'Meeting Shafi Mohammed Faqir' - Episode 07 from the film 'Had Anhad'

We arrive into this moment having made a long filmic journey in quest of Kabir. Starting from the heart of a religious dispute around Ram in the city of Ayodhya, traversing the central plains of India meeting with singers and lovers of Kabir, we cross the border into the city of Karachi in Pakistan. In this episode from the film ‘Had Anhad’, we have a deeply philosophic meeting with Shafi Mohammad Faqir, who sings and shares his Kabir with us along with other Sufi poets in one breath. In that moment we know, that without the breaching of boundaries, no Ram or Kabir can be found.

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].

Shafi Mohammad Faqir is a profound Sufi singer from Umarkot in Sindh, Pakistan. He sings in a style that is highly classical yet distinctly folk, bringing home the voices of Kabir and several Sufi poets in Sindhi, Punjabi, Urdu, Siraiki and other languages. He belongs to the deeply musical Manganiar community that inhabits both sides of the border between India and Pakistan. Contact Shafi Faqir at +92-300-3245850 & +92-23-8577226 or email his son Roshan at [email protected].

Ajab Shahar is a digital archive of mystic poetry and music drawing from the rich Bhakti and Sufi oral traditions in India and beyond... Explore a world of sung and spoken wisdom at https://ajabshahar.com

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
Animation: Orijit Sen & M M Pradeep
Songs by: Mahesha Ram, Prahlad Tipanya, Mukhtiyar Ali, Kaluram
Bamaniya, Shafi Faqir & Fariduddin Ayaz
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
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