You might have come across reels on Instagram featuring a strangely childlike, haunting voice singing Jis Din Se Piya Dil Le Gaye, a 1956 Madam Noor Jehan classic.
The sound in some of these reels has been transposed on graphics depicting the loneliness of someone whose sight haunts the distances as the past slowly rises in their chests. Some of these reels even feature Eminem, Peter Griffin, or Batman, all in poses solitary and contemplative of loss and dolour. The Batman in one of these, to give you an idea, is sitting transfixed in a raining parking lot, his mind borne elsewhere on this voice that seems well-suited to ponder the evanescence of things.
In other reels featuring the same voice, you might see the singer herself: a 23-year old, bespectacled girl from Layyah, whose voice as it lilts finds a hypnotic conductor in her expressive right hand. Rawish Rubab is one of the many singers in the current edition of Pakistan Idol, whose renditions of classics of Pakistan’s music industry has won both them and the almost-forgotten music new fans.
This season of Pakistan Idol started with much hype. It was being broadcast over multiple TV channels. Clips of its performances were being regularly uploaded by its official YouTube channel, gaining massive reach. At the same time, the episodes were available to stream both live and post-broadcast on Begin, the first well-funded entrant in Pakistani domestic streaming services, for free.
But most of all, it was the return of the Idol franchise to Pakistan. People who are routinely astonished at the realisation that people born in 2007 can now legally vote and drive would remember well the craze Indian Idol had on Pakistani TV screens in the 2000s. They might also remember the last iteration of Pakistan Idol, which was broadcast in 2013-14 to great popular acclaim, and the decade-long drought since.
There was good reason, then, to hail this renaissance. It’s what this Idol stands for that is a big part of it: a celebration of our musical heritage, which introduces younger and newer voices to be the custodians of that tradition. The newer forms of media, especially social media, have catapulted these singing performers – even though the show hasn’t ended yet – into mini stardoms of their own.
But what is behind this season? What are the different arrangements behind the scenes, and how is this edition of Pakistan Idol capitalizing on changing economies surrounding the smartphone and internet usage as well the music industry? And most importantly, how has this edition of Pakistan Idol managed to capture the collective national imagination in ways that previous iterations have not? The content in this publication is expensive to produce. But unlike other journalistic outfits, business publications have to cover the very organizations that directly give them advertisements. Hence, this large source of revenue, which is the lifeblood of other media houses, is severely compromised on account of Profit’s no-compromise policy when it comes to our reporting. No wonder, Profit has lost multiple ad deals, worth tens of millions of rupees, due to stories that held big businesses to account. Hence, for our work to continue unfettered, it must be supported by discerning readers who know the value of quality business journalism, not just for the economy but for the society as a whole.To read the full article, subscribe and support independent business journalism in Pakistan
