Saturday 23 November 2013

If we look at the transition of these Pakistani nationalistic music, we can feel what the actual masses are feeling at these moments. Soni dharti  and jeevay jeevay are from very long ago - a different era all together.  There was hope for the common man (“qadam qadam aabaad”), there was pride in the land(“ Soni dharti”) and there was a sense of unity, of nationhood(“ jeevay jeevay jeevay Pakistan”).  In opposition to these very uplifting, very optimistic and rejuvenating songs, the songs that we saw by Shehzad roy and Ali azmat (laga re and bomb phatta) are both very different. From their lyrics to their imagery and their message, we see the opposite of the hope and optimism in the earlier songs. There is no longer a single woman in the video singing about freedom and representing the motherhood of the nation, or the children as the hope of the future. Instead there is chaos and destruction; there is a divide between who is ruling and who is being ruled. In bomb phatta the politicians have been painted as huge beast-like figures as opposed to the midgets in the awaam almost as if they’re the reason that the people of the masses are so stunted since they’ve trampled all over them. There is no actual bomb blast in the video of bomb phatta but it refers to some kind of terrorist activity and through the video it seems as if the actual terrorist activities are being carried out by those who promise to protect us- the leaders themselves. In Laga re the politicians come across as mere entertainers who are just good at keeping up a façade, they are shown as people who are working with their own agenda - (“inkou mat jagao, yeh zaroori kaam say sou rhi hai”).  The “laga- re” also comes across with a very pessimistic undertone almost as if shehzad roy is making fun of the masses. In these later videos the picture that they paint of Pakistan is as if they’re trying to show how self-destructive we are. By bringing these harsh realities to light are they trying to move the people into taking some action – “is qaum ko jaganay ka waqt agya hai”.

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