Kiya Kahe Ga Kazi

Bilal Hassan is a doctor, a photojournalist, and someone who has recently completed a year of his fitness journey. We speak about the problematic paradigms of masculinity in Pakistan, about the debilitating consequences of fat-shaming, about humanizing the Pakistani experience, about the sexism rampant in our society, and about the price of the art.

On this episode of the podcast, I am joined by Irfan Junejo, Baalaaj Khan, and Shehzad Malik. We speak about the financial viability of pursuing a career on social media, about the marketability and societal preference for the English language in Pakistan, about dealing with profit-maximizing entities, about what it is to be employed in the entertainment sector in Pakistan, and about performative activism in the local media landscape.

Nazar is an actor and a teacher of voice and diction. We spoke about the difference between a performer and an actor, about what it is to lose one's self in a character, about the impossibly strenuous and remarkably simple occupation of acting, and about the primacy of proper language.

Taishi is a hip-hop artist, specializing in freestyle dance and choreography. He is also part of the hip-hop freestyle dance crew, 'Anarchy.' We speak about the spirit and flavor of hip-hop in Pakistan, about the plight of dancers in the Pakistani entertainment industry, about problematic paradigms of governance as far as influencers are concerned, about cultural heritage and the universality of dance as a means of communication.

Mohammad Moiz is a doctor, comedian, and academic. He is also queer and part of the 'Khwaja sirat' community in Pakistan. We speak about our colonial epistemology, about the inadequacy of the binary gender paradigm, on the history and culture of the 'khwaja sirat,' community, on Pakistan's history of violence, on understanding the concept of a queer individual, and about those who would hurt our heritage of diversity.

Momina Munir is a stalwart of the new age of Pakistani content creators. We speak about loss and grief, about societal imperatives and mental health, about inheriting a world on fire and protecting one's cognitive capital. 

Faran is a former pilot, and the owner, and proprietor of an event management company, travel, and tours company, and a design agency, he is also a storyteller and an avid proponent of the writings of the great Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. We speak about the chasm between the mind and the body, about the longing of the spirit to be in nature, about falling and rising, about the most complete stanza from the writings of Bhitai, about being reverent of the culture and wellbeing of those around us be they similar or different, and about the complete story of 'Hunza-verse.' 

Baalaaj Khan is a content creator on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok, he is also a former provincial-level table tennis player. We speak about body image issues, the weight of being bullied as a child, the taboos, misinformation, and prevalence of gynecomastia amongst male adolescents in Pakistan, the realization of a feminist utopia in a patriarchal society, and toxic masculinity.

Ammar is a director and producer for Teeli, a filmmaker, and a musician. We speak about the process of producing a commercial video advertisement, about the art of advertising and brand placement, about the work culture at Teeli, about the new age of digital content, and about the toxicity of modern romantic relationships.

Abdur Rahman is the vocalist for Auj the band. We speak about having reverence for those that pave the path for us, about the fear of not having enough time, about patriarchal anger, righteous indignation, and fractured relationships.