abstract and difficult to define,” he says. “But the sound is going to be richer than before, there are going to be live instruments, it’s going to be bigger than before.

“I have spent a lot of time in the production. It has taken me about two-and-a-half years from songwriting to developing the melody to recording it to taking the files internationally and mixing the album in different studios around the world with foreign experts.”

So who were these foreigners he worked with? “In London, I went to a guy called Marrow, and in Manchester the studio I went to was The Future Lounge.”

Why not just record the album in Pakistan? “Working here is very difficult. There is a lack of professionalism. If someone gives you a time and a date, he or she can disappear as well.” He breaks off here and then continues, “But it is important for an artiste to go through that whole process in order to grow. I also lost a lot of sleep and suffered a lot of stress. But at the end of the day, after passing through all of that, I have 10 times more knowledge than before. Plus, I’ve learnt to be patient.

“Technically, it was important that the sound of this album be better than the sound of the previous album. For that, there were limitations in Pakistan. Plus, I had a picture in my mind for every song that I made.” He makes his point by sketching box-like compartments in mid-air with his hands. “I also wanted to be involved in each and every process that this album went through and that is why it took me a longer time.”

One feels the need to commend him in wanting to produce a product that would essentially be several notches higher in quality then those available in the market. However, what good would a well-developed CD do in a country where piracy is rampant? The same album will be ripped off and re-recorded on another CD with a definite loss in quality. How many, in the end, would benefit from the better sound quality that Ali is aiming for? More so, from among the masses who have been his ardent followers, how many will really notice the subtle differences that exist between an original and a pirated CD? Perhaps these are questions that can only go unanswered for the time being.

“I initially thought that I’d go to London and mix my album there,” Ali continues. “I stayed there for 15 days just to mix one song. Then I went to Manchester and mixed four songs there. But when I came back and listened to those songs, I didn’t like them. My money went to waste as I had to scrap them. Then I went to India and mixed the rest of the album there. I had to go back and forth just to get the right sound,” he says.

Speaking of the album Masti, what contents should we be looking forward to? “There are at least three songs about a girl. Besides those, most of the songs are related to my personal experiences and feelings. A lot of it has to do with how I want to be driven towards my goals and the energy and the hope that I need. I want to share that with everybody else who wants to achieve something in life.” Apparently, he has attempted to create an upbeat but very inspirational album and the mix, although unusual, should be interesting to hear.

Ali has often been criticised for being too commercial as an artiste. What does he have to say about the accusation? “I don’t believe in the philosophy that we (musicians) work only for ourselves and that we don’t care what the world says.” He says that if this is the approach an artiste wants to take, he shouldn’t be releasing his work for public listening. “Keep on listening to it in your studio and stay happy. How can people not matter?” he says incredulously. “People matter to me a lot. That’s why most of my tracks are easy listening. It’s fun, it’s happy and gives off positive vibes and energy.”

Moving on to his videos, one also wonders why Ali has switched from Tariq Amin to Nabila as his primary stylist? Specially when Tariq’s influence in his initial videos, most notably in Channo, was very apparent. The song was a hit, too, so why the change? “Nabila gave me a makeover for Ek Pal and I think change is good. I don’t believe in groups and lobbies; I like working with everybody and anybody who is talented,” he says. After a moment of reflection, he adds, “I don’t want to portray that I need a stylist to sell my music. A stylist complements you and yes, presentation counts a lot, but depending on them and believing that your music won’t sell without them is what I don’t believe in.”

And what will be the first video off the new album? “It will be called Masti and it’s just like the name. It’s a lot of fun; very hyper and very energetic. It was shot in India and it has been directed by an Indian director. I’ve made two videos in India; the other one has been directed by Ahsan Rahim.” Who else has contributed towards the album? “One song has been composed by Yousaf Salahuddin. A line here and there from one or two songs has been written by Khawaja Parvez. He guided me a lot for the rest of the songs. Otherwise I have composed and written the rest of the songs myself.” Almost as an afterthought, he adds, “I create my own things from scratch to the end. From story boarding to concepts, videos and music, I do everything.”

For Masti, Ali has signed up with Fire Records, a newfound record label. Again, why? “Well, they were paying me the most money” he says candidly, “and I’m comfortable with the marketing and promotion they’ve laid out for me.”

note: the photograph of Ali's album cover came out really screwed.

