‘Karachi’, don’t lose hope

The musical where drama, music and boxing meet.

KARACHI:

Local renditions of popular musicals like “Chicago”, “Moulin Rouge” and “Mamma Mia” have become a regular feature of Pakistani theatre. On the contrary, plays like “Sabz” and “Act 144” that are publicised and sold as original musicals are making their way in to the theatre archives with an original script but unoriginal music, so one can’t help but ask; do we really have any original musicals happening in Pakistan? “No, forget original, we don’t have musicals happening in Pakistan,” states Nida Butt, the director and choreographer of  “Karachi: The Musical” that kicks off from today till November 13.

“I used to refrain earlier, but now I say it all — any play that has music playing on a CD is not a musical at all, the music should be played live on stage and that is what ‘Karachi: The Musical’ is all about,” Butt exclaims emphatically.

“Karachi: The Musical” is a musical based on the boxers of Lyari and the play’s narrative follows the life of a boxer from Multan, who travels to Lyari to train with the best coach available. Butt’s latest venture has been underway for about a year now and has become one of the most glorified productions to date, but only the actual performance will tell whether it is worth all the hype.

The music for the play has been composed by Co-Ven frontman Hamza Jafri who is known for his musical genius and has managed to gain a cult following in a short time. However, “Karachi: The Musical” has been a very good learning experience for Jafri, “Making music for this play has been an amazing journey for me and I broadened my horizon as a musician with every chord I struck and every song I made,” reveals Jafri.

The first volume of Karachi: The Musical album will be released on the opening night. Volume one will comprise of six songs from a total of 12 which will be available in the final album. So far, two songs have been released online, and these tracks have immediately gone viral on social networking websites.  The title song “Karachi” is a progressive pop-rock melody that grows on the listener and by the end of it, one can easily hum the catchy tune — kudos to Jafri for his composition. The lyrics of the title song are about the essentials that represent Karachi as a city and places like Korangi and Landhi have been portrayed with the lyrics “Garam Masalay” and “Ganday Nalay”. This song sheds light on the dramatic irony of this beautiful city.

Model-cum-actor Rubya Chaudhry has also lent her vocals for one of the songs in the play’s soundtrack called “Ayi Re Mein Ayi”.

The cast has been rehearsing day in, day out at Mad (Music, Acting and Drama) School and seem optimistic about the production. They believe that the play could prove to be a turning point in Karachi theatre.

Butt has previously pulled off ensemble productions but not an original Urdu musical. She has taken up “Karachi: The Musical” as a challenge for herself and this will be a test of her nerves and her skills as a story teller. After all, this play deals with Karachi, and people who know the city well, will not be taken for a fool.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2011.