Friday, April 3, 2015

The Dream Journey - Discovering Musicians Across Pakistan



The Dream Journey – Discovering Musicians Across Pakistan


Subhan Ahmed Nizami
A film about an exhilarating eight day journey of five friends with a shared passion for discovering and recording musicians in their living environments across Pakistan.

The sessions of in depth conversations and vocal musical performances recorded and filmed cover several musical forms in the Indo Pakistani tradition, including Thumri, Kaafi, Ghazal, Qawwali and Khyaal. The kalaams that the musicians drew from spanned the whole spectrum of great poets: Khusrau, Jalal ud din Rumi, Kabir, Baba Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah, Iqbal, Faiz and numerous mystic poets of India and Pakistan. The performances evoked memories of the verdant lushness of the Punjab, the haunting mysticism of the Great Rajputana and Sind Deserts, the vibrancy of Hazrat Nizamuddin’s Delhi, the great aura of Ajmer, the majestic beauty of the Indo-Gangetic plain.

Some of the musicians are established and famous, others are amongst the brilliant budding talent that adorns Pakistan’s musical scene. Each of the mehfils has a distinct atmosphere and mood, but there is a common thread. We asked each of the musicians to stay close to their respective inherited musical traditions, allowing the singers an opportunity to present some pieces that are rarely heard today.

Shafqat Ali Khan Qawwal
We are inspired to present the brilliance of this contemporary Pakistani vocal music to a wider audience in a documentary film of the journey and an additional series of HD audio/video releases of each Mehfil.

Featuring:

Mustafa Khan & Muhammad Shah
Hamza Akram 
Moiz & Ghayoor Ahmed
Ahmad Raza
Taj Muhammad & Shad Muhammad Niazi  
Subhan Ahmed Nizami
Ustad Abdullah Niazi & Waqas Niazi
Ustad Ameer Ali Khan & Imran Ali Khan
Ustad Farid Ayaz & Ustad Abu Muhammad
Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan
Ustad Abdullah Niazi Qawwal


Produced by:
Zain Mujtaba
with assistance from viewers like you.

Ustad Naseeruddin Saami
For more information:

Email : dreamjourneyfilm@gmail.com
Facebook : facebook.com/dreamjourneyfilm
Twitter : @dreamjourneyflm

For donations and Contributions, please go HERE.

5 comments:

  1. Can't wait to get my hands on this film. I have replayed the trailer maybe 10 times by now. And it was good to see you in there as well. I am sure that the director must have built a lot on your knowledge of the genre.
    One question though, can you please share the name/link of qawali being played around 1:45 in this video?

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    1. Thanks a lot for appreciating the trailer. The film is still at the nascent stage and a fundraising operation is underway to acquire financing so that we can release it in a manner befitting the wonderful journey. As for my involvement and my 'knowledge', trust me when I say, I was happy just to tag along with such a wonderfully passionate and knowledgeable group of people, my contributions are fairly minimal when compared with everyone else who was involved in the making of the Journey.

      The Qawwali at the 1:45 minute mark is "Surkh Aankhon Main Kaajal Ke Dorray", which Ameer Ali Khan sang for us. It was originally performed by him in his father's Qawwali party and was one of the favorites of our entire group and we had specifically requested him to sing it for us, which he graciously (and wonderfully) did. Here's the link to the original performance, Ameer Ali Khan sits to the extreme left of the group.

      https://playit.pk/watch?v=S7wsQloFS_s

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    2. Well you definitely know a lot about it and more importantly you are very passionate about the art. And that matters a lot in my humble opinion.
      Thanks a lot for the link. That's a very young Ameer Ali in there. But qawali is phenomenal.
      It breaks my heart when I think about the talent we have/had which never got the exposure or the life that these artists deserved.

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    3. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnoY5dwaz-8

      here is another one

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  2. this is amazing..!! this can be only appreciated by those whom actually know what is music.. i would love to see this film..its amazing effort!

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