Mausikaar opens season in style

Islamabad: ‘Mausikaar’, the trust for traditional music, opened the season by paying tribute to the Pakistan film industry music spanning three decades from the 60’s to the 80’s of the last century. The event was held at the residence of Dr Kamran Masood and turned out to be an evening filled with nostalgia, reviving memories of the days when film music reigned supreme and the melodious songs were sung and played everywhere. The well designed courtyard at the rear of the house had a nice atmosphere for the event, making it even more delightful.

After refreshments and a bit of socialising, president ‘Mausikaar’, Dr Seema welcomed the audience; explained that the break had been longer than usual because of Ramadan in early May and Muharram in early September; said a few words about the purpose of ‘Mausikaar’ which is to preserve Pakistan’s traditional and folk music and concluded by introducing the speakers and musicians that were the stars of the evening.

Well known and seasoned producer, Khawaja Najam ul Hassan spoke about the music of the film industry and his personal experiences and interactions with famous playback singers like Madam Noor Jehan and Farida Khanum - Noor Jehan knew more about music and lighting that most producers she dealt with and he learned a lot from her. Film expert and author of books on the subject, Aijaz Gul spoke about the seventy two year old history of Pakistani films and how it had seen ups and downs over the years. To emphasize his point, he had made a power point presentation with clips of very famous songs starting from the 50s through the decades to the 70s. In recognition of his services to Pakistani films and music, ‘Mausikaar’ presented him with a shield.

For entertainment and to show solidarity with Kasmiris, an instrumental performance on a rare Kashmiri instrument, the Santoor was played by Ali Raza, accompanied by Javed on ‘tabla’. He was highly appreciated by the audience and performed again at the end of the program. There were two other musicians who accompanied singers at various times - Billo (real name is Thomas Masih) and Saleem on the keyboard.

Following this recital, Dr Seema, who is an accomplished singer, sang three popular Pakistani film songs, including ‘Mujh say pehli si mohabbat’ by Noor Jehan and a duet with Azim Sabir, who later regaled the audience with many old time favorites. He has a pleasant personality and appeared to be happy obliging the audience as naturally there were requests. For this reason the timing of the program was extended as all those who stayed on enjoyed going down memory lane, singing along and clapping to the beat.

In between the singing, there was a lucky draw for a person who had dressed in accordance with the theme and the first prize went to a gentleman who was dressed in the 60’s style - white shoes and all!

It was a great effort by the ‘Mausikaar’ team and much appreciated by those who attended - more programmes like this with a wider audience, especially of young people, would familiarise them with what we of the older generation call ‘real music,’ which is so much nicer than a lot of the noise that is called music these days!