Yousuf Saeed in Boston University, Sept.2006

Indian films show students Asian culture - News

Khayal Darpan: A Mirror of Imagination

An Indian Filmmaker Journeys Through Classical Music in Pakistan: A Musical Documentary Film on DVD

Duration: 105 minutes
Language: Urdu/Hindi with English subtitles

Delhi-based filmmaker, Yousuf Saeed, spent over 6 months in Pakistan as part of a research fellowship to survey the classical music traditions. Traveling in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad - interviewing musicians and scholars, attending music concerts, and observing the teaching of music in various institutions, Yousuf not only managed to document some of the surviving practitioners and patrons of art music, but also raised many vital questions about cultural identity, nationalism, legitimacy of music in Islam, Pakistan’s popular culture and its affairs with India, and the survival of classical music itself in South Asia. This study resulted in a feature-length documentary film, featuring some well-known as well as many lesser known but talented musicians of Pakistan.

Some of the artists and scholars featured in the film are Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Ghulam Hasan Shaggan, Naseeruddin Sami, Badruzzaman, Sharafat Ali, Sarah Zaman, Raza Kazim, and Sarwat Ali, among others.

Yousuf Saeed has been making documentary films since 1990 for various channels and organizations on topics ranging from science and technology to arts and culture. His most recent short films Basant, Inside Ladakh, and The Train to Heaven have been shown at various Indian and international film festivals, academic venues and TV channels.

The film Khayal Darpan is available at https://cinemarg.gumroad.com/l/khayaldarpan 

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