Whitney Houston: Tunes for a lifetime
Long before YouTube gave us instant access to all of our favourite music, my older sister and I would wait for the videos of our preferred artists to appear on televised music countdowns and record them on a videocassette so we could watch them over and over again. We would replay the tunes on the family room VCR and, along with our younger sister, often try to mimic the notes and dance moves of our most-loved musicians. When I learned of Whitney Houston’s death, my mind almost instantly turned to that videotape because there was a song of hers that we ...
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Our boys of Aalu Anday
Do you know how long it takes for kids to grow up in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan? One and a half week. If you don’t believe me, listen to this story. It involves eggs, potatoes and three boys—and it’s scary. The three boys went to school together. They were best friends. One boy was extensively tall, one unsuitably short, and the last one was just fifteen. They were nice, proper boys who kept their hair neatly oiled and parted on the sides and their neckties on even in the sweltering Lahori heat. They were good boys in most ways—respectful ...
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Video blog: World Humanitarian Day
The music video “If I Could Change” was released on August 19th, 2011, on World Humanitarian Day. This music video makes an attempt to pay homage to humanitarian workers all around the world. The track features many popular superstars, such as, Bob Marley’s son Ziggy Marley, Somali sister-duo Sweet Rush and Salman Ahmad from the Pakistani band Junoon. The singers urge the world to show greater compassion towards people, in an attempt to rid the world of suffering and fear. The video shows clips of children in refugee camps and hospitals. It also shows flooded fields and ruined buildings, all in an attempt ...
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Don’t hate Rebecca Black, she may change the world
On March 14 this year, 13-year-old singer Rebecca Black from California released her song Friday. In a matter of three days, the YouTube video was closing in on 14.5 million views. As of April 3, it has been viewed over 80 million times. Why Rebecca Black? It isn’t uncommon for catchy songs and humorous videos from renowned artists to become viral hits but this song does not fall into either of those categories. Billboard said the song came “straight out of auto-tuned hell”; Rolling Stone characterised the song an “unintentional parody of modern pop”, and CNN called it “an internet sensation for ...
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Laal: Fighting fundamentalism with Sufi thought
Clad in black, the darwaish twirls and twirls on his bare feet, so enthralled, so totally immersed as if he was about to whirl himself to a parallel dimension. A child in rags stands nearby, eyeing him gleefully. His eyes shine: he wants to join in. A group of women gather around, clapping, singing, laughing, almost in a trance themselves. The shrine of their patron Saint lurks in the background: the perfect catharsis for the wretched, the refuge of the forsaken! Filmed not long before the bomb-blast at the Pakpattan shrine, Laal’s latest video “Fareeda” pays homage to the Sufi ...
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Say no to Mathira: Ban vulgarity not art
A few days ago, someone forwarded me a video of the very famous VJ, Mathira. The clip showed her being abused and harassed by live callers. At first, I was quite annoyed with the live callers, but when I watched closely, the live callers weren’t the only ones to be blamed, were they? After all the lady does dress very cheaply and at times, uses indecent facial gestures during her live call sessions. The only thing I can praise her for is the way she bashes rude live callers very confidently. Some media people tend to drop offensive live calls the moment ...
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Lights, camera, what’s the song called again?
Taal Karisma is a fusion percussion band comprising of graduates from the National Academy of Performing Arts. It is also the only group of people that was brave enough to give me complete creative control over their first music video. However instead of taking the narcissistic route and making it all about me, I thought the best way forward was make something that reflected how the band was feeling at the time. It was chaos in their world. Show cancellations because of the political issues and crime in the city. The constant pressure that they should find “real jobs”. It ...
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