Naseebo Lal is the new target for Pakistan’s hypocritical bigots, says Raza Rumi

Not far from where the Lahore High Court is hearing a moral policing plea against the ever-popular Punjabi singer Naseebo Lal and her cousin Nooran, a multitude of theatre houses dish out soft porn for the male consumers of verbal abuse. The Lahore theatre scene has denigrated into a contest for vulgarity of the most banal variety. The new age of Lahore theatre is nothing but a reinforcement of the worst of chauvinism where every woman is a sex object to be measured against her attributes in bed and her anatomical worth

Naseebo Lal emerged as a star from her early performances. Her earthy and soulful voice was an instant hit throughout the country, especially in the Punjab. After the exit of Madame Noor Jehan from the film industry, Naseebo was greeted as a long-awaited monsoon by Lollywood’s producers and directors. This was also the end of Naseebo’s innovativeness and range, as she was meant to fill a void, and she was made to sing in a similar vein. Bawdy Punjabi numbers where Mutiars yearn and chase love and lovers, were all now handled with much aplomb by Naseebo. Whether you like her voice or not, she is very noticeable.

Unlike Reshman, Naseebo’s voice had the dexterity to be a mainstream film voice. In the process of commercialisation, she was transformed into a thin version of Madame with glamorous apparel and a makeover that, alas, was not the innate style of the glorious Madame. Nevertheless, it was good to see a new talent from the nomadic margins of Punjab succeed at the national level. But then she was made to sing all sorts of numbers – from the tragic to lilting romantic songs, and from sizzling to downright innuendo-laden pieces. (more…)

My piece for TFT (May 15 issue)

Raza Rumi reviews 25 years of the Ajoka theatre group and describes how it has evolved into a powerful voice against terrorism and injustice

Madeeha Gauhar, the founder of the Ajoka theatre group, is a woman of conviction and passion. So is her husband and partner, the muse of Ajoka, Shahid Nadeem. Seldom have talent and commitment been so well enmeshed and intertwined with contemporary realities and political struggles. Theirs has been an extraordinary union – a meeting of minds and convergence of political and cultural expression. Small wonder, that the Ajoka couple have successfully refined and expanded the frontiers of street theatre in Pakistan.

Theatre -of folk and nautanki varieties – is embedded in the myriad cultures of South Asia since ancient times. Early carvings and engravings indicate the performative mores of the inhabitants of this region. Over centuries the art forms evolved and absorbed the influences of invaders, new cultures and languages. In the subcontinent, the streams of progressive theatre found a new expression in the twentieth century with the legendary Bombay and Calcutta based groups such as the Indian People’s Theatre Association inspired by the ideologies of the Left. The existence of theatre with meaning continued side by side with the colonial influences that introduced Victorian sensibilities, led to adaptations of Shakespeare, and the localisation of other trends that were shaping in modern Britain and Europe. (more…)