Space in music videos to convey perception of Pakistan

I'm not an expert with the camera, but I do find it interesting that whenever the music videos we have seen wanted to emphasize a particularly patriotic spirit, wide shots of the landscape would be used, like in Dil Dil Pakistan, the camera spun around Junaid Jamshed to show all the greenery around him, and there's a continuous reference to the anonymous aisi zameen aur aasman. Similarly, in Mein Tou Dekhoonga, the potential that Pakistan holds which gives the band such reason for hope is shown in the natural beauty around them.
However, when you shift from such idyllic landscapes to the urban locale in music videos Bum Pattha/Laga Reh, where the socio-political sphere is being critiqued, we see that the space shown through the camera is constricted and congested. Although there are specific references to Karachi and Lahore as opposed to the anonymous vast expanses in the other videos, there's a limit to mobility (the band in Laga Reh are kicked off the stage for example) and there is confusion and chaos everywhere (Bum Pattha). Various people are shown from different walks of life, not to emphasize any unity between them, but to show the divisions  that are tearing Pakistan apart.

Moving Beyond National Symbols

Moving Beyond National Symbols

Dil Dil Pakistan by The Vital Signs (1987)

                The clear anomaly among the patriotic videos we watched: what exactly is ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ by The Vital Signs trying to achieve? The emphasis of the video is not on the country itself; which one would consider the logical subject of the video. The emphasis, rather, is on a group of boys with musical instruments performing various feats. There is no use of national symbols other than the random graffiti on the rock which reads ‘I love Pakistan’. There is also no such interaction with the ‘nation’. While in ‘Main Tou Dekhoonga’ by Strings, there is a strong connection of the band members with both the children of the nation as well as the landscape – as they deliver the message of hope, the landscape changes from barren to a field of flowers. These boys are more or less performing activities that have no connection with the national – riding on bicycles, playing Western instruments, riding on a jeep, performing in a studio with funky lighting. These activities are not unique to ‘Pakistan’ – the boys could easily have been filmed undertaking tasks that are considered more ‘Pakistani’ – doing the bhangra, roaming particular street markets, eating a gulabjamon etc.   

                Their appearance also suggests that they are not overtly patriotic: they wear Western style clothes with sunglasses and carry Western instruments. They clearly associate themselves with a youth culture that did not originate in Pakistan. Yet in some ways, it is more genuine than what we see in the Strings video ‘’Mein Tou Dekhoonga’’. In the Strings video, band members wear deliberately ethnic clothing. Given their elite backgrounds, the attempt comes off as artificial and just…odd.

The landscape in which these boys roam is anonymous. There are green fields and wide roads and hence the viewer cannot exactly place the video in one exact city or country depending on the visuals alone. While some of the videos we saw, such as the national anthem, use deliberate images of national buildings and structures  

The point that I am making is that visually, the video is devoid of any overt attempt to be part of any nationalist feeling and this is exactly what makes it genuine. It moves beyond superficial notions of nationalism and the singers do not endorse ostensible national symbols for the sake of appearing authentic. This is a different kind of nationalism: it is quite clear that the nationalism they espouse is – just as indicated in the song – in the ‘dil’.   

laga re

Shehzad roy is mocking the utmost dire conditions in our country. One quality common between Hakim Sahib from Bol, Halim Mirza from Garam Hawwa and the ‘awwam’ in general as Shahzad Roy pointed out is, “kuch na ker, kuch na ker tu, sab kuch Allah pe chorr de, Allah hi tera Hafiz bus”. There is a denial to use sensibility and rationality in our everyday lives. This belief in religion is an escape from the ruthless realities of this world. A connection can be drawn to Karl Marx who rightly asserted, ‘Religion is the opium of the masses’. This understanding of religion that you’re living in terrible conditions because God wants to live this way is what makes the masses so resistant to change even if its for the betterment.

