PAKISTAN - PUNJABI FILM DANCER NIDA CHAUDHARY - 'Seene Naal' - SINGER: NASEEBO LAL

Murja is an fascinating part of the heritage of the northern Subcontinent. This Nida Chowdry performance of 'Seene Nal' song by Naseebolal from the Pakistani film 'Papu Lahoria' film is a mix of Mughal tradition, Punjabi Theatre and Pushto Belly Dance. This show is a VCD of Nida Chowdry which is part of the wide selection of modern studio or stage show MUJRA [entertainment dance] videos on the market in Pakistan. ORCHESTRATION The backing song is from the sucessful Punjabi movie 'Papu Lahoria' [clan master's name] from 2003. It is based on Western Pop Song FORM [sections over time]: Intro + Chorus (I)* + Bridge 01 + Verse (V)** + Chorus (I)* + Bridge 02 + Verse (V)** + Chorus (I)*. No CODA [ending section - just a repeat of the chorus]. The intro and bridges are long to facilitate dancing. * The chorus is on the TONIC or (I) 'home' note area - 'doh'/'sa'. ** The verse is on the DOMINANT or (V) fifth note 'away' area 'doh'/'pa'. These MODULATIONS [movement of tonal area in a piece to give variety and sense of 'movement'] are typical of Subcontinent film song form. Tafo is the composer of the piece. He is an outstanding PERCUSSIONIST [plays intruments you hit]. Mr. Tafo's composing style thus springs from PERCUSSION rather than melody. He produces some talented rhythmic songs that are quite 'suggestive' [or seen as 'vulgar' by some]. The songs are often not strong in melody or lyrical value, but they have great rhythm for Punjabi dance and they are a lot of fun in cinema songs and mujra stage shows. The ENSEMBLE is shaped mainly by economics. In the earlier days all of the instruments were ACCOUSITC [live]. But by the 1990s the cinema attendances began to fail, like everywhere. Music directors in Pakistan began to replace the ACCOUSTIC orchestra with electronic keyboard samples. This works in terms of cutting costs but may have damaged cinema by making the film songs sound 'wrong' but the audience doesn't know what is 'wrong' - there are no instruments, just harsh electronic samples. On the positive side, some good songs like 'Seene Nal' have been produced in a new style that is different from the 1980s or 1970s. The only live instruments in 'Seene Nal' is some of the PERCUSSION. There are TABLA [Indian hand floor drums tuned to (I) + (V)]; DHOLAK [Punjabi double-headed floor drums tuned to (I) + (V)]; plus some other traditional Punjabi PERCUSSION to add some ACCOUSTIC ambience to the electronics and local character. There is also a lot of interaction between electronic drum machine and traditional PERCUSSION. The melody instruments are all electronic sounds of strings, flutes, reed instruments to imitate SHEHNAI [traditional OBOE] and a sound like a SANTOOR [strings over a box played with small hammers]. The electronic 'orchestra' just follows the same orchestration ideas as decades before with strings playing CADENCES [musical full stops] to signal the end of sections and beginning of sung phrases, plus strings running up and down scales for CADENCES plus for excitement and a sense that there is 'movement' pushing the song on. The bridges are extended with a lot of non-organic material which is IDIOSYNCRATIC [a feature particular to] Pakistani film song composing. The drum parts and melody parts do not 'go together' and are just there to 'fill in' between the singing sections. Naseebolal's voice may be 'The Last Great Voice of the Subcontinent'. The voice is raw and unsupressed of an energy and life that is rare in today's homogenous singers. The nasal RESONANCE [vibration giving tone colour] is typical of Pakistani Punjabi singers and may come from Punjabi pronunciation linguistics. Naseebolal can really project these songs which sound so 'simple' but take a lot of throat tightening, energy and subtle variation of tone on the repetition to 'get the song across'. VIDEO This is a typical Punjabi Pakistani Stage Show. This is live Mujra on the stage by dancing girls. The dancing itself is much less based on KATHAK [Indian court dance] as before and more influenced by Pushto Cinema, Bhangra and Belly Dance. The changing politics in Pakistan are reflected in such a 'liberal' dance routine and costume. The costume is a more brief version of typical Punjabi actress garb of Lachcha skirt and kameez shirt. The jewellery and embroidery are typically Lahorie. Modern Pakistani Mujra is a big industry, full of the life of the old Punjabi travelling theatres with a twist of belly dance and Pathan culture.