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A single, solitary lamp swings above them, spotlighting their pale faces momentarily by plain yellow light. The room is dark; dark enough to hide all the graffiti on the wall and the dirty corners of the room. There is a tall wooden table in the middle with two chairs across it on which they both are seated. No more furniture is in view.
You is making 'tick-tick' sounds with his ball-point pen who's end he keeps chewing with his incisors.
Me is drawing caricatures on her pad.
You's cell phone rings. Once. Twice. Thrice. Then it stops ringing.
You looks over at Me, who is sitting opposite him in oblivion. He nods. She notices him and takes out her laptop from her bag in answer. Meanwhile, You pulls over her pad, smiles at her when he sees Zardari's caricature and turns back a few pages to the list.
Me scrolls through her play lists. Eventually, she finds what she's been looking for. She looks at You.
You: Track number 1, 'Sailing Fast'.
Me clicks the play button on the player...The video begins to play...
...And it's over.
Me: (smiles a tremor) So...What did you think of it?
You: (smiles back) Ladies first.
Me: (laughs out loud) Okay...I like it. It's nice.
You: That's all, you want me to write here?
Me: (winks) You can begin with it.
You: So...What else?
Me: I like the vocals. Actually, I love the vocals. There's this very elegance in the Hamza Jafri's voice. A couple of times, I felt it's Sonu Nigham gone all English. (laughs) Funny, though, but I did feel it. His notes are perfect. Quite perfect. The lyrics are good too. At times I didn't really get what he sang though, seemed sorta gibberish, but it was good all the way. He lacks clarity. But definitely not the potential! The best part about the vocals though, is the pride and the chronology of his pitch. His voice is very confident.
You: The melody...
Me: The melody is awesome. Best word to describe it. The drums are played well enough to mark their position above the guitars. I actually enjoyed Sikander Mufti's work a lot. The rhythm is synchronized well all together. Each instrument played its part well.
You: (smiles) And the video?
Me: Very unique. Honestly. The concept is very much alive throughout the video. It's natural, it's creative. Very well shot. I was strangely happy to see the band members are very good actors. The best part was how technically Japan was involved. Very stylish. I'm impressed.
You: Very good.
Me: What did you think of it?
You: Me? It was fun. Yeah. Haha. How simple is that?
Me: (laughs) And I was thinking I was very brief!
You: Nay, it was fine. Now, over to the next. Shall we?
Me: Why not?
You: (reads) Track number 2, 'Boundaries Broken'.
Me plays the video...
...And it's over.
You: (laughs) Hey, nice video!
Me: (laughs) Yeah.
You: Your remarks?
Me: I found the voice clarity perfect this time. Honestly speaking. Very natural. Somehow, I felt the music was not too unique, like I had heard it before. No offense. The video on the other hand, (laughs) blew me off! Who directs their videos? I want to meet that guy for sure! Another spectacular concept. And yes, again, the guys are very good a acting. I could give them an Oscar each for this!
You: Haha, I would go for a Grammy first!
Me: I'm glad to see Omran Shafique in the video this time too.
You: (winks) Yeah, yeah. I won't write that.
Me: I just mentioned it to you. Haha.
You: Anything else you want to add?
Me: Yeah. That the video overpowers the song. I was more interested in watching it than listening to it.
You: Ahaan...Shall we proceed to the next video?
Me: (smiles) Who's stopping you?
You: Track number 3, 'Third World Celebrity'.
Me plays the video within a second...
...And it's over.
You: Hmm...I found it very stereotypical.
Me: There's one thing I don't appreciate about these guys. The lyrics of their songs are somewhat not...my type; I don't know, they're too cliche. At times I don't even get how they conceived it. It's too over rated in a way. I hate to use such 'bad' words for them, since I'm a great fan, but I really couldn't help this time. I love the vocals, yet again. And Gosh, Omran and Sameer were simply awesome at their specific guitars. The drums were fine this time. Nothing too particularly amazing.
You: And the video? You think it was another masterpiece?
Me: Umm...Not really a masterpiece. There's one thing I would mention this time. I like how the members know how to make all their acts a true performance. It's a quality of a true band. I've had the opportunity to see them live once and man, that was one true performance! They involve themselves fully in everything. When Hamza's singing, he sings like this is it! Haha! Awesome. he has his own style when singing. But when he's simply playing the guitar, like with Mauj etc, he's so involved in himself and his instrument. Reclusion is one quality of a true artist. Omran does the same. His guitars are perfect. Alive. You can't take your eyes of his fingers when he's playing. Sikander does it sensationally. He plays as if he doesn't care. Haha.
You: (laughs) I agree.
Me: The video was well shot, on the whole. I saw creativity, and any good director would see that too, but the audience, I don't think they got the whole idea of it.
You: Okay...
Me: I can see it on your face, you're hungry.
You: (smiles cheesily) Yeahh..Had my breakfast at 9 in the morning today. Haven't eaten anything since.
Me: We can afford a tiny break here. The article's supposed to be in the magazine by next Monday, right. Won't take long.
You: Your orders, ma'am! (laughs)
Me: (laughs) Lets go, then.
Me packs her bag again as You clears the table for her. They leave the room, leaving a note stating 'Be right back' on the table and turning off the only lamp that made the room visible.