Favourites from Shehzad Roy's 'Laga Reh'

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-     Main jab dus saal ka tha tou main ney suna key Pakistan tareekh key aik nazuk mor sey guzar raha hai

-     Main phir bees saal ka hua, main ney phir 9 o clock news per suna key Pakistan tareekh key aik nazuk mor sey guzar raha hai

-     Buzurgon ney mujh sey poocha, “Mulk kaisey yeh chaley ga?”

Buzorgon ko main yeh bola

“Mujhey fiqr yeh nahi key yeh mulk kaisey chaley ga, mujhey fiqr yeh hai key yeh aisa yeh na chalta rahey”

-     Yaar mulk main bari tension hogayi hai

“Koi nahi, koi nahi, sab kuch Allah peh chor do!”

-     Buzurgon ney mujh sey poocha, “Naik kaun hai yeh tou bata?”

Buzorgon ko main yeh bola

“Naik who hai jis ko mouqa nahi mila”

-     Saarey mulk main amn o aman ki surat e haal bahal hai

-     “Sir, mera khayal hai qaum ko jaganey ka waqt agaya hai”/

“In ko mat jagao yeh kisi zaruri kaam se so rahien hain”

(LOL!)

mein tou dekhoonga-strings

I feel “the tinge of fear” in the singer’s eye is reflecting the failure of emergence of any audience in a barren land. If no one will come to them then who will they share their optimistic message with? How will they create hope in others? How will more hopeful individuals emerge? As the video starts, we are shown a mountainous and barren area with no houses or any kind of existence as far as one can see. The song starts with hope and ends with more hope. The two men wait there in a barren and unpopulated land with hope for some audience to whom they could pass their message. It looks like no one will appear (that’s why a tinge of fear in the eye) but suddenly a girl emerges with a slate. This shows how one should hope for the positive even in the most impossible situations. Their hope brought them positive results. Keeping this in mind, the video says that it is never impossible or too late to hope for a better future for Pakistan. 

Both men have an eye contact when they see a sudden appearance of a girl. This eye contact shows how they’re glad to see someone willing to join them.  An eye contact which reaffirms that at least there is a third person with whom they can share their optimistic message:

“mein tou dekhoonga mein tou dekhoonga tum bhi dekhogai tum bhi dekhoogai. Jab roti sasti hogi aur mehngi ho gi jaan, woh din phir aayega jab aisa hoga Pakistan.”

Right after this a second girl appears and following her many other kids appear. At the end instead of having just 2 hopeful individuals we have many smiling faces and hopeful individuals. Never lose hope! nothing is impossible! (wait for PTI).

Narratives

National songs like ‘Sohni Dharti Allah Rakhey’ and ‘Jeevay Jeevay’ have been sung and heard by us for as long as I can remember. Independence Day fervor grants the media liberty to play and replay these songs as they aim to emotionally awaken and revive feelings of patriotism. The eight am telecast from Islamabad on 14^th August particularly, has forever shown state school students sing ‘Milli nagme’ such as these to celebrate independence. Then, the irony lies in just the words ‘celebration’ and ‘independence’ as we deconstruct the state narrative altogether against the time that these songs were released in, versus their inspiration and relevance to today’s ‘Halaat’. Also, when we compare them to the patriotic songs sung by private artists, we see a deliberate absence of responsibility. Rather, the responsibility is sometimes misplaced - the agendas, grievances, inspirations and even the audiences addressed differ starkly. Not only do we see a problem with the positive attitude in the state songs but the motivation to correct and transform is thrown towards everyone but the state itself: God, or the ‘awam’. This doesn't automatically mean that the later songs such as ‘Laga Reh’ by Shehzad Roy or ‘Main Tou Dekhoonga’ by Strings are perfectly capable of describing the problems, recognizing the blame and stirring national sentiment. Is there a call to action? Are all of them just as effective in their own way? What are we missing in both? How does the public and private music industry describe the dominant national?

