Sethi wanted the rawness and originality of the subject to come out through the music video for Mahi Mera. PHOTO: PUBLICITY
“I’d call myself a singer-writer,” Ali Sethi quips, in response to a question about his career choices. Perhaps what sets him apart is his ability to propel both careers forward simultaneously. While his new track Mahi Mera is set to release, Sethi is also working on his second book, after The Wish Maker, along with a documentary film on Farida Khanum. He has produced a substantial body of work as a musician, including a track for the Reluctant Fundamentalist, more tracks for Manto and Coke Studio 8 along with songs for TV serials.
Mahi Mera is Sethi’s latest Punjabi folk song, born of the story of Jamaldin who Sethi met in his ancestral village, Shergarh. “I saw this man dancing and singing while using techniques of voice projection and angulation that were charming and didn’t seem familiar to me at all,” recollects Sethi. Interested by his performance, Sethi soon discovered Jamaldin was a farmer by day and an aspiring folk musician by night.
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Sethi recorded Jamaldin and brought it back to his teacher and renowned classical musician Ustad Naseeruddin Saami. According to him, Saami was amazed by Jamaldin’s voice and was eager to get him on board. “We must work with him because his voice represents the old Arab influence in the country,” Sami had told Sethi. Since Jamaldin was accustomed to performing in open air, it was initially a challenge for Sethi to get him into a studio but somehow he managed.
Sethi wanted the authenticity and originality of the subject to come out in the video and to achieve that, he approached friend and film-maker, Umar Riaz. Together they, decided to shoot the video in Jamaldin’s village, Hussaingarh, to capture the cultural thrust of the area where the story originated.
Although Riaz had previously tackled the concept of Ashiq (lover) and Mehboob (beloved), but Jamaldin’s take on it fascinated him. To find answers to the questions running through both Sethi and Riaz’s mind, they visited Shergarh the neighbouring village, Hussaingarh. There, they found Jamaldin singing and dancing to the beat of the dhol at a Sufi shrine. “I took photographs with a new visual style I was experimenting with at the time. It seemed to compliment the extraordinary faces and sights we encountered. That’s where the envisioning of the music video began in earnest: the song led me to the place, the place led me to the people and the people led me towards a particular kind of visual style,” elaborates Sethi.
They kept the crew small and used compact HD cameras which allowed them to move swiftly through locations without creating any hassle for the locals. They even took presents for the people in the village, especially the children, in order to earn their trust and film their reactions. “The key was to get real reactions from real people in order to gain some insight into the core of the region,” says Riaz.
Although most of the video was improvised, Sethi and Riaz had created a narrative structure wherein the relationship between the people, the land and the spirit would find a connection through a unique visual language. “It had to feel real and yet alien,” shares Riaz.
Mera Mahi releases on Friday (February 5).
Published in The Express Tribune, February 5th, 2016.
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