Did Mekaal Hasan get fired from I am Khi festival for a few hours?

Several musicians performing at the festival received a surprising phone call

KARACHI: The ‘I am Karachi Music Festival’ kicked off on August 4 with the aim of reviving the long-lost trend of live performances in Karachi. 

Where Music Art and Dance (MAD) School, run by musician Hamza Jaffri and his wife and theater artist Nida Butt and Karachi based pop-rock band Fuzon served as the co-producers of the festival, Mekaal Hasan of Mekaal Hasan Band fame was hired to be the producer of the festival.

The first day (August 4) of the festival went on smoothly with a series of panel discussions on various topics such as music appreciation and copyrights awareness.



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However, the next morning several artists -- who are performing at the festival -- received a call from MAD school saying that Mekaal Hasan is no longer a part of the festival.

“They called me in the morning and said that ‘we are calling to inform you that Mekaal Hasan is no longer a part of this festival due to some issues with the festival management',” an artist who will be performing at The I am Karachi Music Festival, told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

Another artist, who also wanted to remain anonymous, received a similar call from MAD, which took him by a surprise. “We were in it because of Mekaal and I simply can’t explain how disgruntled we felt upon hearing this news. I was even reluctant to inform my fellow musicians," he told The Express Tribune.

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Later in the evening when Hamza Jaffri was approached for a comment he said, “These are all rumours and hearsay and Mekaal is very much a part of the festival. He is sitting right next to me”.

Mekaal Hasan also shared a similar sentiment but was unaware where this "rumour" originated.

“These are all rumours and I am still very much a part of the festival in the same capacity and in fact I am on my way to the venue,” Mekaal Hasan told The Express Tribune.  He added that several musicians who are participating in the festival had also been calling him to verify his presence in the festival.

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A source in the organising team of I am Karachi Music Festival told The Express Tribune that the confusion had actually started on the first night of the festival between Mekaal Hasan and MAD School.

“I don’t know what exactly happened but the matter escalated to such a level that MAD school informed all the artists that Mekaal has been fired,” said the source in the organizing committee. “And ridiculously enough, when the matter was sorted, they were all called again stating that Mekaal was very much a part of the festival and ignore our previous phone call,” the member of the organising committee added.

Fuzon , the co –producers of the festival remained mum on the incident stating that the success of the festival should be everyone’s priority. “There must have been some confusion on petty matters, but for Fuzon the important thing is that the festival should move on seamlessly,” Emu of Fuzon told The Express Tribune.