Anam Abbas and Areeb Kishwar Usmani, who form music group Garam Anday and recently released their debut single ‘Maa Behn Ka Danda,’ get noticed for their patriarchy-slamming, part comedy, part reality infused song and video.
Making their debut with the single, ‘Maa Behn Ka Danda’, music group Garam Anday featuring Anam Abbas and Areeb Kishwar Usmani has taken on patriarchy head on as well as the question of public spaces, with comedy injected.
They’ve made it to a poll run by Express Tribune for Song of the Year and have managed to make enough noise that their song, accompanied by an equally strong music video, has gotten attention from across the border.
In an article on FirstPost.com, Anandamayee Singh writes about the single and notes, “The aesthetic of the band, in their artwork and music video, stresses the importance they place on humour in their work. For example, one of the women in the video—reading Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale—plucks out an ogling stranger’s eyes and later rolls them across a chessboard. Their artwork is similarly tongue-in-cheek, with a pair of eggs on their EP cover, and posters featuring grinning skulls and the world imagined as an exploding bomb.”
“The band doesn’t spare themselves from being ridiculed either. In the closing shot of the music video, for example, one of the women puts on sunglasses over her eye mask, playing at the idea of trying ‘too hard’ to be cool. The idea is to not take any of it too seriously, but indulge in the absurdity of the hyperbolic fantasies nonetheless. ‘It was an exchange of energies, and we all love each other, so it’s always a party,’ says [Anam] Abbas, encapsulating the tone of the video perfectly.”
The article noted further: “Garam Anday isn’t entirely a party without a purpose. The video, and the process of filming it, was a concerted effort at reclaiming public spaces for women…. Watching a group of women brandishing sticks in the streets, and spray painting ‘Aurat March 2018’ on a wall is indeed a powerful experience. It is also, in consciously creating spaces for women, and openly rebelling against gender roles, reminiscent of the revolutionary, albeit predominantly white, Riot Grrrl movement in the US west coast.”
“The band is working on their next single, a ballad about ‘Rishta Aunties’ called ‘Millennial Bahu’, and an EP. Sadly, the single won’t be out before spring next year. In the meantime, you can listen to their ridiculously catchy song on loop…”
