Yes, I’m taking a break from old films right now, so I’m once again going through YouTube’s endless supply of Pakistani mujras – and I have found a few I think are worth posting…
First up, here’s Sidra Noor dancing to a rermix of the song “Meri Ke Ber.” The original version of this song was composed by Roshan, sung by Asha Bhosle, and danced to by Aruna Irani in Anokhi Raat. I actually like this remix quite a bit. I am not sure, but I think the musical artist and the dancer in the “official” video are the same woman, Sanobar. But, while I like the sound, I don’t like Sanobar’s video much – it’s the usual slick post-MTV/Britney-influenced kind of stuff. (Sanobar’s supposed to be a good dancer but ugh, the production and styles…) As is often the case, I found a Pakistani stage mujra that I like much more. Also, I do like this dancer, Sidra Noor. I have previously seen her dancing to a bunch of songs by the Pashto singer Nazia Iqbal – but this material here is very different from that! And her mujra here is extremely lively…
Now, I’m not sure who’s dancing in this next mujra, but I think it is very nice, and I also like the costume a lot. (On repeated viewings, I am thinking that she does look a bit like one of my favorite mujra dancers, Nargis. But I’m not always that good at telling from this distance.) I will identify the source of the music for this one if there’s anyone out there who doesn’t know what it is, because even I knew instantly, even though I don’t know all that much about Bollywood films of the past decade (though it does help me to remember a song when the original dancer was Madhuri Dixit)…
And last for now, here’s a genuinely good dance by Saima Khan. As it says in the title, she can dance! She is more generally known for doing far more risque stuff, and I think she was the first of the popular Pakistani stage mujra dancers to stage deliberate wardrobe malfunctions in front of the camera, which got her into some trouble. Some stuff that I read was pretty shocking – getting banned is one thing, but this woman got shot. Apparently, a couple of years ago, some people went after her with guns and injured her pretty badly, causing her to retreat for a while. By all accounts I’ve read so far (and I did do some research), her attackers were either jealous show business rivals or Islamic fundamentalists, but nobody really knows which! I have seen that she is now making a comeback, which is nice. Meanwhile, as I was saying, this dance that follows is not controversial; it’s something a bit different, downright classical…
Nice selection of murjas. I think I like the first one best. A very energetic and enjoyable dance. Although, it appears to have been filmed in somebody’s living room. Definitely very anti-MTV. I’ve always liked the original remix by Sanobar even though she appeared to be trying to imitate Cristina Aguilera in that video. And now I like the original by Aruna Irani even more! What a great song. I didn’t know it went that far back. Thanks for researching and posting the links for the other versions. Good work, Richard.
You’re welcome Mister Naidu, and thank you for the nice words.
Yes, the first mujra is definitely anti-MTV-looking – that’s one thing I like about a lot of these. And btw, that’s a good point re. Sanobar as Christina Aguilera!
Hey nice collection. Where’re you from Richard? Are you Indian? or Pakistani?
Thank you, Pakistani Mujra. No, I’m neither Indian nor Pakistani, although I have lived for several years near “Little India’ in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY (with a proximity to Indian and Pakistani movies and foods that is not exactly a coincidence :) )… I was born and raised in The Bronx, New York City, USA. I say more about my background in my “About” page (though I really feel that I should revise that again at this point) and on the left side of my YouTube page.