How Nirmala Maghani’s cry for help turned into an opportunity for some

The ‘Tu Jhoom’ controversy is a litmus test for Coke Studio, Pakistan’s music industry

KARACHI:

The past week has been a rather mind-numbing one for the Pakistani music industry. The usual chit-chat surrounding the new season of Coke Studio was reduced to a murmur after Nirmala Maghani accused CS producer Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan (Xulfi) of stealing her melody and sent him a legal notice worth Rs100 million, claiming copyright infringement. Everyone was caught off-guard, including the usual opponents of the show. Shocked because no one saw this coming and spellbound because what were the chances of a 20-year-old girl from Umerkot taking on the mammoth that everyone tries to dodge head-on.

This wasn’t like your usual planted rumour, such as how Bilal Maqsood is mean to his talent or how Rohail Hyatt manipulates his into working for him. This was a direct blow to not just Xulfi, who is a much smaller fish in this very big sea, but to the core values that make Coke Studio what it is today; inclusivity, harmony, cosmopolitanism, including a lot more that Rohail quotes in his famous talk at Harvard in which he is asked to justify why he chose a market-driven beverage company to take forward the message and the ‘frequencies’ that made him lose his sight glasses.

This was a straight-on accusation from a girl that no one knew and now everybody cares about or at least pretends to care about; a kind of home run for an industry or scene that thrives on the idea that since making music is so difficult in this society, artists must be pitied for it. Be it the enterprising veterans who paved the way for the post-Zia ‘liberation’ and modernity or Gen Z artists who are too lost in negating terms such as ‘Kanjar’ and ‘Mirasi’, playing the victim is endemic to the music industry.

It is this thirst for pity and self-loathing that makes members of the industry take a bite out of anyone and everyone trying to climb the ladder, and the musicians can’t be blamed for acting like wolves when the catch is so little.

One show, one true crown, and the rest is just an active mess of artists who are handsome enough to act and producers who have survived long enough to crack the jingle formula or make friends in media buying houses. The Hasan Raheems and Shamoon Ismails are rare sparks among this post-modern smoke that haven’t been around long enough for an independent commentator to attribute their work to a formula, let alone a successful one.

That makes the ultimate crown, the only throne, the seat of the Coke Studio producer, all the more special and Xulfi’s almost teenager-like (reference to the Twitter announcement of his CS nod) excitement to sit on that throne justified.

But whether you are a king or a pawn, a kingdom built on playing victim can only get you so far. It reduces your status as an influential figure into, if not one playing a victim always crying for help, then a saviour on the lookout for opportunities. As implied in my earlier pieces on the same issue, there’s now a long list of patsies campaigning against Xulfi by standing for Nirmala and we are going to come to them later.

First, let’s rest the case that is being frequently fed to the press and inner circle of musicians that the entire campaign to seek justice for Nirmala is designed to dethrone Xulfi so that some bigwigs can settle old scores. Sounds incredible and quite believable, but it isn’t true. Not in its entirety, at least.

As someone who has actively and almost exclusively reported on Coke Studio for the past decade, I can say with surety that worse stories were put into circulation about Strings and Rohail both, and while Strings came into the crosshairs more often, probably because they wanted the limelight, Rohail’s mystique would aid in resolving the stories before they would reach another ear. Both Bilal and Rohail later opened up about these issues in our off-the-record conversations, offering some perspective.

Xulfi is not unique in that sense, and the way a particular faction of the industry wants you to sympathise with him because his creative process is being affected by all the bad press has no clue what Strings went through, or for that matter, any prominent artist goes through when they are under the limelight. What happened to Xulfi looks so jarring and hits differently because of both the honesty of Nirmala’s accusations and the believability of a formulaic campaign against Xulfi in the era of cancel culture.

No one doubts that this is affecting his creative process, and we shouldn’t make any attempt at an analysis or critique of the situation by divorcing it from the fact that musicians in Pakistan, especially producers who mostly work behind the scenes, are not used to the kind of weight that being a Coke Studio producer can put on them.

