Earth, wind, fire and air are what Komal Rizvi’s new video is about.

If Komal Rizvi can be summed up in one word, it would be persistence! She’s just come out with a new music video titled Kalli Kalli, and she calls it “perhaps Pakistan’s first music video to be shot underwater.”

The music of Kalli Kalli is inspired by Akhtar Hussain’s melody for the Pakistani film Patay Khan (1955). It’s a soulful sound fused with a modern dance score. “The song represents both East and West, old and new, folk and contemporary in its best form,” says the singer.

Komal has put in extra vocal effort while singing Kalli Kalli. “For me, singing doesn’t require any effort at all. It never sounds appealing and true when you sing something beyond your capabilities. Kalli’s genre is folk-fusion as I’m spiritual by nature. It seems the Sufi/folk genre has chosen me rather than the other way around.”

She says that while working on rearranging the melody to suit her style, she realised that her brother Hasan Rizvi can best translate her vision through choreography. “We put the finishing touches on the music and decided to collaborate on the project as it highlights what both of us do best.”

The Kalli Kalli video has been directed by Sohail Javed. “We decided that in order to depict its basic message that ‘humanity should never forget its baser elements and come back to its roots every once in a while’ we would have to shoot the four universal elements in a certain way — the way it’s been done in the video.”

Out of the four elements, Hasan represents fire and air, and in a broader sense personal traits such as passion, strength, flexibility, compromise, innate silence and stillness, and controlled growth.

In turn, Komal represents water and earth and hence a sense of motion, progress, generosity and productivity represented by Mother Nature. The video also has some excellent dance moves by the Body Beat dance troupe.

“Komal and I have long been meaning to collaborate on a project that’s edgy, creative and different,” says Hasan.

Komal’s track Baoji initially exposed her to the Indian music scene, and she has been visiting the country frequently since. “I’ve worked on the OSTs of Mere Naseeb and Madhubala, and launched a Sufi album with Saregama HMV India. Last year I did 75 gigs and tours all over the world. It includes Indian films songs set to release soon. I have recorded a song for a joint Norway-Pakistan film called The System,” says Komal.

“Pakistani women are finally getting somewhere in music. We are slowly but surely making a name for ourselves in the industry after putting up a tough fight against conservatives and orthodox critics.”