It won’t be false to term Noori as an awami band, with more than a few of their video projects shot with Pakistan’s (read Lahore’s) masses being highlighted in their comfort zone — the streets and the sidewalks — a journey that started from Manwa Re to Jana Tha Hum Ne, leading to Mere Loge and now Madinay Main.
Directed and shot by Mandana Zaidi, this latest video is shot in high definition (HD) with a hand-held digital SLR camera. Shot in a span of two days and edited and colour corrected in another four, the four-minute long video was edited out of a total of around nine HD DVs.
It is apparent from the refined quality of this naat and the moving images that the camera managed to capture along with the raw energy — the old baba fixing his glasses to hints of Hamza in a red kurta, adding to the overall mystic atmosphere.
I may just be a sucker for the 50mm-esque depth of field and the bokeh in photo-terminology, but it’s not an easy task that Madinay Main has pulled off. Any shot or technical glitch that isn’t near perfect could and should be ignored as this was a personal challenge taken in the name of a series of experiments.
Ali Hamza’s recitation — in a nice, deep voice without much variation as far as the style goes — sort of ground the naat and make it seem glorious with grand visuals of the Badshahi Masjid, especially in juxtaposition with the silent street images of people going about their everyday lives.
