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On
a chilly summer evening of 18th July the air circling around
Royal Albert Hall had a rather festive note attached to it.
Pakistanis belonging to various strata, ethnic sectors and
backgrounds including those settled abroad and yearning for
an injection of native culture and those who had migrated
for a sojourn with the English summer gathered to watch the
best of the best in terms of Pakistani music and fashion.
Organisers
included the Pakistani High Commission in London and what
was being said before the curtain raiser was that this event
was planned as an exercise of ridding the gun toting image
Pakistan bears in the eyes of the western media and its followers.
What is rather surprising in that case then is the lack of
attendance of the British press and the failure to generate
even a brief mention in the papers the next day. The attendees
too lacked the gora representation that the performers had
initially expected, the rows comprised almost totally of our
fellow countrymen. And they made up by occupying all the seats
the hall had to offer. Scurrying in to avoid missing the show
starter, all one could hear were snatches of Urdu in varying
accents along with colorful glimpses of "essentially
eid" outfits as we all rushed inside with the fervent
hope that this was going to be a show unlike one ever seen
before.
A
remarkable feat achieved by the event managers was getting
the show started without a massive delay. Perhaps punctuality
owed its existence to President Musharraf who was watching
it all from his box facing centre stage. But in any case all
the sons of the soil were present or represented by their
companies. From Bestway, a chain of grocery stores, being
the sponsor to Prime Television aspiring to relay the event
to its viewers and the man behind ARY, their presence was
seen in full force. They were all there to see Naheed Siddiqui
bring the evening to life as her ghungroos tinkled in imitation
of her feet movements. Her opening act brought a wave of awe
over the audience and that in itself is a pity when you think
of the prohibitions placed on classical dance in our homeland.
She mesmerised the audience with her ode to Amir Khusrau and
after her the journey continued following the course of the
river, which was taken as the central theme of the evening.
Frequent mentions to its route were made through the large
screen that formed the backdrop as cities were highlighted
and images shown sporadically to keep the audience abreast
as to where the river was flowing.
The
stylishly evocative Atiqa Odho and the once upon a time devastatingly
handsome Art Malik was the hosts of the evening. And while
Ms Odho can be pardoned for the inane dialogue simply because
she looked so good with her glossy tresses and perfectly made
up look, Art unfortunately has not retained his spark with
the passage of time. The once upon a time hero of B grade
movies his constant references to "the general"
reeked of sycophancy and was deemed irritating by more than
one member of the audience. It is great that instead of banning
such events the government is endorsing cultural promotion
aboard so why make them overly conscious of it?
But
as the duo tried their level best to entertain in between
acts, the new boys on the block i.e. Fuzon did what they do
best - weave the spell of their beautiful songs even though
the remixed crash, boom, bang effect was a tad jarring. Having
selected 'Aankhon Ke Saagar', 'Khamaj' and 'Ankhiyaan' --
clearly their three best numbers -- they did not fumble or
falter or exhibit raw edges that would explain their first
international performance. In fact Shafqat looked as if he
had found home on centre stage. However, the reaction of the
audience was minimum, maybe because they are used to the bhangra
beat or it just takes a while to absorb certain sounds and
eventually appreciate them.
Following
this was the fashion segment showcasing outfits designed by
Faiza Samee, Nilofer Shahid and the menswear by Deepak Perwani.
Nilofer's clothes were festive, the colour palette clever
as it moved from neutral earth tones to the vibrancy of reds
but nothing totally different from what has repeatedly been
seen before.
Faiza
accompanied her co-designers through a stroll across our mughal
heritage and managed to create something which can be called
simply beautiful. Although the concept was the same overall
'elaborate shaadi wear', few of her outfits aimed to blend
western subtleness with eastern embellishments and the end
result were ghararas and pants that you wanted to touch and
examine up close. For this barrage of brides the accompanying
grooms were accoutred by Deepak whose cut and structuring
of the sherwani is impressive but the 'jhil mil' affect destroyed
all notions of Prince Charming coming to the rescue. There
was a total lack of coordination between the music and the
cues given to models for their entry and exit points. Also
since the theme was a journey through the mughal era the outfits
could have been displayed using props in a far more imaginative
manner other than solely relying on the side entrances for
the walk onstage.
The
most enjoyable act of the evening was Pappu Sain's 'dhol'
rendition. All over the auditorium feet were tapping and spirits
soaring as he twirled to the beat of his own drum. It did
take people a bit to comprehend what was going on but once
whispers of 'dhol....dhamaal....Shadmaan Ka Mazaar' did their
rounds, curiosity was satiated and everyone leaned back to
enjoy the true sample of the 'Rhythms of the Indus'.