On a good day, you could be enveloped in the waves of new-found Sufi depth in a live stream between Abida Parveen and Naseebo Lal, and on a bad you could be sinking in your own seat. Xulfi wasn’t prepared for it, the press wasn’t prepared for it and most importantly, even Nirmala didn’t realise that the kind of support she would come to rally will eventually prove to be a burden that she could have, perhaps, done without. She didn’t say anything like that when she spoke to me on Wednesday but she did express rather subtly that this campaign has come to a point of no return and she would not like to disappoint everyone who has stood behind her.

May God never put you in the shoes of a 20-year-old woman who is being offered all sorts of advice as to why she needs to stay committed or forfeit the case against Xulfi, from the many people who always knew she existed, had listened to her music but never tried to help her as a musician till she became a victim. May God also not put you in the shoes of Xulfi who has the rightful claim of encouraging new and brilliant young talent but is brought in front of the judge by a young, underprivileged musician who once saw hope in him.

Perhaps a better solution would have been Xulfi reaching out to Nirmala personally, something that I did suggest to Coke Studio’s PR team even before the first news was reported, and sort it out like an elder brother trying to understand his younger sibling. Perhaps the middlemen would have never allowed it to happen given how vulnerable Nirmala’s position in society already is but history tells us that a giant like Coke Studio has settled far more clear-cut and heavier claims with a lot more proficiency and proactivity.

Rohail Hyatt has already said that had it been up to him, he would have co-credited the song to Nirmala and paid her the artist fee for one song, out of open-heartedness, and anyone who has worked with Rohail can vouch for it actually happening. After all, Abida Parveen did claim copyright to Sanam Marvi’s Hairaan Hua in Coke Studio 11 and CS sorted it with a hefty settlement.

Even if Nirmala’s claim is misplaced and both her and Xulfi’s melody sounds like so many other melodies, then she is the one who needs to be explained that, not your Twitter followers, not even the press. In fact, if both of them have replicated someone else’s work, then both Nirmala and Xulfi need to be told that, which could lead to thing being settled far more cordially. If Nirmala’s access is being halted by the so many intermediaries speaking on her behalf, then it shouldn’t have been an issue given the muscle Coke Studio is capable of mobilising. If they still fail, then important questions must be raised about intervention projects that take place under cool banners such as ‘Coke Studio Explorer’.

Nirmala Maghani's sample:

Tu Jhoom:

Why is Coke Studio now relying on senior, reputable community leaders turned politicians such as PTI MNA Laal Malhi to spearhead the negotiations on their behalf. Did Coke Studio become so huge that its strength became its own weakness when it was confronted by the most trivial claim, but in the most testing social media ecosystem? What good are all the Gen Z brand and marketing teams if they can’t help Nirmala and Xulfi sit at the table together? The onus is not just on Xulfi, but all the people making strategy decisions at Coca Cola.

On the other hand, musician WhatsApp groups are filled with stories of musicians blaming the press and the veterans who guided Nirmala for being in the wrong, and this lot is being called out by others for having a vested interest in Xulfi and CS. What was essentially a girl’s cry for recognition has now morphed into a battle between artist vs corporation, corruption vs truth and veteran gurus vs Gen Z gurus, none of which has to do with Nirmala and none of what she is actually aware of. Before we move forward please do remember that all Nirmala ever wanted was ‘credit and recognition’ before she ended up speaking in the language of her legal team.

As discussed before, Nirmala had been sending her music to a number of people before she had sent it to Xulfi. When she started connecting with the industry, she was a teenager, born to the Bajeer community of Hindus who are known for their simple lifestyle and their absolute love for the arts, especially music. No one recites Kabir the way they sing his verses and no one renders Mirabai the way they do, but, at the same time, their place in society makes them easily impressionable. Do them a favour and they will be indebted for ages; this humility is not manufactured, neither is it candy wrapped for any ‘folk mapping’ endeavour led by the state. They are so easily influenced that half of the mainstream artists she mentioned in our conversation she said she respected like her family elders, and Yousaf Sallahudin aka Mian Salli like her Abba or father.