First Published:
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November 19th, 2006

`Video killed the Radio Star’


Music Television — those two words sum it up: a channel dedicated to broadcasting music. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Launched in 1981, ironically with the single, Video killed the Radio Star, by a British band called The Buggles, Music Television (MTV) soon became a household name, both abroad and locally among the desis privileged enough to have access to the wonders of a channel dedicated solely to music (and the perception of ‘cool’ that came with it). That was until cable television became the norm.

All of a sudden, MTV was accessible and known to all and could no longer remain hidden as a legend of sorts. In October 2006, after a year of whispered talks and speculations, ‘cool’ came home: the Indus Television network launched MTV Pakistan in place of Indus Music (IM).

With the latter already a widely recognised television channel, and with MTV coming in its place, there is a general apprehension that MTV Pakistan would be just like another IM under a jazzed up new skin; and why not? Most of the video jockeys (VJs) — the people who give a face to the channel — as well as the management, are the same. In a candid talk, Ghazanfar Ali, the CEO of the Indus TV network, answers the question that seems to be on everyone’s lips: How is MTV Pakistan going to be any different from IM?

“Music can’t be different. It is going to remain the same. I’m not going to be pretentious and tell you that it will change. It’s just programming, and programming has its own look and feel. We would like to take the next step and I feel we have (already). In the last six months, we have just worked on the fact that MTV should not look like IM. And I think we have succeeded, although that’s for people to say in the end.” Elaborating further, he says that they are planning to bring in new shows, new faces and new expertise to further build upon MTV’s brand strength.

Internationally, MTV has built up the value of its brand over a period of 20 or so years by working on their programming content, expanding to other countries and constantly improvising. Compared to that, the Indus TV network, when it took over MTV Pakistan, was still in a state of infancy in the world of television.

And what about meeting international standards in terms of programming and content? “People from Singapore, India and the US have come in to share their experiences with us. I think we’ve learnt a lot from them already,” says Ghazanfar.

After taking a look at most of the local channels that dominate our television screens, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that most of the individuals working both behind and in front of the cameras don’t seem to have a very clear idea of what is required of them as professionals in the field. As a result, the lack of quality programming goes going hand-in-hand with unoriginal ideas and content, inadequate use of software and inadequately skilled manpower. This coupled with an ever-increasing number of channels has resulted in confused and irritated viewers.

With only two schools in Pakistan imparting skills related to film-making and production, and that too with limited faculty members, schools who otherwise have nothing remotely to do with electronic media in their curricula are cashing in on this opportunity and advertise courses and new-found degrees in skills pertinent to the e-media.

In the face of the above mayhem, the idea of real professionals coming in and sharing their trade secrets along with a bit of training and development seems like a godsend. It just might provide local media professionals with the direction they are so desperately seeking and might step up programming quality by a notch or two.

But with currently only one channel benefiting from that period of enlightenment, what will happen to the rest? And more importantly, will they be able to catch up well enough?

IM was still going strong when it was taken off the airwaves to make place for MTV Pakistan. So what is going to happen to it? “It’s going as a block on Indus Vision,” says Ghazanfar. Why not just keep it? “Because there would have been a conflict of interest. If you’re going to do something, take ownership. If you’re going to be wishy-washy about it then don’t do it. MTV Pakistan is MTV Pakistan and IM was the pioneer and the catalyst to bring MTV here, but you have to take ownership.”

About activities other than programming, he says, “In March, we’re having the MTV Awards followed by the MTV Style Awards and then the MTV Video Awards.” But how can a music channel have style awards? “It’s more fashion based. You see, its ‘young fashion’. Basically their philosophy is about ‘youth’ and that’s what we’re targeting.”

With the acquisition of the franchise, does the Indus TV network have access to the MTV database when it comes to music and also a host of other perks including fresh graphics and animations to display on their channel? “Yes, we have access to all their awards and we have access to all their music, but we’re sticking to the Pakistani genre. Otherwise, you can see MTV Europe, MTV India or whatever. We want to stick to our own people. I think that they should learn that they have to be the best and they have to move on. And they have now a brand to go with it,” adds Ghazanfar.

Other channels may not be adequately equipped to respond to the quality one hopes MTV Pakistan, with its added benefits of training and accessible electronic material, will display, but it should certainly pass the message that it’s about time they step up to game and give their programming some serious thought and investment, not to mention, take a long-term perspective of their channel.

As for how well will MTV Pakistan survive and live up to the brand name it has acquired? No doubt, when IM started out, it pioneered in entertainment dedicated solely to music; their VJs became household names in a matter of weeks; they launched the first music-related awards show in Pakistan, after the EMI Awards. However, instead of getting better with time, their awards took a downward spiral and were suspected by many of being somewhat biased. One hopes that that the team heading MTV Pakistan has learnt from the mistakes made earlier and that the MTV Awards, whenever they take place, will be better and more organised.

