A Borderline Case

In the many years following Partition,different aspects of life in India and Pakistan have been repeatedly studied by innumerable scholars. But in 2005,when the Delhi-based researcher and documentary filmmaker Yousuf Saeed was given a fellowship to go to Pakistan and study the classical music traditions there,he found that in this field at least,there was so much that lay undiscovered. After six months of research,Saeed put his material together and made a documentary called Khayal Darpan,which will be screened at the National Centre for Performing Arts on May 17.

“I had a fellowship to go to Pakistan and work on music,poetry and the poet Amir Khusro,” says Saeed. “But when I got there,I discovered some very interesting musical tradition which was affected by Partition. I started talking to teachers,scholars and a whole theme evolved slowly.” That changed his perception on the classical music scene in Pakistan and resulted in Khayal Darpan. The documentary has,since,been screened at a number of film festivals around the world,including Hong Kong,France,the US,and the Mumbai International Film Festival.

During his research in Pakistan,Saeed discovered that a large number of Muslim musicians moved to Pakistan after Partition. But the patronage to music reduced as the government was not particularly supportive of their talent. “There was talent but no patronage,” he explains. In recent times,however,he says,there has been a revival of sorts with young musicians taking interest in this classical art. “There are people who are trying to revive the scene,” says Saeed. “They hold concerts and institutions have also opened in Karachi,Lahore and Islamabad (the three cities Saeed travelled to while researching material for his film) to teach music.”

The documentary features artistes and scholars such as Fateh Ali Khan,Ghulam Hasan Shagan,Naseeruddin Sami,Badruzzaman,Sharafat Ali and Sarah Zaman. It has been screened at venues all over the world but Saeed says that he finds screening it in India most exciting. “Showing it in India breaks the stereotypes people have about Pakistan,” he says. “The music is important but I think it’s a political film in a way,too.”