"Scholars and professors can’t help you know Kabir. For that you’ll have to go close to Kabir himself. You’ll have to break free of your shackles and go! To enter his country, you need Kabir’s visa. And you’ll get it when he decides to give it to you. No Pakistani or Indian government can. Kabir is beyond them. Some people inhabit a land beyond, and when they want to enter that land which has no borders, can a silly government stop them? Do birds need visas?" - Farid Ayaz from the film 'Had Anhad'.
Kabir was a 15th century bhakti poet of north India who defied the boundaries between Hindu and Muslim. He had a Muslim name and upbringing, but his poetry repeatedly invokes the widely revered Hindu name for God – Ram. Who is Kabir’s Ram? The film ‘Had Anhad’ journeys through song and poem into the politics of religion, and finds a myriad answers on both sides of the hostile border between India and Pakistan.
Had Anhad is one of 4 films on Kabir made by Shabnam Virmani, who is a filmmaker, singer and director of the Kabir Project, located at the Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology in Bangalore, India. Write to her at [email protected].
Fariduddin Ayaz & Abu Mohammed are acclaimed qawwals from Karachi, Pakistan and belong to the 700-year-old 'Qawwal Bachchon Ka Gharana' of Delhi. They sing in Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pushto, Hindi, Poorbi, Persian, Arabic and Turkish, intermingling with aplomb the voice of Kabir with a range of Sufi poets including Jalaluddin Rumi, Sachal Sarmast, Zaheen Shah and others. Contact them at: +92-300-2105393, [email protected]
This is one of a series of upcoming uploads for Ajab Shahar, a webspace featuring songs, images and conversations around bhakti, sufi and baul poetry from India and thereabouts, currently under construction by the Kabir Project team. www.ajabshahar.org, www.kabirproject.org
Had Anhad (Bounded-Boundless): Journeys with Ram & Kabir, 104 min, musical documentary, 2009. DVD of film available at http://www.amazon.in/dp/B00PJTQILW
Film Credits:
Camera & Direction: Shabnam Virmani
Direction Support: Rumah Rasaque & Smriti Chanchani
Script & Editing: Shabnam Virmani & Rikhav Desai
Editing Support: Aarthi Parthasarathy, Vasant D Kummy, Paramesh K, Rumah Rasaque
Animation: Orijit Sen & M M Pradeep
Songs by: Mahesha Ram, Prahlad Tipanya, Mukhtiyar Ali, Kaluram Bamaniya, Shafi Faqir, Fariduddin Ayaz & Abu Mohammad
Sound Recording: P M Satheesh in Rajasthan & Malwa; G M Chand in Pakistan
Sound Mixing: Fireflys Post Sound, Mumbai
Research & Concept: Shabnam Virmani & Tara Kini
Advisors: Linda Hess, Ashok Vajpeyi, Vidya Rao, Purushottam Aggrawal, Tara Kini
Translations: Shabnam Virmani, Homayra Ziad & Linda Hess
Financial Support: Ford Foundation, New Delhi
Produced by: Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology, Bangalore
Collection: The Kabir Project
Date of Making: 2009