First Published:
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November 12th, 2006

Hips don’t lie

Nighat Chaudhry recently performed at the Arts Council Theatre in Karachi for a SIUT charity on a stage that was set very simply and a microphone facing the floor so as to project the sound of her ghungroos across the hall.

Very soon into the performance, one could see that Nighat’s Kathak and her tatkaar were very basic and not as complex or as masterful as one would expect it to be. However, she did seem to tailor her dance according to the general taste of the audience present. Her Kathak, although incredibly simple, had more hip-shaking than is usually the norm. That, coupled with her swirling dupatta appeared to be rather well appreciated by the audience.

One has to give Nighat credit for keeping a pleasant face throughout her performance, during which four of her students also joined in. At the end of it all, she came on stage and dramatically declared that she was very proud of being a Pakistani. Later, she elaborated why: “The audience was receptive and respectful. They were feeling me instead of judging me. You can pick up those vibes and that’s why I felt proud of being a Pakistani.”

Post performance, one wondered why she chose this particular charity to work with? “I do a lot for charity. I’ve worked with Imran Khan and for the Shaukat Khanam Hospital and SOS. I did my lot for the earthquake victims and their rehabilitation so much so that I gave up dance for three months. But it’s part of my work as an artiste and a person. I’m close to causes like these because you can make this much of a difference; and the only way I can do that is through my art form. There’s nothing better than that. For me to do something like this is more rewarding and emotionally more satisfying.”

Currently involved with dance-related projects with Prime Television and working on conceptualising dance compositions with other organisations, one of them along the themes of Moenjodaro, Nighat feels very strongly about the channels she’s working with: “We say dance is open but when do you see Naheed Siddiqui on television? Where do you see Fasihur Rehman or Sheema Kirmani on TV? I’m doing conceptual work. That’s why people call me up. But what about my ustaad? Why aren’t we giving more room to good quality performances and artistes of high calibre instead of having thumkas and jhatkas?”

Nighat Chaudhry did not start out learning Kathak. During her childhood, she was in London where her parents set her up to learn ballet and contemporary dance at the Laban Centre. She, however, switched to Kathak after watching Naheed Siddiqui, and became enamoured with Naheed’s style, poise and grace as a dancer. Sadly, despite studying with Naheed for over two years and with other great teachers that followed, she hasn’t acquired the qualities that she had set her heart on in the first place. She is a better speaker than a dancer.

First Published:
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November 12th, 2006

Burning down the house
They come together with a common love: music. Performances by the Munchkins are eagerly awaited by those who know them and this is probably the only gig to which people actually come on time. The Munchkins are a four person band consisting of drummer-extraordinaire Gumby, popular bassist Ali Jafri, lead guitar player Murtaza Jafar aka K.V. whose claim-to-fame is playing on Ali Azmat’s album Social Circus and lastly Aamir Alavie, the vocalist of the band, whose incredibly versatile voice and powerhouse performance leaves the listener wanting for more.

The Munchkins have been doing gigs for roughly around four years. With Gumby and Ali Jafri being the only ones living in the same city, they perform whenever all the band-members get together, making the date of their performances unpredictable. With no posters put-up in popular shopping malls or ads given in newspapers, news of a Munchkins gig travels by word-of-mouth only, all of which adds up to the excitement that Munchkins fans get when informed of a gig taking place in the near future.

Back in 2002, Aamir Alavie, Murteza, Gumby, Ali Mufti and Asif were part of a band they called Euphoria. The departure of Asif and Ali Mufti from the band saw Ali Jafri’s arrival into it. Their first performance was at a popular donut place owned by a friend of the band-members. At a last-minute suggestion made Ali Jafri, they started calling themselves The Munchkins. According to Gumby, “The idea was to have fun and play the kind of music that we like. The fan following that we have generated has only been through word-of-mouth and we’d like to keep it that way” killing any questions of them going commercial.

The Munchkins recently performed at the same donut place and despite the gig being held on the third day of Eid, quite a few people showed up including those who have been faithfully attending every single Munchkins gig since the first. Ali Jafri wore his signature yellow shirt (how many does he have anyway?) and with the ‘eat shit’ written on Gumby’s drum-kit having visibly faded. They performed covers of songs by Maroon 5, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Led Zepplin, The Police and had the crowd singing along to most of the songs including the Kenny Loggins classic Danger Zone and Where the streets have no name by U2.

