Mekaal Hasan Band return to the foray with the all-star cast video of ‘Chal Bulleya’

by
Daniyal Laghari

They may have been streamed live into households via Pepsi’s Battle of the Bands, but the Mekaal Hasan Band has become a household name in its own right. Five years later MHB is releasing its second album Saptak, and has a fabulous new video out that’s the talk of the town.

Their new video, ‘Chal Bulleya‘, shot and directed by the talented Bilal Lashari, has a solid song to its credit. ‘Chal Bulleya’ is a classic Mekaal Hasan song with the traditional classic vocals by Javed Bashir, insane guitar riffs, and the magical flute by Ahsan Pappu.

Besides having solid food for thought content (a prominent factor in MHB videos); the video also has a star studded cast. ‘Chal Bulleya’ stars’ Meera, Aaminah Haq, Juggun Kazim, Moammar Rana, Rabia Butt, Kamiar Rokni and the EP men Fawad Khan and Ahmed Ali Butt.

This star studded cast has worked together in this rather ‘deadly’ (for lack of a better word) video to portray the Christian belief of the Seven Deadly Sins of society. The sins being:  lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. And the stars fit their roles like a glove, even though Mekaal denied that the cast was picked accordingly. “When we had finalized the concept and idea of the video we knew it would be big, and wanted big names, and these stars and models were excited and looking forward to working in a video of this stature,” said Mekaal; for his work is exceptional and is out of the box in comparison to other local videos. “The quality and detail of our videos speak for themselves.”

‘Chal Bulleya’ starts off with clock hands spinning very fast (showing the passing of time) and shows an old man, lying in a bed, which he evidently hasn’t moved from in the last year or so and is watching television. The song kicks in and the video moves on to another room with a different story.

The video is based in a hotel, with seven different characters, alone in seven different rooms; indulging in their own sin. They are all interlinked by a hotel maid (played by Juggun Kazim) who walks in and out of their rooms. She eventually weaves these characters together by being the last sin (envy) to this seven headed dragon of a video.

Rabia Butt and Tooba Siddiqui were perfect mistresses to the flamboyant Moammar Rana, depicting a threesome in the video’s portrayal of lust. Meera, lolling around in a bath tub overflowing with money, draping herself with diamonds, while ignoring her sick husband in bed, by far gives the best performance in the video.

When asked why Bilal had directed it and not Zeeshan, Mekaal said, “We chose Bilal for his different style and his attention towards detail. This doesn’t mean Zeeshan isn’t good, he’s good but his work has its own style to it and we needed Bilal’s insight on this.” The song was composed first and the concept of the deadly sins for the video was picked on the basis of the lyrics, that are Bulley Shah’s kaafi. There are four different verses and initially Mekaal wanted four different scenes to portray each of them, but the idea of the seven sins was far more appealing. Each character or sin in the video is portrayed in sync, with each line of the song. Now the contradiction; as the song talks about equality and the betterment of man kind, the video is portraying the exact opposite, and that contradiction itself is the beauty of this video.

“I have no intentions of being a social preacher and believe that my work holds more value and meaning to it than the pretentious surroundings of our society, and I want my work to portray just that,” says Mekaal of his latest work.

The collective star power, concept and the styling – the wardrobe for this video was done by Ammar Belal while Maram and Aabroo did the styling – has turned this slightly provocative, edgy and glamorous video into Mekaal Hasan Band’s biggest video. Not because of its budget but its sheer size and scope.

Whose brain child is it? Who takes the credit?  “Well no one really, though Bilal may capitalize on the fact that he did all the work and brought it all together, the final cut is owed to every member on and off the set for their suggestions,” says Mekaal.

After all, it is little things that make the big difference or is it the big celebrities in their little roles? ‘Chal Bulleya’ is the perfect combination of star power and attention to detail. Both the cast and the video itself has done wonders for Mekaal Hasan’s image and has uplifted the song. It should also be noted that Mekaal Hasan has done it again, he is a pioneer, and has taken Pakistani music videos to the next level. The video received 13,000 hits on YouTube within a couple of days and the comments are a treat to read as well.

“I don’t want the credit for this and I don’t think it’s all that big a deal, it’s my work, I’m proud of it and I want my country to be a proud part of it,” concludes Mekaal.

Source: Instep Today