Indus Blues

Indus Blues is a 2018 Pakistani documentary film produced and directed by filmmaker Jawad Sharif about the dying folk and classical musical instruments of cultures in Pakistan and the struggle of musicians and craftsmen. The film was premiered in August 2018 at Regina International Film Festival in Canada and nominated for the Best International Documentary Film Award.[1][2] The official trailer has been released in October 2018 in Pakistan.[3][4]

Indus Blues
Film poster
Directed byJawad Sharif
Produced byJawad Sharif
Zeejah Fazli
Arieb Azhar
Adeel Malik
Mohsin Reza Naqvi
Written byHaroon Riaz
StarringMai Dhai
Krishan Laal Bheel
Faqir Zulfiqar
Ejaz Sarhadi
Sachu Khan
Zohaib Hassan
Ustad Ziauddin
Music byVarqa
Agha Ibrahim Akram
CinematographyAsmat Bashir
Edited byJawad Sharif
Asmat Bashir
Release date
  • August 2018 (2018-08) (Regina)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryPakistan
LanguageUrdu
English

The film won awards the Grand Jury Prize for the Crystal Award at Guam International Film Festival 2018 and the Best Documentary Feature and Best Cinematography Awards at the Jaipur International Film Festival.[5][6] The film was selected for the CPH:DOX Documentary Film Festival 2019, Denmark[7]

Synopsis

The film starts with a showcase of classical folk music as it travels in Pakistan from Moenjodaro to the Makran Coast. The soundtrack for this part of the film includes instruments such as Boreendo, Alghoza, and Banjo. Moving to Sui, Baluchistan for Suroz, Cholistan for Raanti, Gilgit-Baltistan for Chardha, Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Sarinda, and finally to Lahore for Sarangi.[8]

The cast of the film consisted of the musicians and craftsmen describe their plight of barely surviving in a society intolerant to their art and craft. They recount their experiences and the treatment they have received by people around them, reminding them that they are social outcasts who are looked down upon. They reveal that religious bigotry is a factor in terms of marginalizing them and it is connected to the lack of patronage and economic problems of these artists. With all these factors combined, and with some of the last custodians of the art remaining, the future of the indigenous musical instruments in Pakistan remains in peril.[9]

Cast

Mai Dhai - Folk Artist
Krishan Laal Bheel – Folk Artist
Faqir Zulfikar – Boreendo Player
Ejaz Sarhadi – Sarinda Player
Sachu Khan – Suroz Player
Zohaib Hassan – Sarangi Player
Sattar Jogi – Murli Been Player
Mumtaz Ali Sabzal – Banjo Player
Gulbaz Karim – Chardha Player
Akbar Khan Khamisu – Alghoza Player
Ustad Ziauddin – Sarangi Craftsman
Ibrahim Hajano – Alghoza Craftsman
Muhammad Jan – Suroz Craftsman
Shafqat Karim – Chardha Craftsman
Nighat Chaudhary – Classical Dancer
Saif Samejo – Folk & Sufi Artist
Arieb Azhar – Folk & Sufi Artist
Faqeer Juman Shah – Folk & Sufi Artist

Production

The film took four years to complete with only the post-production taking up to two years and was shot across Pakistan from Gilgit-Baltistan to Sindh and the Makran Coast.[10] Jawad Sharif also has stated that "Independent cinema will send the message that our TV Dramas could not."[11]

Reception

Omair Ali wrote for Wire.in that "As much as the documentary shows the joy that the music brings, it is situated in the bleak atmosphere of a conflict-ridden society, where the musicians are forced to talk of their relatives wounded by mortar shelling, or confronted by villagers accusing them of immoral practices. The pleasure of music, of older, generous traditions is – in the documentary – a small pool of cool water in an increasingly thirsty land."[12]

Dr.Nazir Mehmood wrote in the Daily News about the film:"Now ‘Indus Blues’ has taken up the challenge to document near-extinct music and musicians. This is groundbreaking in the sense that, prior to this movie, no other director or producers had ever attempted to highlight the issues faced by our folk musicians and instrument-makers, and how they are trying to keep their art and craft alive."[13]

Awards and nominations
YearAwardCategoryResult
2018Guam International Film FestivalCrystal Award Best Feature DocumentaryWon[14]
Spotlight Documentary Film AwardsGold AwardWon[15]
South Film and Arts Academy FestivalBest Documentary FeatureWon
Regina International Film FestivalBest Documentary FeatureNominated[16]
Top Indie Film AwardsBest Documentary FeatureWon
2019Mind the Indie Film FestivalBest Documentary FeatureWon[17]
Jaipur International Film FestivalBest Documentary Feature and Best Cinematography AwardWon[18]

References
  1. "Indus blues nominated for RIFFA". The Nation. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  2. Abbas, Afshan. "Pakistani Documentary 'Indus Blues' Nominated for International Film Award". Hip. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  3. Desk, Entertainment. "'Indus Blues' trailer explores different musical cultures across Pakistan". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  4. "Trailer of Indus Blues launched". The News International.
  5. Baloch, Sehar. "Pakistani documentary Indus Blues has won two awards in India". BBC Urdu. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  6. "Pakistani documentary wins two major awards at Jaipur International Film Festival". Daily Times. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  7. "Indus Blues to screen at Copenhagen International Documentary Festival". The News International.
  8. "Indus Blues". Indie Meme. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  9. Ehtesham, Amna. "Director hits the right note with film on folk music". Arab News. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  10. Sabeeh, Maheen. "Still got the Blues". The News. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  11. Kamal, Maahir. "An exclusive insight from Jawad Sharif, the director and producer of Indus Blues". APD Prime. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  12. Ahmad, Omair. "'Indus Blues' Documents Musical Traditions Dying out in Pakistan". The Wire. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  13. Mahmood, Dr.Naazir. "An elegy to music". The News International. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  14. "GIFF 2018 Crystal Award Recipients".
  15. "Spot Light Documentary Film Awards 2018".
  16. "Pakistani film 'Indus Blues' makes it to international film festival nominations". The News International.
  17. "Mind the Indie Film Festival 2019".
  18. "JIFF Awards 2019".
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