They performed over twenty songs and each band-member gave it his all with Aamir Alavie getting comfy with the mic-stand and Jafri bobbing his head while playing bass. Gumby who’s always a treat to “watch” during a performance as much as he is to listen didn’t disappoint either and banged his drum-set and swish-swooshed his hair in perfect-rhythm. One felt sorry for those whose view of the band was obstructed by the very large pillars set in the middle of the venue.

With the donut-place completely full with those who had wisely decided to arrive early, what was amusing to note was that not only did those who came late stay, but they stood outside the venue for the entire duration of the gig, having been forced to experience The Munchkins by peeking through the glass walls of the cafe. Followers of The Munchkins seem to be growing in number with every performance and the band should start considering performing in a venue that can accomodate, if not all, most of them.

The band members rocked the way they always do: with heart, soul and a whole lot of fun. However, one sorely missed a performance of Seal's Crazy, a song in which the limelight truly shines on Gumby and Crash by the Dave Mathews Band. Other then that, one cannot wait for the next time someone passes a message along about a potential Munchkins gig taking place in the near future.

Credits: Photos by Fayyaz Ahmed.

First Published:
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November 5th, 2006

An ode to Odissi
They arrived armed with cherubic smiles on heavily done up faces and costumes that aimed to mimic the styles and fashion of ancient South Asia. They took their places on stage and with the light shifting reflections on their faces, they showed different positions employed in Odissi —the most ancient of classical dance forms.

While a multimedia presentation gave the names and explained the concepts and histories behind each position, the little dancers, all of them students of Sadia Khan, alternated their hands, expressions and bodies to conform to the position being explained. For example, during the Khumba Baitha (meditative position), they would sit with knees bent, bakc perfectly straight and hands on either sides of their knees in a perfect ancient meditative position. Sadia Khan, who has been a student and teacher of Odissi for over a decade, recently hosted a complete Odissi performance at the Finance and Trade Centre (FTC). She has previously remained a student of our very own Sheema Kirmani and left for Delhi in 2000 to further her knowledge and skill in this art form under the patronage of Srimati Madhavi Mudgal and graduated from the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya with a first division in Odissi. She is currently teaching classical dance and theatre at The National Academy of Performing Arts and The Centre for Advanced Studies.

Following the multimedia performance came a recital titled Mangalacharan, a tradiitonal introductory piece performed in Odissi. Sadia's little students came equipped with flowers paid their respects to the gods, gurus and the audience. The dance was simple but what was amusing to note that the little dancers tried very hard to maintain their balance during one of the more difficult standing positions.

Sadia’s entry on stage as a dancer came with a composition titled Jagannatha Ashtakam. She entered coyly form one of the white screens from the left side of the stage which depicted her silhouette clearly.the lighting became brighter with her appearance from behind the screen and she carried flowers in her hand. The sound of the bells from her ghungro resonated clearly in the auditorium. What followed were a series of dance postures that had previously been explained coupled with expressions depicting the mood of the composition being put together and performed as a dance. This was by far entertaining at first; however, too much of it, as it came in the following compositions made it somewhat monotonous. A composition which did stand out was the Madahave Ma Kuru. It was based on a twelfth century poem titled “The Gita Govinda” by Jayadeva. Translated verses from the poem in English appeared on the screen before it was performed and Sadia came on stage to explain what it was about. using a series of hand movements, no doubt employed while performing an Odissi dance, to explain the story of Radha and Krishna and their little love-tussle regarding Krishna’s unfaithful behaviour towards Radha and how her friend tries to help her overcome her feelings of anger and hurt.

The way Sadia elaborated on the poem by cleverly using her hands to depict the moon, the lotuses and how the friend tries to convince Radha to go back to Krishna was much more interesting to watch then the dance itself. The absence of other dances to fill in the roles of Krishna and Radha’s friend was sorely felt and I had to use my imagination as to what must have been going on around Radha while Sadia pranced about on stage playing the her role. The final dance sequence was about the dancer merding in with the dance. The dance was full of energy, which made it slightly better then the ones preceeding it.

One must keep in mind that Odissi is not exactly a very popular classical dance genre in Pakistan and to understand it better, an understanding of the culture and the mythology behind most of the dances is required. even though the evening started off well and was a welcome change from the regular Kathak or Bharatnatyam dance recitals that are somewhat the norm, one felt the evening had dragged a tad longer then it should have. Hopefully, with time, Odissi will grow on all of us enough for us to appreciate it as much as we do the other classical dance forms.

Credits: Photos by Amean J.

First Published:
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November 5th, 2006