Ali Sethi recently launched his new song Chandni Raat, a beautiful medley that captured the hearts of people along with a fascinating video that has garnered appreciation everywhere.
Chandni Raat is the first song from Sethi’s anticipated new album. Produced in Los Angeles by Grammy-winning musician Noah Georgeson (‘Narcos’ OST), this Urdu ghazal builds upon a famous ‘sher’ or couplet from the late Saifuddin Saif. Drawing on his own experiences, Sethi collaborated with Lahore-based lyricist Shakeel Sohail to furnish the rest of the poem.
“I trained in ghazal singing for many years, and one of the things I noticed was how lightly people had begun to take the genre. Young people think a ghazal is a sad love poem! Actually the great ghazals are full of powerful messages – about love, war, God, social justice – that go all the way back to the Sufis.”
The video, which was directed by Sarmad Khoosat and Awais Gohar, shows a rundown glass house with broken windows and many stranded figures waiting inside it with their luggage. As the song progresses, we learn that these characters represent diverse segments of Pakistani society and have their own personal stories that echo the ghazal’s classic themes of Wasl (Union) and Firaaq (Separation). “We didn’t want to make huge, bold iconic statements in the music video,” Khoosat has said. “For me it’s people coming together, being unified without making it melodramatic.”
Published in Daily Times, March 3rd 2019.