Salman Ahmed's latest offering explains why Ali Azmat doesn't want a Junoon reunion

We request the Supreme Court of Pakistan to form a JIT and investigate ‘Imran Ka Naya Pakistan’ song

KARACHI: The JIT has spoken and the Junoonees are dancing. The report that was submitted to the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday had enough matter to put Nawaz Sharif and Co in a corner and for PTI followers to rush pass them wheeling on their CD 70s. This would have literally happened if the Pindi boys were called for the party at Bani Galla but unfortunately they weren’t. However, Pakistan’s guitar guru and the mover and shaker of rock music in South Asia, Salman Ahmed was present there.



He got so overwhelmed by the attention Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men were getting that he released an entire musical film even before Imran could have his mic drop moment. Whether the musical film was brimming under a Bunsen burner for eons or it was a spontaneous trick of the muse that justice can be, it got released yesterday. And it has been releasing ever since… fumes of perplexity and self-love.

For someone who has offered the impeccable soul-to-soul in the market it is very difficult to beat your own standards, after all pure reason suggests that if you’ve gotten so down the drain than rising from the pot hole is perhaps the only probable outcome. It’s darkest before the dawn and the Stephen Covey line of thought and allegories go on and on. But Salman has proven that it’s darkest before it gets pitch black.

The video starts with the footage of tides hitting the rocks and a storm forming in the sky juxtaposed with footage of Imran Khan’s cricketing days and scenes where he is shown hunting with a rifle as  Salman chants, ‘Imran Ka Mae Pakistan Imran Ka Mae Pakistan’ in the background. Okay , that does sound like a build up to something until Salman goes a notch above our miserable expectations and adds, ‘Mera Junoon Mera Jihad, Imran Khan Imran Khan’ and now  a layer of vocal harmony is added to the song and its melody and flow becomes flatter than the newly made University road. And trust me you wouldn’t want to go past that bridge - the song so far would be good enough to give up music and everything that once upon a time induced passion in you.



What follows is an audio-visual car crash between Junoon classics such as Ethesaab, Pink Floyd and all that Salman Ahmed stands for today, which can be summed up in one word: Imran Khan. I definitely didn’t watch it for political reasons and neither is my hatred stemming out of it, my reasons for preaching against this audacity are purely rational and have to do with the damage done to my soul and our cultural heritage.

Puns apart, it is actually quite sad and depressing to see the guru of so many people trying to stay relevant despite an unforgettable legacy. A founder of the band that introduced an entire generation of South Asians to rock music, rebellion, Sufism and a lot more is quite clinically, song by song, making the people want to forget him, as much as he wants them to remember.

About time Salman Ahmed realises that every legend has a fall in fact even his better half of Junoon, Ali Azmat had a fall. There was a time that even he was booed at concerts but he waited, reinvented and came back with a catchy Bollywood song that sounded as much like him as it did like a Bollywood track and got another life through the soundtrack of Jism 2. That’s what you call accepting defeat, introspecting and coming back with a bang.



Salman, there is no other choice for you but to do that. But can you? This latest Coke Studio season is perhaps your last litmus test and if your original work doesn’t work then nothing will. However, I do feel Salman gets particularly emotional in front Imran Khan, almost like a best boy at a friend’s wedding and that hyper excitement drips from every sound wave generated out of Imran Ka Naya Pakistan, and every patriotic song that led up to it, be it Chaand Sitara or Inshallah.

That’s why I have a theory how this song may have come about:

Salman: Imran bhai I just made a musical film for you

Imran: How did you read my mind meray Junooni?

Salman: Soul-to-soul Imran bhai, soul-to-soul

Watch the video here:


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