The Lahore Arts Council’s play staged in connection with Independence Day celebrations at Alhamra, The Mall, was marred by controversy involving its writer on the one hand and the director on the other.

The play ‘Hum Hain Pakistani’ left a bad taste due to cheap jokes and indecent gestures. Staged on Tuesday, it was the arts council’s special production in connection with Aug 14 but looked like cheap commercial theatre.

The first two acts of the play had many impolite actions and dialogues, however, the third act had some substance but the very expression and impression of the third act could not be delivered in a powerful way due to flawed acting by Tauqeer Zaidi, the boy in lead role.

Dances were also unnecessarily stuffed into a production which should have been mature, meaningful, having some dignity being a play specially presented in connection with the Independence Day celebrations.

The writer of the play, Munir Raj, defended himself, saying he had written the script over 20 years back and it was a commercial play first staged in 1992.

“The director has spoiled the play that was written very well,” said Mr Raj, adding he had suggested to Deputy Director Programmes Zulfiqar Zulfi to let him (Raj) direct the play but to no avail.

Defending cheap dialogues, Raj said it was a bilingual play and such dialogues were written for the ‘entrainment of general public’.

Qaiser Javed, the director of the play, admitted that some scenes had indecent actions but they were added by art istes on their own, saying “In certain scenes artistes had added dialogues and actions themselves which was deplorable.”

The director could not defend the short dance pieces incorporated in the play, and said “We thought the audience would find the dances entertaining”.

Among the audience, one Muhammad Ali sharing his views on the play with this scribe said it was not an Independence Day play but ‘Independence of all sorts’.

Some members of the audience found the play entertaining but most of them found it not that interesting. The cast of the play included Anwar Ali, Abid Kashmiri, Mujahid Rana, Najam Zaidi, Payal Chauhdry, Gulnaz, Nina, Sadia Sheikh, and Rimsha.

An exhibition of black and white photographs of the partition opened at the National College of Arts on Thursday.

Te exhibition, titled ‘Tehreek-i-Pakistan’ was inaugurated by NCA Principal Murtaza Jafri.

About 150 rare photographs showed Quaid-e-Azam’s meetings with various leaders and delegations. They also depicted immigrants who moved from both sides of border with their families.

Soch, the music band, has been nominated for the best emerging talent category for the 13th Lux Style Awards.

The band’s lead vocalist Adnan Dhool and rhythm guitarist Rabi Ahmed have been quoted as saying that being nominated for Lux Style Award is an amazing feeling.

Soch’s Bollywood debut in 2014 is the track titled ‘Awari’ for Mohit Suri’s film ‘Ek Villain’ starring Shraddha Kapoor, Sidharth Malhothra and Ritesh Deshmukh. Awari features Prachi Deasi in the video.

‘Awari’ is written, composed and rendered by Adnan Dhool and Rabi Ahmed of Soch. Contrary to the original version featured in Nescafe Basement (Season I) in 2012, Awari for Ek Villain features female vocals of the US-based Momina Mustehsan, in a duet with Adnan Dhool.

After announcing the upcoming release of Pakistan’s first HD Urdu language animated feature film titled ‘3 Bahadur’, Karachi-based production house Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Films has launched a series of short documentaries, titled ‘I Heart Karachi’, which chronicles the individuals who put their lives at risk in the line of duty.

The documentaries have recently been premiered to much acclaim. I Heart Karachi will also be exhibited by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Films through private screenings which will be held until September 2014. The series is being screened in select government and private schools and colleges after which it will be aired through major broadcast channels nationwide.

‘I Heart Karachi’ documentary series consists of five short films, highlighting the struggle of Karachiites who risk their lives every day to make the city a better place to live. The unique series celebrates the efforts of these individuals who work in some of the most violence-prone areas of Karachi yet actively respond to violent extremism through positive action. These individuals include Dr Seemin Jamali, head of emergency at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre; Zafar Ahmed, firefighter; Shahid Anjum, crime reporter; Naseem Muneer (late), polio worker; and Abid Farooq, bomb disposal squad in-charge of the West zone.

Season 7 of the Coke Studio is set to launch in September. The new season aims at furthering the platform’s identity as that which explores new influences while paying homage to the country’s heritage and legacy but this time in a new production context.

Coke Studio Season 7 welcomes Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia of Strings as the show’s producers. They bring forth a new season of live performances with a diverse line-up of pop, rock, folk and sufi artists from different genres.

Ranging from traditional eastern, modern eastern and regionally inspired pop, rock, sufi, folk and qawalli music, this season pays homage to the ‘Sound of the Nation’. The Season 7 will delve into new genres while also touching upon the role that film music has had in defining our musical history by visiting Pakistani film music within Coke Studio context.

This Season 7 will feature some of Pakistan’s most prolific mainstream, traditional and upcoming artistes including: Abbas Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, Abrarul Haq, Akhtar Chanal Zahri, Asrar, Fariha Parvez, Humera Channa, Javed Bashir, Jawad Ahmed, Jimmy Khan, Komal Rizvi, Meesha Shafi, Momin Durrani, Naseer Shahab, Niazi Brothers, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Rachel Viccaji, Rahma Ali, Sajjad Ali, Sanam Saeed, Sara Haider, Usman Riaz, Ustad Raees Khan, Ustaad Tafu Khan, Zoe Viccaji and Zoheb Hasan.

The power house band this season includes: Aahad Nayani on drums, Babar Ali Khanna on dholak, Imran Akhoond on guitars, Jaffer Ali Zaidi on keyboard, Khalid Khan on bass, Sikandar Mufti on percussions with Momin Durrani, Rachel Viccaji and Sara Haider as backing vocalists. — Shoaibahmed1964@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, August 31th, 2014