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It started with Hassan Jehangir, Salma Agha, then later went on to Ali Haider. Ofcourse, Ustad was always there. But we are not talking about Ustad here. Our focus is the pages of memory that got fader through the years. The music from sarhad ke us paar that knew no barriers. And never will. Lets go over few pages of past and come to where we stand now.

Late 80’s
Hassan Jehangir is what I call ‘salad days’ memory.
The song that made Hassan Jehangir a household name across the 2 countries - Hawa hawa.

Hawa Hawa was a revolution of sorts for reasons best known to the late 70’s/80’s borns.

This song was followed by aaja aaja dil hai deewana. And the only image that comes to my mind is a shoddy album cover with a guy in sunglasses as big as life itself. The song was imprinted in those school days, we later heard the song in dandias, shaadi-parties, ladies sangeet and auto-rickshaws. Call it a Hindukush ka Michael Jackson or call it shoddy, but Hawa Hawa will never leave the salad days that were. It was Hawa Hawa that set the ball rolling for later oye oye’s and tamma tamma’s. If I am not wrong, there was also a Shankar Mahadevan version of the song.

Then there were those open format serials like bakra qishton pe and its stage cousins that left us in splits. Ustad also came down to wordly matters and gave us a Kachche Dhaage or Aur pyar ho gaya or Kartoos to ponder. Nothing new though, these melodies were better off in their original raw avatar. They were just tailor made to click I guess. But I didn’t complain. Who would? Apart from Rahman and pre-70’s film music, these sounds were the only reason I had faith in not going for those evening local stadium cricket sessions, net practices, ladki patao chakkars, patangbaazi, kasrat karo aur tandrust bano drills, ‘group studies’ allurements, and all the more attractive things about later teens.

So as it happens with case of all growth curves, the sounds also went through pop ki aandhi, and we saw a frail and less sharp album cover Ali Haider going hep and electric, Hassan Jehangir and Pop- Nazia/Zoheb Hassan(the duo behind Disco Deewaane, Star, Boom Boom, going stomp stomp and basslines, Ustad going Arjun Rampal, Lisa Ray and the likes, and some totally unheard of species taking form in the vicinity.

Someone came by the name of Lucky Ali and we discovered something called evening guitar classes.

Some shabbily dressed gentlemen happily rocked their angst in a Masjid corridor and Sayyonee became our license to adulthood and a world where pop-activism was cool. We ran for the albums like board results and unlike the now shocking now shocking board results the songs were always worthy of the madness. Somewhere we heard a yaar bina, a khudi ko kar buland itna and urdu poetry became cool and left the alleys of mushairas, Ghulam Ali and Jagjeet Singh fan club journals.

Khudi ko kar buland itna
Ki har taqdeer se pehle
Khuda bandey se khud poochchey
Bataa teri razaa kya hai

Sitaaron se…

I heard Lal meri pat and rediscovered the sindhi connections of my childhood(in those days formed thanks to Runa Laila only with an added attraction of ‘dhoom tana’ this time around. Suddenly dama dum mast qalandar was a college favorite. And I thought I could really scream my way into rockdom. Sigh!
I too picked up the guitar like all lonely heart comrades and felt like a Red Bull OD.
I too cranked the volume on a sayyonee when it hit the MTV waves and luckily it was a home alone moment.
Junoon almost single-handedly heralded the ‘sufi rock’ movement.

They went on to break record after records so much so that their adolescent albums were re-mastered and sold to make up for the gap between two new albums.

Yaaron yahi dosti hai…
Kismet se jo mili hai
jab hum chale
Sab rang chalein
Chalet rahein hum sadaa..

Though Azaadi seems to be the top hall of fame contender, my favorite would always remain Parvaaz, a free-flowing tribute to Baba Bullay Shah in a style that was Junoon at the highest of their raw soul quotient. Agreed the album never had a Sayonee, but Bulleyan remains close to my heart more than any other Bullay Shah rework. That is one reason I could never lap upto Rabbi’s Bulla much. Some other mind-twisters in Parwaaz were ghoom charkha ghoom, ab to jag, mitti mein mil jaaenge bhoolo na…

chalay..
chalay thay saath saath
rukay..
rukay thay saath saath

Alph
Parh parh likh likh laavein dhair
Dhair kitaaban chaar chapair
Girday chanan vich anair
Pichon rah te khabar na sar
Ilmon bas karein o yaar

You read heaps and write heaps
And bury your head in books
Light is everywhere but where you are
And you haven’t a clue how to reach it

Issi dasht kay udhar hai koi dosra kinara
Wahan jao gaey to ho gaa koi muntazir tumhara

There somewhere this wasteland ends
When you go someone will be there to meet you

Along came controversies. Someone said they were copying some tunes in Bombay and I felt happier. Few years later, they said people are making a career out of adding 4 extra beats to an ancient folk song and I felt like a Teri Yaad Sanju baba style and happily gave up morning Math classes for a FDFS fun. Not to mention the film sucked but the songs more or less made up for it.