What is also important to note is that before Nirmala reached out to the press, Mian Salli, who also produces VIRSA for PTV had already posted about Xulfi’s song being a rip-off of Nirmala’s melody under an Instagram post. He was the first one to throw weight behind Nirmala but no one can say for sure if Nirmala decided to pursue this issue with unexpected dedication in order to throw weight behind her mentor.

It is very common in the Guru-Shisha culture for disciples to take up their master’s burden as a part of the latter’s ageing process but, as I said before, the burden gets even heavier when you belong to a community that is raised with the ethos of service, and one that no one really cares about. No one is doubting Mian Salli or Nirmala’s intention, but given the precarity of the situation, and how this issue has snowballed into a lot more than just copyright infringement, it is necessary to put things in perspective and to understand the various power dynamics at play. You’ll be a fool to see it as merely an intellectual property dispute, perhaps even Nirmala sees more than that now, but she’ll be damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t.

Nirmala has already recorded and released a song with the Marxist band Laal and Taimur Rehman has so far voiced muted support for Nirmala against Xulfi. There’s a fair chance that Taimur Rehman and co know it better than many others how Nirmala is an ant in this battle of elephants that are guiding her accordingly. If they are not, they must. That’ll be of great help to Nirmala.

Nirmala's collaboration with Taimur Rehman:

She has also recorded a song with Ali Zafar on her trip to Lahore and mainstream producers such as Sahir Ali Bagga have been aware of her music long before her fight with Coke Studio started.

So, while the insiders terming this as yet ‘another Ali Zafar ploy’ against Xulfi after he ‘orchestrated a negative PR campaign following the PSL Anthem’ have a reason to worry, some of their worries may actually be misplaced. Zafar has actually recorded a song with Nirmala, which was a while back, but knowing Zafar’s rampage on YouTube these days, you never know if he has decided to release that song just now. However, the singer will be conducting a peaceful, healthy exchange of ideas regarding the Coke Studio issue and PSL anthem on his Facebook page right after Friday prayers today, which is also around the time Coke Studio 14 usually releases new music. What if he announces a new song with Nirmala?

Yes, it is never in good taste to take advantage of an opportunity when the people involved are in a vulnerable position, It makes your kindest intentions look like an extraordinary attempt to prey on someone’s misery. But, what if Nirmala sees this as the break she had always been waiting for regardless of the headspace she is in? What if she considers it to be an honour to partake in a song with one of Pakistan’s biggest stars especially if he has been a patron of sorts of hers even before her name started trending on Twitter? What if she doesn’t care about the mainstream discourse and is happy to get a chance she so desperately had been seeking by sending her music to everyone? What if Mian Salli ends up recording an entire state-funded tribute to Iqbal featuring Nirmala produced by Bagga? Regardless of how you frame this situation or the supposed opportunists in this scenario, the music industry holds no right to judge either.

Where were all the now-saviours of Nirmala who previously thought she was a bad singer and needed direction? Did they ever give her any direction? Did they ever follow up on her compositions apart from sharing them with journalists as evidence both for and against Xulfi? Did they ever reach out to the so many unsung maestros of Umerkot without an exoticising scheme in mind that a cookie or a beverage brand would buy? Did any of them ever think of Nirmala beyond a set piece that will complete the inclusivity package on a Pakistan Day tableau? Not they did not. Nirmala, as someone seeking recognition for her work, would have bought into all of these offerings with a blindfold on, regardless of the stereotyping and appropriation they would have entailed.

In trying to play the victim in a society that supposedly has no breathing space for musicians, but allows them room enough to get chased by the FBR over tax evasions, your privileged, mainstream, urban lot, is now abusing the real victims of the system they are very much a part of. One wonders with what intention these musicians even questioning whether Nirmala’s music is original or why she should not approach the case legally or why she should have thought twice before taking a stand against Xulfi.

Regardless of what the outcome of Nirmala’s legal notice to Xulfi is, one thing that can be said for sure is that Nirmala is a litmus test that this industry deserves and continues to fail at. That everyone should follow the Abida Parveen route of mastering the package-friendly formula so rigorously, that they are able to work on their own terms, and their successors can continue to benefit from it. Call it a Sufi-turning-capitalist, but that is still more honest than artists working like feudal lords.