We thought quality music, vocals and track videos had long perished with the late ‘80s and the early ‘90s. John Downer for Peter Gabriel’s “Digging In The Dirt” (1992), Nick Egan for Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World” (1992), Mark Romanek for Madonna’s “Rain” (1993) and Asim Raza/Saqib Malik for Awaz’s 1996 hit “Mr Fraudiye” (have undoubtedly set the bar for all three aforementioned components essential to make music larger than life. These video directors and artists made our “growing up” phase inspired and musical. However, with the advent of new artists and directors in the global music industry, the quality somehow deteriorated of not just the videos themselves, but of the artists too. The music buffs and Jackson lovers quit watching MTV altogether by fear of tarnishing the very image of distinct music, which they had in their minds set by the very accomplished and revered predecessors. However, the years 2000 and onwards did give us something to not just listen and see but to cherish too, owing to Justin Timberlake, Strings, Christina Aguilera and Atif Aslam to name a few, followed by the year that is now, which sees the music industry suddenly injected with an immensely talented musician and director lot; less in Hollywood and more in Pakistan (more in South Korea too actually).
We are in complete awe of ‘Coke Studio’ in bringing forth a platform to up and further the influx of young music practitioners (young with music of course and not just the age) and instilling a confidence much needed for this talented lot. Of the many we saw, that ‘Coke Studio’ introduced and entertained, 2010 hitmaker Bilal Khan caught our eye and our complete attention (though we weren’t that wowed but impressed nevertheless) and today the young crooner is all set to release his new track “Dou Gharhee”, shot in New York and directed by acclaimed multiple award-winning director/producer Mehreen Jabbar. The song features the gorgeous Annie Ali Khan playing Bilal’s love interest.
We absolutely love the shot locations, the hard-hitting music which is superb and the wardrobe, which speak volumes of not just Jabbar but the director of photography Sofian Khan’s (too many Khans in one frame hmm…) vision of how each cut should tell a story intertwined by what the song aims to give across to the very tuned audience.
Bilal is not a pro at acting, however, what abysmal he has, does it with conviction and ends up wowing us with his raw talent. We loved how Jabbar directs the crooner’s demeanour, which is a must-watch indeed. “I penned ‘Dou Gharhee’ while on tour and I wrote it in New York so it only made sense that I shoot it there as well. The sound is inspired from the top 40 sounds in American music. I discussed the possibility with Mehreen and Sofian and they got on board. The video is a story of a street musician who falls in love with another musician girl and together how they explore New York City. It was great to work with Annie on the project too and she brings a lot of professionalism to the art. I think she did a fantastic job as well as the two directors.”
Speaking of Annie, she looks beautiful and exudes a charm and vulnerability suited for the role she essays in the video. “For me, the character I play in the video, represents the joy of experiencing New York for the first time. The city can be so over whelming and you just have to let go of all pre-conceived notions about everything and embrace what comes your way and I feel the video captures that joy. I feel like saying ‘New York, New York hai’,” Annie added also while talking.
With the video direction and the music being perfectly in sync with each other, we can’t help but notice the intellect with which both are taken into equal account and given importance accordingly. Hats off to the entire cast and crew for that! “Working on the video was gruelling, I won’t lie. We were a tiny crew and everyone was playing multiple roles and helping each other out. We were tired walking around the streets under the summer sun, but there was not a moment when we were not happy to be there,” Annie said further.
Jabbar is hypnotic with her direction techniques; Pakistan is proud no doubt and the track itself creates magic right from the start to the very end. We were a bit sad it had to end to be honest, it sounds that good! Other than the beat breaks in between, the song composition is flawless and will instantly strikes a chord with the music buffs. We do hope Bilal knows how good he is. The serious disposition he seems to channel is in harmony with what he enacts.
Final Verdict: The right track at the right time, “Dou Gharhee” is superb!
