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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