It
was one of the distinct highlights and in contrast Fareeha
Pervaiz walking onstage next to croon 'Bo Kata' was frankly
disappointing. Accompanied by a background chorus of cheerleader
style dancers it led to a series of snickers as, with their
energetic aerobic like movements and stark white outfits with
a bit of yellow, they were hailed to be the predecessors of
the performers at the Football World Cup opening ceremony
in Seoul. Occupying the seat next to mine a lady commented:
"Why did they not get bhangra dancers from Southall instead?"
The
fundamental mistake made by the event managers was not to
have the onstage performances beamed all over the hall using
a big screen. It would have facilitated all those with a limited
view. But as the show moved its way to the half way mark interest
was found to be dwindling and even Abrar making his appearance
did little to boost attention. Creating a rather political
atmosphere he gave not just a brief speech but also recited
a poem pertaining to various aspects of human rights. He finally
proceeded after what seemed to be a rather long time to his
three dance numbers and just as the mood was being established
with the final song 'Punjabi Touch' a twenty minute interval
was announced.
Crowding
the bar during the break the general complaint heard was that
the show was emerging into Punjab vs. the rest of Pakistan.
But it was a notion bound to be proven wrong as soon afterwards
Junoon took centre stage and rocked the hall especially with
'Jazba-e-Junoon' to which even the first family was swaying.
For that brief moment most of us in that hall felt proud to
be Pakistani. Maybe it is those lyrics but if the actual purpose
is to convey this sentiment to all those living across the
globe I would say it was a mission accomplished.
What
the show lacked in terms of style and ambience it made up
in substance. Looking on the bright side people drove for
hours to make it to The Royal Albert Hall, they deliberately
accoutred themselves in their shalwar kameezes to show off
their identity and more importantly the event is a start in
rebuilding Pakistan's image abroad.
Akhtar
Chunar Zehri's verbal spate was not understood and although
he did his best while belting out a folk Baluchi tune, lack
of awareness or interest made the audience indifferent to
it. Similarly the Soung Fakirs are supposed to be very good
at reciting Abdul Latif Bhitai's kalam but to appreciate it
you need previous knowledge or the ambience of the shrine
and its urs. There were more than one voices who suggested
that Riaz Ali Shah Qadri and the 'Supreme Ishq' team would
have been better performers. But then again looking at these
malangs who would have thought that the river that gives them
life would one day take them across the seven seas to this
spectacular venue.
Strings
were their usual charming selves as young girls drooled over
Faisal and there was applause after 'Durr' and especially
the World Cup song 'Hai Koi Hum Jaisa'. We may not currently
be too good on the wicket but at least the sound factory is
working
Moving
towards the second fashion segment Amin Gulgee and Sonya Batla
recreated a chunk of the Mohenjodaro heritage by putting together
her outfits with his jewellery and sculptures. From the choreography
to the subtle backdrop provided by her lose flowing ensembles
it was creativity at its best. But being honest the clothes
did not make an impact and the jewellery remained in the backdrop
as the entire segment geared itself to displaying how creative
and experimental Amin and his talent can be. Sometimes simplicity
is required to send the message across to an audience that
may or may not be very familiar with where the artist is coming
from.
Just
before the river merged in to the Arabian sea and became one
with it, there was more fashion to be seen as Perwani and
Beyg sent models on to the ramp with their contemporary line
depicting modern life in Pakistan.
Since
Deepak had just four outfits it was possible to miss the ajrak
pants in the blink of an eye but nevertheless they were something
which would do well in the London market. Rizwan on the other
hand used a lot of black, white and red, his signature monochromatic
colours and be it the gypsy like tops or the white skirt with
appliqué running along its side there was not much
to be inspired by. The promoters have been using 'Designers
to the Princess of Wales' as a tagline both for him and Nilofer
and with that expectations did soar in respect to their outfits.
Unfortunately there was nothing new or exceptional on offer
and many did feel that while the music segments had been rather
good, fashion was something the show could have done without
especially since it did exude an inconsequential appeal.
The
grand finale was Abida Parveen who performed two numbers including
Duma Dum Mast Qalander before all those involved with the
show came onstage to clap and dance to her tune. Ali head
banging, Abrar and Chunar Zehri doing their own bit it did
look as if they were all enjoying themselves as the models
turned on the catwalk and everyone else let themselves go
with the flow of the rhythm.
Then
again that was not actually the showstopper because before
one could utter jack, instruments were wheeled onstage and
Junoon reappeared to sing 'Jazba' once again.
A
new trend has started with this show. In time the organisers
will have to reinvent their act to come up with something
more creative but until then the team which included Frieha
Altaf, Fifi Haroon and the High Commission crew can pat themselves
on the back for a show that was a decent start.
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