As for the personal touch in memories, I waited for an affair to happen. As it would lead to an eventual break-up. And I would pop ‘achha sila dila’ and drink all my way to the morning. It is said that a face can launch a thousand ships, or something simlar to that. Here was a case of one star that side of sarhad badly trying to launch another star this side of sarhad, albeit in a quite non-consenting manner. You got it right. Kishan Kumar. Ishq mein hum tumhe kya bataayein.
I would wait for a tyre puncture ho gaya moment on way to tuition so that the cycle waala would provide a perfect evening alongside dusty nukkads set along the strains of a tum to thehre pardesi and I would discover a whole new way to count the months in a calendar.
Somewhere along the fun, it would get repetitive and I would switch back to Bombay and its predictables.

While break-ups continued to happen and board exams came and went, some odd blasts kept garnishing the newsprint, and some political leader made sure we never understood their agenda. And I would celebrate the new take on music videos a la duur, anjaney, and a group strangely called Strings(forget the bad memories of a movie by the same name). Few more weirdly named but musically able groups came about – Fuzon, Jal, Raeth and a parallel arts and cultural sprint started. We were the lucky ones. We enjoyed the same song twice an year, albeit in different avatars, thanks to the Emraan Hashmi-Vishesh Films brigade. Though constant attempts were being made over the past few decades, none could reach this height of parallel space-time coherence…

Flashback over.

Khuda kay liye and its sound reaffirmed my faith. I had heard about the film being good and different and all that. And had quite forgotten about it thinking it’s another good film out there somewhere which we will probably see some day on TV and praise the treatment or the approach or the song structure.
Few weeks back I heard the music on streaming, and thought it’s nothing groundbreaking. That music was without any visuals. Plain, eternally pleasing,good sounding songs, as most Pakistani songs are. And because I have been more than hearing music from across the border for a decade now, the bar as you see with considerable amount of evidence in the preceding lines, has gone quite high.
KKL’s songs stood my self-imposed test of time. 3 weeks is what I gave it. And heard the songs over and over to tire them out. But the sound remains glossy as the album cover.

And now I learn the film has come and gone. And apparently it’s actually worth a watch. Sigh!
Sad and particularly tragic an incident if I might call it. Bangalore is quite generous with its films. Though it does fall prey to exhibition blunders seldom, I thought and wished and prayed that at least for sambhaavna’s sake, they would spare khuda kay liye for another week at least. But alas, they certainly do not think the way I do.
Now that seeing the film in theater is an impossibility, let me go back to the music, where it all started.

The songs go from pop to poetry to classical to melody. One of the best sounds to come out of Pakistan off late has been Mekaal Hassan Band. Go and buy it, if you are missing some of those 90’s memories, and if you dig some genuine fusion happening out there. And Atif was also a tad impressive with his Meri Kahani , alongside springing up a brilliant mae ne, hangaami haalaat, and a few other ‘stood the test of time/OK Tested’ tracks.

I thought Atif came out more unshackled in this outing and exhibited a fine balance between his favorite territory(Punjabi/sindhi folk) and popular tastes with a touch-up of electric sounds. Rabba Sacheya deserves a mention, as it derives from Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s Punjabi poem…
Rabba Sachiya too tay Akhiya si, ‘Ja Oye Bandiya Jug Da Shah hai.n Too.n

Coming back to KKL, it was interesting because I wanted to see how they cut a mainstream film score. Would it sound like an album, would it evoke visuals in my head and make me anticipate the story as it would fold on screen?
Thankfully, the album satisfied all these demands and more.

If I were to write a Rolling Stone review…
Listen to jenie jenie and feel the calm in midst of heavy traffic.
Listen to bandeya and let the guitar embrace you in its most opulent tenor.
Listen to khuda ke vaaste and enjoy singing along some words of wisdom.

