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The colours of independence
On the night of August 8th, a mobile phone company sponsored ‘The Colours of Independence’ show at a local hotel. The pop sensation present was Fakhir Mehmood who gave his first unplugged performance. The timings were from 8:30pm onwards but as usual, like every other concert, this one was late as well by just an hour-and-a-half, which was commendable. The show began with the compere stepping on stage and after two retakes was ready for the show.
To add regional colour to the patriotic occasion, a folk singer known as Allan Fakir junior, Wahid Baksh, was invited. After singing two songs in the style of the late singer, the master of ceremonies was back on stage and read out the rest of the compering material handed to her. The audience completely ignored a few patriotic messages that were hastily read out due to the arrival of the pop star they had all come to watch. The compere took her exit and Fakhir Mehmood stepped on stage.
The singer first took off with an upbeat song, Marjawan. Throughout his hour’s performance, he kept the audience energized. The band played particularly well, especially the flautist and violin player. Fakhir sang well for an unplugged performance and the band complemented him, although in the latter part of the concert his exhaustion could be felt. Most of the songs were from his solo album, along with a few numbers from the golden days of Awaaz.
Regarding Fakhir’s performance, the concert was good. But then again, the message intended to be projected was not. The programme seemed to be an advertisement only. Besides two or three hastily read cleanliness messages from the anchorperson and two patriotic songs sung by the star of the show, there was no mention of independence and patriotism. What really would have made all the difference was if the Fakhir had made a statement or two about August 14. Throughout the show, there were a lot of messages and expressions of love and affection but little about love for the country. If the messages of unity and patriotism can’t be projected through these programmes, why give them the name?
After the concert was over, the people of the city that never sleeps were free to go home at 12:30am — an ‘early night’ for quite a few! A gentleman singing a patriotic number was giving out free national flags as souvenirs to all the guests, some of which were seen strewn across the floor in the premises of the concert and were probably left there to be stepped on and kicked about. However, the gentry were quite decent and it seemed to be a complete family affair. Due to the limited duration of the show, there was no margin for skirmishes and trouble. A deviated but peaceful affair.
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