Thursday, October 10, 2024

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Bunche Hall, Rm 10383 & online

 

ABOUT THE PRESENTATION

Although qawwali is popularly considered a Sufi or devotional Islamic song type in South Asia, the Bombay cinema used it as a means of witty entertainment and light romantic expression in most movies, stretching it far from its ‘Islamicate’ identity. The song lyricists of Bombay composed a wide variety of qawwalis over the last 80 years, often borrowing from or parodying the popular Urdu verses of the masters like Ghalib, Jigar, Iqbal, and others. While filmi qawwali was one of the modes by which the classic Urdu poetry was made commonplace in South Asia, it is not necessarily all mystical or ‘Sufi’ in its content. Their lyrics ranged from devotional to romantic and celebratory to ludicrous, as illustrated through some song samples from Yousuf's digital archive of cinema qawwalis.

 

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Yousuf Saeed is an independent filmmaker, author and archivist of arts and culture in South Asia. His documentary films like Khayal Darpan, Basant, Campus Rising, and A Feast in Rampur have been shown at various international film festivals and venues. He is the author of Muslim Devotional Art in India (Routledge, 2019) and Partitioning Bazaar Art (Seagull, 2023). Yousuf manages several online archives such as TasveerGhar.net, Ektara.org, TasveereUrdu.in, and CineQawwali.in, among others. 

 

 

WEBINAR CODE WILL BE PROVIDED UPON REGISTRATION

 

REGISTER HERE

 

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, UCLA will honor requests for reasonable accommodations made by individuals with disabilities.
Requests can be fulfilled more effectively if notice is provided at least 10 days before the event.
Direct accommodation requests to mohammadi@ucla.edu.

 

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For any questions, please email us at CISA

 

 

Sponsor(s): Center for India and South Asia