Guest-Post by Jay
A poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, one of the most famous poets of the last century. During the dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq, he was arrested and taken to the police station in front of the public. In this context, he wrote ‘Aaj Bazaar Mein’.
This one is for Karachi.
Continue reading ‘Guest Post; Aaj Bazaar Mein’
Now I know this article will be extremely ambitious in trying to distil the beauty of Asrar-I-Khudi (The Secrets of the Self). After all, one can’t make like of the work which resulted in Allama Iqbal being knighted. Therefore, this short piece will focus on a concept in Asrar-I-Khudi which I feel has a poignant relevance for humanity today, and in many ways for Pakistanis specifically: time as a sword.
Continue reading ‘Asrar-I-Khudi’s ‘Time as a sword’ concept: which edge do we fall on?’
Surely Vital Signs needs no introduction. They shot to instant fame with the release of “Dil Dil Pakistan” in 1987 and subsequently ruled the Pakistani music scene for the next decade. “Dil Dil Pakistan”, virtually a second national anthem, has been voted as the 3rd most famous song of all time by a recent BBC poll. Hard to believe? Well, thanks to scores of Pakistanis hell bent on beating “Vande Mataram” to the race, we ended up with enough votes for the 3rd place. (BBC Poll)
With a handful of artists that comprised the Pakistani music industry in the early 90s, songs were limited to the pop genre until Junoon broke onto the scene. But VS had already captured the market with its thought provoking lyrics and some excellent melodies. Perhaps the man behind their immense success was Shoaib Mansoor, who wrote most of their lyrics and helped with the composition. His contributions extend beyond mentoring Vital Signs, with direction of dramas such as Sunheray Din, Alpha Bravo Charlie, Ankahi and Fifty Fifty to his credit. He is indeed a multi-dimensional artist.
Continue reading ‘Vital Signs: The mellow 90s’
This video of Ali Azmat on IM on the Fringe is highly entertaining. Ali is entertaining not only for the way he speaks, but the insight that he gives into his career and the lives of musicians. I particularly love the line where he says, ‘These poor guys make nothing…they don’t make shit…now upar se ur going to take taxes…why don’t u take my ‘chaddis’ as well man’. On the Fringe is a very well done show and Fasi Zaka, the host, makes it a point to ask probing questions when interviewing musicians rather than indulging in glorifying talk about their achievements.
Continue reading ‘Classics: Ali Azmat - IM on the Fringe’
An all time hit song picturised on probably the most famous pakistani film actor, Waheed Murad. Its a glimpse of the days when the Pakistani film industry was at par with its Indian couterpart. Originally sung by Ahmed Rushdi, it has been re-done by a number of artists. Enjoy!
Continue reading ‘Classics: Ko Ko Korina - The Golden Era of Pakistani Cinema’
Another clip from fifty fifty. ‘Classics’ will be a regular feature on this blog showing video clips of interesting, entertaining TV programmes, interviews, songs etc. of the past.
Continue reading ‘Classics: Fifty fifty - Biased hockey commentary’
This has got to be one of the funniest fifty fifty episodes. It shows a Pakistani movie made in English with actors who have received 6 months of English training. Highly entertaining!
Continue reading ‘Classics: Fifty fifty - Bashira in trouble’
