The Rock Star and the Mullahs
Duration: 00:50:00 The lead singer of Pakistan's biggest rock group travels to Peshawar, where the local government has banned all music, and asks, "Why can't spirituality be expressed in pop song?" That's an issue that "The Rock Star & the Mullahs", a 50 minut...
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| Institution: | Open Society Archives at Central European University |
| Language: | Persian English |
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Macqueen, Angus
2003
United Kingdom |
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:bdc0528d-ac4b-4d00-82e0-df46755be247 |
| Summary: | Duration: 00:50:00
The lead singer of Pakistan's biggest rock group travels to Peshawar, where the local government has banned all music, and asks, "Why can't spirituality be expressed in pop song?" That's an issue that "The Rock Star & the Mullahs", a 50 minute documentary commissioned by the BBC sets out to explore. It follows Salman Ahmed, the charismatic lead singer of one of South Asia's biggest rock band 'Junoon' and a devout Muslim, who's concerned about his own country Pakistan's growing Islamic fundamentalism which condemns music as obscene. In this thought provoking film, Ahmad travels to Peshawar, where the local government, voted in on a wave of anti-Americanism, has banned all music. Ahmad confronts and challenges the Mullahs in Peshawar, he meets local musicians to see how they have been affected, he visits young men in madrassas (religious schools) to see what they think about music and finally he shows how the majority of people in Pakistan follow their religion. This is a film about Pakistan grappling with who it wants to be in the 21st centurym while some fear in the West that it may turn into another Taliban state. It is a contemporary film in style with a touch of politics and a mixture of sounds. |
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| Published: | 2003 |