Mekaal Hasan, 44, is having a busy, creative year and in some ways, an iconic year. He’s moved to Karachi for one thing and now has a studio in both Karachi and Lahore.
MusicMix
The acclaimed producer and leader of MHB, Mekaal Hasan talks to
Instep about playing at the third edition of Dhaka International Folk Festival.
Mekaal Hasan, 44, is having a busy, creative year and in some ways, an iconic year. He’s moved to Karachi for one thing and now has a studio in both Karachi and Lahore. He’s re-released Andholan, the third album from his music group, Mekaal Hasan Band in Pakistan in prominent fashion and is routinely uploading more tunes, both heard and unheard, made in studio or created live on bandcamp while the work on a fourth record that will be qawwali-based has begun.
As the music goes on, since moving his base, at least partially, to Karachi, Hasan has produced (and curated) the Rivayat Music Series (RMS). Presented by Karachi Youth Initiative & Publicis Pakistan, RMS counted Waqas Almas as co-producer and consisted of four free live shows featuring Farid Ayaz and Abu Mohammad Qawwal and the All Star Folk Ensemble (Muhammad Ahsan, Waqas Hussain, Gul Muhammad and Ejaz Lohar). The events were designed to cater to audiences in parts of Karachi that go overlooked when it comes to music shows such as Gulzar-e-Hijri, Pehlwan Goth, Sakhi Hasan and Paposh Nagar and to promote community engagement and traditional music of Pakistan.
The Rivayat Music Series has concluded. Hasan, however, is far from done and is curating the I Am Karachi Music Festival, created in collaboration with the Karachi Arts Council and Lok Virsa.
In between all this, the leader of MHB along with his music group recently flew out to Bangladesh where they played at the Dhaka International Folk Festival, which is where this story begins.
Held at the Army Stadium in the capital city, the festival, in its third year, was held over three days during which MHB took the stage on the second day. Attended by nearly 60,000 people, the festival included artists from Bangladesh as well as other countries such as Nepal, Iran, Brazil, Tibet, Denmark, Mali and India.
Speaking to Instep after returning, Hasan described the festival to be a “wonderful” experience and revealed that the band took the stage featuring guest performances with Bangladeshi artist Armeen Musa, who led a 12 member choir performing MHB songs like ‘Chal Bulleya’ and ‘Kinarey’, as well as an additional guest vocal performance by Bangladeshi singer Aanon Siddiqua, who featured on the band’s ‘Andholan’ and sang a Lalon song with Sharmistha Chatterjee, the band’s Indian vocalist hailing from Mumbai.
With that kind of a line-up and the ability to perform with the best of them, it’s no wonder that the band got written about post-performance in The Daily Star Net in the following words: “Mekaal Hasan Band, an Indo-Pak band led by Lahore’s Mekaal Hasan, brought along Armeen Musa and her Ghaashphoring Choir from Dhaka to complete a sub-continental trifecta. They opened with a sombre song ‘Kinaray’, and went on to perform an Amir Khusrau Kalaam ‘Dilam Dar Ashiqui Aawareh Shud Aawareh Tar Badaah’, a Shah Hussain poem ‘Jhok Ranjhan’, and original songs ‘Sanwal’, ‘Ghunghat’ and ‘Andholan’ mashed up with a Lalon song sung by Bangladeshi singer Aanon H Siddiqua.”
Reflecting on playing at the festival, Hasan told Instep, “The 60,000 plus audience proved to be an unforgettable experience for all of us and the superb organisation and hospitality by our Bangladeshi hosts provided a truly uplifting and emotionally stirring experience for all the artists.”
He added: “By bringing together the three nations on stage we hope that all of us in these countries realise that our talent and art are the way forward for positive engagement.
It is my sincere hope that such collaborations encourage other artists, especially those in neighbouring India, to consider the power of our shared cultural wealth, enabling a creative dialogue which surely will provide a ray of hope for our youth and which bodes well for an era of prosperity for the region.”
When asked if there were reports of molestation and groping, as is the norm at so many events at home, the MHB leader noted that there were no such reports and that there is a great deal we can learn from how the Bangladeshi people conduct themselves, particularly at such events.
“It was unbelievable; there were no incidents of violence, no hooliganism nor any untoward incident(s) with women,” Hasan reiterated. “The level of respect they have for art is something else. I went to Bangladesh in 2006, then again in 2012 and now in 2017. The difference between 2012 and 2017 is huge. India is presently devolving into a right-wing region where conservative, intolerant forces have carte blanche to do as they please. But Bangladesh, with whom we share a troubled past - the things we did to them – are such good people, with so much respect for the arts and culture. I didn’t feel like coming back and I hope I get to play there again.”
