Simpler More Endearing: Jaanan by Hadiqa & Irfan (Review)
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After a long hiatus, Hadiqa Kiani and Irfan Khan have come up with a beautiful and soulful Pashtu melody Jaanan. With a glamorous Pashtu makeover by Khawar Riaz and wardrobe by Munib Nawaz, Jaanan has a typical Pashtu touch to it. Hadiqa has a totally changed and fresh look with her traditional style, which is entirely different from her extremely westernized “Sohniya” looks. The male model looks like a typical Pathan with his Swati Cap (Pakol) and shawl.
Being a very simple and beautiful video, Jaanan has captured the hearts of many people, mostly Pashtu community. Apart from the male model, the female model looks gorgeous too, with her heavy jewelry and weighty dress. With a remarkable directorial attempt by a new comer Jovi, it’s a glitzy attempt. The transition from a very modern and westernized make over to a complete traditional one seems a bit strange, but much better this time. Hadiqa possess a supernatural ability to adapt her vocals to diverse accents. Remember her “Bohe Barian” in Punjabi, “Az Chashme Saqi” in Persian, “Living This Lie” in English and “Mane Di Mauj” in Kashmiri, all brilliantly prove this. Hadiqa herself speaking about Jaanan
“So far the music video has had decent feedback, which is mostly due to the song which has gained over a half a million views on YouTube, but for the negative comments regarding the simplicity of the video, well the goal was for a simple beautiful video that people could actually watch. (I am especially referring to the more conservative Pashto households) it’s not a “shocking video” but an acceptable video for the majority of Pakistan, unlike Sohnya. Another thing is that the director is Jovi who is a new comer and the models are also new. I really want to promote the new talent of Pakistan, in order to enlighten the beautiful Pashto language and make it more mainstream. I have a few more songs coming up in Pashto with Irfan khan who is a very talented Pashto singer”.
The beautiful Pashtu song “Aye Sanama” by Khyal Muhammad was a soft melody, to which Irfan Khan added some more melody and color. The Urdu version “O Sanama” by Junaid Jamshed is even liked by millions of his fans. As far as Pashtu vocals are concerned, I feel Hadiqa has done an amazing job, but her vocals are a bit softer for Pashtu songs. As she herself mentions, that she has some more upcoming Pashtu songs with Irfan, she has to have vocals like Shakila Naz, Mahjabeen Qazalbash, Zarsanga and Mashoq Sultan for making her Pashtu songs more lucid. Anyhow, Jaanan is a stunning video with beautiful lyrics by Abdul Samad and music by Ali Mustafa. The album Aasman has much variety and diversification in it. Every song is different.
