Strings sit-down with Instep to discuss their new music video, ‘Urr Jaoon’ that highlights the issue of child labour and marks a reunion with longtime collaborator Jami.
After releasing ‘Sajni’, a bright song with an equally colorful music video last month as the first single off their new studio album 30, Strings is back with a new song called ‘Urr Jaoon’ and it is without question one of their strongest creations to date, sitting right up there on that pedestal of greatness with ‘Sar Kiye’ and ‘Khirki’.
In an interview with Instep last month, Bilal Maqsood (who has penned the lyrics of this song and sung it) had explained that it was written from his perspective and speaks of the day he dies, a day where he hopes to be at peace.
How the band and their longtime collaborator Jami (who has directed its moving music video) turned a song written about death into an elegy of hope is its greatest success.
But first let’s speak about the video. In between shots of the band against gorgeous landscape and open skies, there is another space, where a story that is far too common in Pakistan is taking place.
Dripped in crimson colours, it is a luxurious room where an opulent dinner party is about to begin. But there are no guests. Instead there are children, a group of them, all of them girls, who are working as servants. A child’s sense of wonder, however, cannot be taken away so easily and is reflected as one of them looks at a piece of cutlery and sees her own reflection. Soon enough the dinner party begins and the equally fancy guests arrive. While the dinner is ongoing, a group of children continue to sit and wait on the guests. When one of them, a man essayed by Faisal Kapadia, drops his spoon, a young girl runs to him and gives him a another one because in this scenario it is her job. Struck with a realization that this beautiful child, that all these beautiful children should not be serving them, he brings her back and lets her sit in his chair which propels other guests to look within and follow suit. The video finally ends as all the children join the band on a sandy beach with a sense of joy and innocence that so many of us lose as adults.
Less than 24 hours before the release of ‘Urr Jaoon’, Strings sat down with Instep to speak about the song and the larger themes explored in it.
Instep: The issue of child labour is so prevalent in Pakistan.
Bilal Maqsood (BM): Yes, it’s visible everywhere you go, at restaurants, malls. In many instances, the children who are catering to other children are closer to their age. And you think the child pushing the pram should be in it, not pushing it around.
Instep: When you wrote this song, was this the idea running through your head?
BM: No. ‘Urr Jaoon’ was written by me and it was about the day I die but when Jami heard the song, it became something else. This issue of children employed as labourers, servants, maids is very close to Jami’s heart. And we too agree on it. Children are the future and our focus is never on them in this country, be it their education or entertainment. When we heard the concept, it felt as if this was the reason why the song was written in the first place. So, it became a reflection of the young children featured in the video and about their freedom, aka ‘Urr Jaoon’.
Instep: The children featured in the video, how did you find them?
BM: Jami’s team took auditions and lot of children came and auditioned. They’re some actors in it, some are first-timers. The dedication Jami has is unparalleled. And so, that energy transfers to us. A Jami video, from shooting to editing to the day we talk about the concept, the process remains full of passion and somewhere you realize that this is no ordinary thing; it’s something very special.
Instep: You’ve worked with Jami on a number of occasions and have known him for many years. . How has that equation changed?
BM: The last time we worked with him, it was for the video of ‘Main Tou Dekhoonga’ but it doesn’t mean that we don’t stay in touch. We also worked together on Moor. But that feeling of working with Jami is always there somewhere. It’s not like if a video isn’t happening, we have forgotten. Because the process is so intense, it stays with you for a long, long time.
Instep: There is a turning point in the video is when one of the guests gets up and brings the child-servant to the table and she sits in his chair, which propels others to follow suit. In real life, this doesn’t happen though. Is it a motto to inspire others?
Faisal Kapadia: People do things but they need a leader, they want to follow someone, it’s difficult for someone to start a trend. Once a trend is here, people follow it. What we’re showing is that one man showed courage and the realization comes to him. If one person, just one person, takes the first step, it will inspire others too. And maybe that’s how things will start to get better. Someone has to take that first step and we all have a larger responsibility to humanity.