The team:
Vocals: Ahmad Jahanzeb, Shuja Haider, Farah Zala, Ammar Hassan, Khawar Jawad, Faiza Mujahid, Saeen Zahoor, Zara Madani and Hadiqa Kiyani
Lyrics: Shoaib Mansoor, Buley Shah, Faiza Mujahid
Compositions: Ahmad Jahanzeb, Shuja Haider, Lagan The Band, Khawar Jawad, Javed Bashir, Kamijee

The Songs
Allah hoo – Saeen Zahoor & Zara Madani
The rendition is as pure as it gets. It starts off on a rather assertive note without any melody then slowly descends into a heady loop. The slower version is obviously the better, more groozy and true to its salt. The high production design that is a constant motif running through the entire album is in its full bloom in this track. I can imagine this song would make for great visuals if given a well thought out screen graph.

ishq di hasti masti yaar mita denwe
agey ishq di galti tu hi jalaa denwe

Somewhere in the middle of the song, the music fades out and the allah hoo strains pick up the mood yet again in a mild yet moderately feverish pitch.
Great track.

Bandeyah – Farah Zala & Khawar Jawad
Bullay Nou Samjhawan Ayaan
Bheynaan Tay Bherjaiyaan
Man Lay Bulleya Sada Kena
Chad Day Pala Rayaan

Bandeya ho Bandeya

A song that is as addictive as it is poignant, Bandeyah wins you over in practically no time at all. A perfect icing on the album, this one is a tad milder than the sufi rock brand. I thought the song would fizzle out on a 3 week gauge, but it plays on. I guess the treatment hits a home run for it. The English bits, though redundant, go in well with the sound of the song. Bring on the drumrolls and enjoy the addictive Bandeyah.

Hamaare Hain- Ahmed Jehanzeb & Shuja H
Another guitar backed track, this one starts off with a typical college band chorus.
Hamaare hain
Jahaan mein hain jitney haseen
Milenge hum
Sabhi se kaheen na kaheen

Enter progressive, upbeat chords…

Pahunchengi jahaan mein aawaazein hamaari
Dilon mein utar jaayengi

Chamkeele suron se tasweerein banaati
Shehar se shehar jaayengi

Enter drums…

Sabhi mohabbat karne waale
Geet hamaare dohraaenge

Phir gaao na…

Enter ‘we gonna rock the world’ routines…

I like the fact that the mood is not very intellectual and the goings-on are kept simple and enjoyable. Mind you there is no dearth of poetry and classical roots that could be used, but it’s been resisted.

Instrumental
A mesmeric piece of theme music comprising of a minimalist piano slowly building a vacuum through the hypnotic melody. When the mood is just right, enters a female voice that evokes colors of love, separation, memories…

Tilak Kamod – Ahmed Jehanzeb
An eloquent piano based classical rendition, that is in the same league as Mekaal Hassan Band’s Raag Darbari(from Sampooran).

Neer bharan kaise jaaoon
Sakhi ri mori dagar chalat
Mose karat haare sakhi

Neer bharan kaise jaaoon

Duniya Ho – Ahmed Jehanzeb & Shuja H
A passable track, which could work if not for the presence of the monotonous beats and mundane English ‘can you feel’ routines.

Janie Janie – Ahmed Jehanzeb
Ah haa! Now comes my pick of the lot! The most soulful track of the album, jenie jenie(pronounced as ‘genie as in Aladdin’s genie) retains the old world charm of innocent love. Ahmed’s voice sounds like it never faced the harsh world outside. Divine. Pure. Undiluted. Reminded me of Yesudas in his Salil Da days.

Janie Janie Janie Jaanam

Ab jahaan mein ek hum hain
Doosri ye zindagi hai
Jis liya hai naya ek janam

The music is rightly minimal, just sparing a traditional string accompaniment.

Laakhon aayenge din bhi
Laakhon aayengi raatein
Lekin ye din aur ye raat

Janie Janie

The words are what make the song a league apart. Starts with the pangs of a lonely, wounded heart convincing the possibilities of a loveless word, yet denying its very natural progression. My favorite bits are:

Raasta keh raha hai
Aao mere safar mein
Khwaabon ki aahat sunein

Aise bandhan mein bandhe hain
Ke hamaare haath mein hai
Sainkdo hazaaro dilon ka baram

Such simple words but such deep nuances. I would say very Saahir. And I have a smile on my face when I say that.
This very song makes the album come a full circle for me, and is one reason what sets the film and its music apart. Whatever results may come.

Khuda kay liye – Ammar Hasan
A true-blue winner on all departments, this title track explores the religion/faith plank of the plot, and does that quite decently at that.

Khuda kay naam se
khelo naa
Khuda kay liye

Khuda to haseen hai
Zameel bhi Mateen bhi
Ki dil nahi manta
Ki bas qahaar hai
Khuda rahman hai
Maano na

Acknowledgements/Links
Strings videos
Strings Jukebox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistani_rock
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strings_%28band%29
Siddharth Pillai