interview
Sarang Latif has been blessed with the
chance to view the Pakistani music industry from a very unique vantage point. The
youngest offspring of legendary Sufi singer Abida Parveen and renowned Radio
Pakistan producer Ghulam Hussain Sheikh, Sarang was born into a family with deep
ties to the musical realm. It was inevitable then that he’d be drawn into the
world of music as well, a journey he started in 2013 as a producer; he has since
worked with various artists and multinational companies. Now he is pouring his passion
for the craft into a new project, Bazm e
Rang, which is all set to premiere on Eid-ul-Fitr this year.
Conceived, directed, and produced by Sarang
himself, the venture takes the shape of a series of songs which are being released
online and feature his mother as the main artist. The set will find Abida
Parveen performing her tracks both as a solo artist and in collaboration with
other renowned singers.
The idea for the project was born out of
admiration for Abida Parveen’s music. “Ammi has done more than 138 albums,
MashaAllah,” Sarang gushes, “and I had always wanted to experiment with her
music. I had been planning Bazm e Rang
for the last five to six years but just couldn’t put together all the pieces of
the puzzle until now. I guess there’s a time for everything!”
The first chapter of Bazm e Rang will begin airing in June, and will comprise of ten
songs, one of which will be unveiled at a time. Kicking things off will be the
track ‘Parda Dari’ featuring Atif Aslam. Other names that will lend their
vocals to upcoming releases include Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Waqar Ehsan, Jabir
Abbas, Khurram Waqar, Qasim Azhar, and the band Khamaaj.
“I wanted different renowned music artists
to collaborate with Ammi, singing her very own compositions,” says Sarang. “Unfortunately,
what most people still don’t know is that 99% of the kalaams that my mother has
sung in her entire life were composed by her, and she has set a world record
for having composed hundreds of kalaams.”
A quest to revisit those kalams and see
them in a new light as well as the chance to create new songs led to the
production of the web series. The words of celebrated ancient poets and Sufis will
form the basis of the songs. “Ammi has selected poetry by the likes of Hazrat
Bedam Shah Warsi r.a, Hazrat Shah Niaz Barelvi r.a, Hazrat Baba Bulleh Shah
r.a, Hazrat Baba Zaheen Shah Taji r.a, Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai r.a,
Hazrat Amir Khusro r.a, Hazrat Maulana Rumi r.a, Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti r.a,
Faiz Ahmad Faiz sahab, Gulzar sahab, Hazrat Ghalib, and Sabir Zafar sahab.
Amanat Ali and myself have arranged the music for the whole project.”
The series really was a labour of love for the
producer who says he took the initiative all on his own, and made the whole
thing without any sponsors whatsoever. Unable to find the appropriate venue for
filming the performances, Sarang, along with his wife Shireen Benazir Bijarani,
came up with the idea of building the set at his own studio hall. The production
was handled by his friends at Placid Films, who “understood the concept really
well and worked extremely hard at odd times” to make the series happen.
The songs are being released online not
just because of the high expenses that would have been required to release the
set on television, but because the producer feels that “people are more into
YouTubing and Facebooking rather than watching TV, so it felt more appropriate
to release it online so that people can watch it whenever they want.”
Sarang says that working on the project was
a remarkable experience, not just for himself but clearly for everyone else who
was part of the team as well. “There are many memorable incidents that happened
during the project, but the one that touched my heart the most was during a
shoot, when Ammi was singing. One of the cameramen, Tayyab, left his camera
unintentionally and started listening to her, forgetting his job totally and
then all of a sudden everybody noticed him sitting down without his camera, lost
in Ammi’s soulful voice.”
The impact of Abida Parveen’s voice is
something Sarang has been experiencing first hand since he was a child. “When
she used to do rehearsals at home, Ammi’s voice used to give me goosebumps. I
always tried to sit beside her to watch her rehearse, as that would give me
some sort of satisfaction that can’t be expressed in words.” And what was it
like growing up with the legendary singer as his mother? “Ammi was always
strict and really busy, but it was always inspiring to see her work so hard,”
he recalls. “Her passion and dedication towards her work along with my father
used to have a great positive impact on me and I would always think that one
day I would also be working like her with passion.”
As the first set of songs awaits its release,
Sarang has already started working on the second chapter of Bazm e Rang. He wants the project to “cater
to people of all ages – teenagers, middle-aged, and even old people” and “act
as therapy for the mind, body, and soul”. And he hopes that the project will help
him honour his mother. “With this platform, I would like to express my gratitude
to my mother and say to her that I am truly proud of her. She is my source of
inspiration, she is the only reason behind Bazm
e Rang. I thank Allah for blessing me with such an amazing mother.”
- Sameen Amer
Images, Dawn - 8th June, 2019 *
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