Fuzon: Khamaj: The Video

The song and it’s beauty led me to the video. The quality of the video compliments the song and its words. The striking thing about the video is the almost same script as the Guru Dutt film, Kagaz ke Phool, starring Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman. Not the same in effect, no doubt. What Guru Dutt achieved in about 3hrs of Kagaz ke Phool cannot equate in effect to the five minutes of the Khamaj video.

I searched the web for some more information about the director / cinematographer, half expecting to see that someone associated or linked to Kagaz ke Phool may have created, or rather, re-created this video.

I came across a very detailed and informative review by Muniba Kamal, writing in ‘The News International’, Pakistan. The full article is posted on another website, which follows Pakistani Pop Culture, called PakiPop.

Excerpts from the article:

At the end of the day, “Khamaj” is a miniature of the first half of “Kaagaz Ke Phool”. The scenes with Zara Sheikh coming in for audition is reminiscent of Waheeda Rehman walking into the studios for the first time. The original shots are those of the choreographer and Zara dancing together. The premiere of “Khamaj” is almost a carbon copy of the one Guru Dutt had created for his magnum opus, right down to Zara Sheikh’s dress, which Faiza Samee has remade with a bit more glitter than the original. The five-minute film deviates from the script of “Kaagaz Ke Phool”, where Guru Dutt has an accident, but does not die, instead Waheeda tries to nurse him back to health, he turns her away and survives to become an embittered man only dying in old age. This gives him the chance to pose dramatically while the gorgeous Kaifi Azmi song “Dekhi Zamaane Ki Yaari, Bichchde Sab Hi Baari Baari” plays on. In “Khamaj”, Shaan dies right after dropping Zara Sheikh off from the premiere. But then death comes quicker in five-minute videos.

Related entry: Fuzon: Khamaj – A nice bit of music