From 'Jalebi Baby' to 'Ko Ko Korina': 'Ms Marvel' desi moments win top ratings

When the news of a Marvel movie featuring Pakistani-American superhero first made headlines, people were overjoyed with a superhero looking like them. The feeling of inclusiveness and being seen only increased over time when developments about casting a unison of Pakistani and Indian actors such as Fawad Khan, Farhan Akhtar and Nimra Bucha, among others, became the talk of the town. Ms Marvel did not just put Pakistan on the MCU’s map but also gave a stage to a lot of South Asian, brown, Muslim artists that were deprived of it for years — or were misrepresented.

Now that Ms Marvel is out for the world to peruse on Disney + and delve into the world of Kamala Khan — although the streaming platform isn't available in Pakistan — critics have reported that the series lives up to its hype and apparently, there’s more than just South Asian actors in the show.

Getting a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, MCU has taken the help of music from all spheres of South Asia to add to the protagonist’s ethnic background to the fore. Here’s to a Marvel superhero that jams to music in our language!

South Asian music

Spoiler alert! Recently, it was reported that youngster Hasan Raheem’s Coke Studio track Peechay Hutt made the cut for Ms Marvel. But that isn’t all. The series opens with a scene featuring the groovy popular track Ko Ko Korina by Ahmed Rushdi for the 1966 film Armaan. As a Pakistani, who doesn’t know that song?

Rapper Eva B, who recently got into mainstream media through Coke Studio’s Kana Yaari, also has a track in the Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy directorial. The veil-wearing musician’s new track Rozi plays in the background and she took to Instagram to share the news and wrote, “I am feeling great and so lucky that I got a feature in Ms Marvel’s 1st episode. I specially want to thank Gingger Shankar for making this happen.”

But what’s really interesting – and commendable – is that these tracks aren’t just thrown in randomly for the sake of representation. They are added when the story warrants them. For example, after you enter the messy world of Kamala, Eva B’s voice plays saying “Jo kuch bhi seekha galtiyon se hi seekha maine (Whatever I have learnt, I did so from my mistakes).” Another example is when Kamala is swooning over a guy at school, Tesher’s Jalebi Baby starts playing.

Apart from that, we’ve all grown up listening to Bollywood music. Indian music – be it as mainstream as a Rajinikanth film or as niche as a Ritviz track — Marvel has managed to create a blend of South Asian representation, instead of sticking to a particular ethnicity on the show. From AR Rahman’s Oh Nanba from Lingaa, to Raja Kumari’s Goddess, and Ritviz’s Sage. It also highlights composers Ishq Bector, Kully Bhamra, and Angus Campbell’s Disco Gully. It’s a real honour that the man who gave us bangers like Aye Hip-Hopper and Daaku Daddy now has a track on a Marvel show.

Kudos to Marvel for trying to fit in as many narratives as possible to give a more holistic background to Kamala’s ancestral roots.

Highest rated Marvel series

Living up to its hype, the series is currently the highest scoring MCU shows on Disney Plus, according to Forbes. Along with that, it is also one of the highest scoring entries into the entire MCU. It holds a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes beating What If, Loki and WandaVision in the run, with over 100+ reviews so far in just a day of its release.

International recognition

Alas, it hasn’t just won the hearts of critics but also celebrities all over the world. Ms Marvel impressed the Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai so much that she penned a handwritten letter for the series and shared it on her Instagram on Wednesday, the official release date of the series. Yousafzai put great emphasis on how for her, it's not every day when a character on TV is relatable enough, someone who eats the same food as her, listens to the same music and speaks the same Urdu phrases as her.

"What a joy to see Ms Marvel reflect the lives of a Pakistani immigrant family and reveal a young superhero whose powers connect to her heritage. Thank you, Marvel and Disney+, and most importantly, Ms Marvel,” she wrote.

Apart from the handwritten praise, the humanitarian also reviewed the first episode of the show for the website Podium. “I love cheering for a girl who looks like me as she fights villains and rescues friends. But Ms. Marvel is for every young person finding their place in the world. I was struck by how familiar Kamala Khan’s life seemed to me. She talks with her friends about Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, listens to Pakistani pop songs and eats chicken biryani with her family. And I suspect many Pakistani kids will see their own parents in Kamala’s genial father and strict mom," Yousafzai added.

The Pakistani American actor Kumail Nanjiani, who featured in Marvel’s Eternals, also gave a shout out to the series and its “superstar” Iman Vellani. “Ms Marvel is out on Disney plus today. It's going to be fantastic.”

Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar, who is part of the acting ensemble for Ms Marvel, gave a special shout-out to the Pakistani Oscar winning director Obaid-Chinoy and added, “It is in appreciation of Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy for her guidance through my days of working on it Ms Marvel.”