Australian Broadcasting (ABC) has shot a story and will be airing it on the 5th of October:
A sneak preview can be seen at: (real player required)
Preview Documentary - Pak Rock
Apart from Junoon, Fuzon will also be in it, along with footage from their first ever tour to India.
Someone down under, please record it and send it to me!
*Synopsis
At a rock concert in a suburban loungeroom in downtown Karachi, reporter Geoff Thompson mingles with the generation who could change the future direction of their country.
“Musharraf rules!”, a teenage girl tells Thompson. Dressed like any fashionable young woman in the west, Nariman says: “We love him – he’s the only person in power in Pakistan we’ve ever been able to relate to.”
The kids appreciate Musharraf because he’s opened up the country to outside influences and loosened the stifling grip of the clerics – at least in the cities. Even conservative rural areas aren’t entirely immune either – satellite tv has seen to that, with Baywatch and its ilk beamed into the most remote outposts.
Salman Ahmad, one of Pakistan’s best-known rock musicians, tells Thompson: “We’ve had the most freedom of expression since Musharraf came to power in 1999 – you can say anything, do anything, get up on stage and play anywhere.”
Thompson and cameraman Michael Cox film Salman and his band, Junoon, as they perform at a huge concert in Karachi. Junoon are Pakistan’s rock and roll superstars, selling 20 million records worldwide and boasting multiple number one hits in Pakistan and neighbouring India. They were the first Pakistani rock band to tour India – creating a big push for peace between the two countries. Musharraf was quick to ride their success, appearing onstage with the band.
Thompson and Cox also spend time with a young new band, Fuzon, who are following in Junoon’s footsteps. Fuzon blend pop rock with classical Pakistani music and Sufi Muslim poetry, and they’re huge in Pakistan. Their first song was number one on the charts for seven months.
Fuzon travel to India, and the Foreign Correspondent team go with them. It’s Fuzon’s first time visiting the nuclear rival across the border, and the boys from the band can’t quite believe how benign it all seems. “This place, the people, the weather – everything’s just the same. I feel like we never left home,” says lead singer Shafqat.
The concert goes down a treat with the locals, and Fuzon even manage an onstage impromptu jam with a top Indian band – language barriers proving no obstacle to a mutual love of music. If only the politics were as easy.
*