Featuring - Jawad Sharif Films

CAST

Arieb Azhar

Arieb Azhar is one of the most prominent contemporary folk and Sufi singers and songwriters in Pakistan. Son of the late Aslam Azhar, who is remembered as the architect of television broadcasting in Pakistan, Arieb inherited a rich tradition of arts and culture in his family. Inspired by folk and Sufi music from an early age, his music reflects an attractive and approachable fusion of Western Rock and traditional music of Punjab and Sindh.

Nighat Chaudhary

Nighat Chaudhary is the leading classical Kathak dancer of Pakistan. Born and raised in the United Kingdom, she moved to Pakistan to practice and promote her passion of classical dance. She is currently teaching classical Kathak dance in Lahore. However, her art has been under attack since the Islamization during the Zia regime in Pakistan. In modern Pakistan, she remains to be one of the few beacons of hope resisting social taboos and keeping the tradition of classical dance alive.

Saif Samejo

Saif Samejo is the lead vocalist and songwriter of the Sketches band. Samejo is known for his cultural activism and revivalism of the folk music, with Sindhi music as his primary area of interest. Founder of the Lahooti Melo festival, he is credited for bringing ancient Sindhi musical instruments such as Boreendo, Chang and Kamacho to the modern spotlight.

Krishan Laal Bheel

The head of the Bhakti musical troupe of the Bheel tribe of Cholistan, Krishan Laal Bheel is the leading Merwari artist in Pakistan. Bheel’s troupe is known for its Bhakti music, using traditional insturments such as the Manjeera used in Hindu chanting rites. Introduced in a popular show of Pakistan Television in the late 70s, Krishan Laal Bheel has since become an essential feature in folk music shows in the country.

Faqeer Juman Shah

A devotee of the Sindhi saint and Sufi poet Shah Abdul Lateef Bhittai, Faqeer Juman Shah has been playing and teaching his music for more than 30 years. Faqeer Juman masters the Dambura, an instrument similar to the Tanpura, patronized by Bhittai himself. Faqeer teaches the “Wai,” a raga that the devotees chant at the Bhittai shrine every day, keeping a centuries old tradition alive.

Musicians

Murli Been

Sattar Jogi

Sattar Jogi from the Jogi community is keeping an ancient tradition alive that is specific to his own community. For an instrument that is not sold publicly, he bears a heavy responsibility on his shoulders including the others from his community. However, this rich symbol of the heritage of the Indus is fading gradually.

Suroz

Sachu Khan

One of the most legendary folk and semi-classical Suroz players in the history of Pakistan, Sachu Khan is a towering figure in the local musical tradition. He started his career in the 1970s with Radio Pakistan Quetta. He has represented Pakistan with several folk troupes around the world. Currently, his health has been overshadowed by heart disease.

Sarangi

Zohaib Hassan

Zohaib Hassan is the leading name among the handful of Sarangi players left in Pakistan. Hailing from the Amritsar clan, Zohaib is the grandson of Ustad Hussain Baksh Amrtisari who migrated to the heart of the walled city of Lahore from the eastern Punjab city in modern day India. The tradition of the Sarangi is linked with classical dance used to be practiced in the Shahi Mohalla of Lahore.

Sarinda

Ejaz Sarhadi

Ejaz Sarhadi is the only Sarinda player left in Pakistan and is a master of his craft. He is the son of the legendary Muneer Sarhadi, who along with his father Pazeer Khan, is credited for popularizing the musical instrument in the mainstream of folk music in both Pakistan and United India. Ejaz Sarhadi’s son has opted to learn the saxophone instead of the Sarinda.

Balochi Banjo

Mumtaz Ali Sabzal

Multiple award winner Mumtaz Ali Sabzal is an expert craftsman of the Balochi Banjo while being a maestro of the instrument. He comes from the founder family of the instrument based in Lyari and followed his father’s advice to learn to craft the instrument. Today, he crafts a banjo in a month and a half and also prepares them with the addition of a Swarmandal. He also has plans to create a new musical instrument derived from the Banjo and the Veena.

Chardha

Gulbaz

Gulbaz is a Sufi vocalist and Chardha player representing the Wakhi Pamiri musical tradition. Gulbaz mostly plays the Sufi poems of the Iranian saint Pir Nasir Khusrow, which are accompanied by the beat of the duff, a local percussion instrument. While based in Karimabad, Gulbaz is affiliated with an Islamabad based Wakhi Sufi band called Bazm-e-Laka.

Raanti

Ajmal Laal Bheel

Ajmal Bheel is a member of the troupeof the folk artist Krishan Laal Bheel. In addition to being a Raanti player, he also crafts the instrument that is only played by the people of the Merwari culture. Raanti is only crafted by this community based in the Daddi Karam Khatto village in Rahimyar Khan in Pakistan.

Alghoza

Akbar Khamisu Khan

Akbar Khamisu Khan is the son of the legendary Alghoza player Khamisu Khan, who dominated the folk scene in the 1970s and the early 80s. After the death of his father, Akbar Khamisu Khan started his career in administration in Radio Pakistan and was later designated as an official Alghoza player.

Boreendo

Faqeer Zulfikar

Faqeer Zulfikar is the only known Boreendo player in Pakistan. He also plays the Narr, a Sindhi variant of the flute, as well as the Damburi, which is a smaller version of the Dambura but played like a Rabab. The son of Sindhi folk artist Mir Muhammad, who was the recipient of Pride of Performance Award, Zulfikar is singlehandedly keeping the ancient tradition of Boreendo alive.

Craftsmen

Sarangi

Ustad Ziauddin

Torchbearer of a tradition a couple of centuries old, Ustad Ziauddin is arguably the most capable Sitar maker in Pakistan. Winner of the Presidential Pride of Performance Award, Ziauddin is the son of Ustad Sher Muhammad, who had been one of the most prolific Sitar craftsmen of United India. Ustad Ziauddin also happens to be the only credible Sarangi craftsman in Pakistan.

Chardha & Ghizhek

Shafqat Karim

A former cop, Shafqat Karim was born to be a craftsman and master woodworker. He is a hunter, a taxidermist, and a carpenter as well. Shafqat Karim taught himself to craft musical instruments to find his true calling after taking the brave step of quitting his government job, despite resistance from his family. He saw a gulf of traditional music in Hunza during the years he started off and sought to fill it with his contribution.

Balochi Banjo

Mumtaz Ali Sabzal

Boreendo

Allahjurriyo Kambhar

Allahjurriyo is the only known potter who can craft a Boreendo. His workshop is located in Keti Mir Muhammad Village in the Badin district in Sindh. The over-70-year-old potter crafts the Boreendo for Saeen Zulfikar who tunes it by drilling holes in the clay vessel. He is thought to be the only master craftsman of Boreendo left in Pakistan.

Suroz

Muhammad Jan

One of the two Suroz players left in Eastern Balochistan, the young Muhammad Jan crafts Saroz. Muhammad Jan also sings and plays the Dambura on the side. He is the son and student of Thango Khan who crafted the original instrument played by legendary Balochi artist Sachu Khan, featured in the Indus Blues project.

Alghoza

Ibrahim Hajano

A student of the illustrious Ustad Khamisu Khan, Ibrahim Hajano crafts the Alghoza, which has become synonymous with the culture of Sindh. He had learned to craft this instrument in a period of one year in his teens. A passionate soul, Hajano loves his craft and makes the instrument for his teacher’s son Akbar Khamisu Khan.