Bol Full Movie Hd 1080p Pakistani Mujra
Melia Revard
Every weekend, Afreen Khan dances for a crowd of howling men in a theatre in Lahore. She materialises the fantasies of the male audience, and does everything their wives would not: standing on stage shouting back at hecklers, hurling dirty jokes at unsuspecting audience members, and dancing with traditional machismo to songs laden with sexual innuendos. The chance cleavage, ending performances with thumping of the chest and growling like a lioness make her command the stage. Masculine behavior is not only allowed but also encouraged by the audience.
Mujra emerged as a dance form to entertain the Mughal royalty in pre-colonial India. Mujra girls (courtesans or nach-girls) held wealth, power and epitomised Farsi and Urdu literature, poetry and social code of conduct. Their cultural function made them an important asset of the Mughal ruling elite whom the British were trying to overthrow and displace. Starting from early 1800s the British colonial power started attempts to set forth their century long oppressive, exploitative and racist empire in the subcontinent.
The digital dissemination of mujra has been made possible with the advent of live streaming apps in Pakistan. Mujra dancers have found a direct way to interact with their patrons, away from the scrutiny of the government (as of now). Live streaming of mujras on a popular Singaporean app has extended their reach to a sub-group of their clientele in a different geographical location: working class Pakistanis in the Middle East. These fans are here not only to see the dances but also to hear what the mujra dancers have to say. In recent live streams, Afreen is seen driving a car telling her fans about the problems working class women face in the entertainment industry. Sitara Baig lashes out at male control over the entertainment business, Laiba Bangash mourns the lives lost in a deadly bomb blast in Lahore.
The real lives of working class women in this business are rarely seen without the gaze of colonialism and respectability. For Afreen, commercial mujra has financially empowered her and helped her climb the socio-economic ladder, otherwise impossible to achieve by a woman from a lower economic class. Mujra dancers are not favoured by advocacy groups and continue to function in the peripheries of society. This disenfranchisement and flawed representation makes abuse and crimes against them go unnoticed. Furthermore, if reported, their abuse is created as a spectacle by the media for the imperial gaze of middle and the upper classes.
Modern mujra dancers such as Afreen have learned to navigate, negotiate and more often rebel against these dangerous patriarchies, often at the cost of their lives and the safety of their loved ones. Financial independence, taking care of their families and fighting male control in the industry is a common streak which unites the dancers as strong women and when any dancer is attacked, the mujra girls are first ones to reach out, console and help.
Mujra is a dance performance by women in a format that emerged during Mughal rule in India, where the elite class and local rulers like the nawabs of the Indian society (often connected to the Mughal emperor's court) used to frequent tawaifs (courtesans) for their entertainment.
It combines elements of the Indian classical Kathak dance with Hindustani classical music including thumris and ghazals. It also includes poems from other Mughal periods like the emperors from Akbar to Bahadur Shah Zafar's ruling periods.[1] Mujra was traditionally performed at mehfils and in special houses called kothas. During Mughal rule in the subcontinent, in places such as Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, the tradition of performing mujra was a family art and often passed down from mother to daughter. These courtesans or tawaifs had some power and prestige due to their access to the elite class and some of them came to be known as authorities on culture. Some noble families would send their sons to them to learn etiquette and the art of conversation from them.[2] They were sometimes called Nautch girls which included dancers, singers and playmates of their patron nawabs.[2]
In Lahore, Mughal empire's Heera Mandi neighbourhood, the profession was a cross between art and exotic dance, with the performers often serving as courtesans amongst Mughal royalty or wealthy patrons. "The wealthy even sent their sons to the salons of tawaifs, high-class courtesans that have been likened to Japanese geishas, to study etiquette."[3][2]
Mujra dance consolidates elements of classical Kathak dance with local music, including thumris and ghazals. It also incorporates poetry from the Mughal era. True mujra is elegant, sophisticated and artistic, presented with taste and elegance. In the past, tawaifs would also be invited to perform mujra on important occasions such as marriage or the birth of a male heir.During the British colonial period, some tawaifs became prostitute and some prostitutes also called their erotic dances mujra dance. Mujra dance gradually became associated with prostitution.[4][5]
Modern Mujra dancers perform at events like weddings, birthday and bachelor parties in countries where traditional Mughal culture is prevalent, such as Pakistan. To a lesser extent, dancers in Pakistan often perform a modern form of mujra along with popular local music.[7][2]
In 2005, when dance bars were closed across Maharashtra state, many former bar girls moved to 'Congress House' near Kennedy Bridge on Grant Road area in Mumbai, the city's oldest hub for mujra, and started performing mujra there. The women are trained in mujra in Agra of India and Lahore and Karachi of Pakistan. Dawn newspaper, Karachi, describes Lahore's Heera Mandi area as, "Pakistan's oldest red light district was for centuries, a hub of traditional erotic dancers, musicians and prostitutes."[3]
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