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Sohni Dharti Allah Rakhey 

Sohni dharti Allah rakhey qadam qadam abad

Qadam qadam abad tujhey, qadam qadam abad

Tera har aik zarra hum ko apni jaan sey pyara

Teray dam sey shaan hamari, tujh sey naam hamara

Jab tak hai dunya baqi, hum dekhien azad

Hum dekhien azad tujhey

The most powerful thing about this song is the constant prayer to God to keep the state alive ‘abad’ and independent ‘azad’. We have seen this constant reference to ‘Allah’ and how everything sees the best when left to God’s will; it’s almost always like we don’t place our belief in God, rather we place the entire responsibility of our situation on God. Later, in Shehzad Roy’s song ‘Laga Reh’, this idea has been reiterated where the video shows the politician say ‘Sab kuch Allah peh chor do’ and he mocks them saying ‘Kuch na kar, kuch na kar tu, sab kuch Allah peh chor dey, Allah hi tera hafiz hai’. In the video, it’s remarkable when the ‘Buzurg’ in a black sherwani says this and the camera immediately takes an aerial view as the crowd looks up and stares at the sky as if a solution will descend from above. This resolution in God especially to rid ourselves of our responsibility and laziness is one of the most destructive habits of the population. Does the state narrative then align itself to this lazy, misplaced idea of Godly help when it says ‘Allah rakhey abad’? I feel that it is a more of a convenient and diplomatic narrative than a wholly religious one.

Also notice that the pronoun here is ‘hum’, almost as if it’s an emotion on behalf of the people. ‘Tera har aik zarra hum ko apni jaan sey pyara/ Teray dam sey shan hamari/ Tujh sey naam hamara’. This association of people’s identity with the state’s is not only remarkable because it’s very inclusive and inspiring but also because it allows the state to demand due loyalty of its people. However, this line ‘Jab tak hai dunya baqi, hum dekhien azad/ Hum dekhien azad tujhey’ is a queer prayer. It points to uncertainty of independence altogether and a threat on the side. It’s interesting as only a few years later we see the Bengal partition and this then defines the ‘tujhey’, the present day Pakistan. Words such as ‘hum’, ‘tujhey’, ‘tera’ and ‘apni jaan’ succeed in presenting a strong relationship between citizens and the state. The national’s (The state) own narrative then is very embracing and inclusive but at the same time, it’s demanding and relies on prayer and God –when we talk of responsibility on matters such as ‘Abad’ and ‘Azad’, it’s slightly problematic.

03:35- A tinge of fear in the eyes.

Photo credits: 'Main bhi dekhunga' -video.

This song is portrayal of several layers of emotions. We see smiles and hope on the outer layer, however the inner layers hold quite the opposite emotions. I personally believe that young children belonging to rural areas have been portrayed in this song to add another layer to display the ironies that exist with in Pakistan's political systems. The smiles of these children are pure and innocent. Also, a lot of hope is being given to them. Hence these act as the sugar coated layer of what actually is true and has been happening since quite some time. When the adults are video-graphed on the boat, we see the inner layers being revealed. They are thinking. We see a slight tinge of fear lurking through their eyes. This fear is covered with the layer of the 'happy hopeful song' they are singing for the innocent. This makes the viewer question whether these false hopes? Are they really true? Would the political system ever acknowledge the atrocities they make the middle and lower class population go through? Would the corrupt politicians ever be punished as promised in this song? Would lives actually become more valuable than food one day? Would the murder of innocent population ever be stopped?

It all boils down to one point: what affect would this cause in improving Pakistan's current situation? These innocent children are the portrayal of the innocent yet naive 'awaam' of Pakistan. Would they grow up to become just like the singers, who form the inner layer of the song. The video definitely leaves an impact on the viewers. However, the question is that whether hoping for a better future and singing for it is enough or a more acknowledge-able action is required to bring this change? Also, is this hope far away from reality; hence is there need for a more realistic portrayal of Pakistan's situation?