The pandemic has put a stop to many things, but even it cannot stall the tide of creativity. When inspiration strikes, it’s imperative to act fast and that’s exactly what musician Maanu did when he filmed and dropped his new music video during the pandemic.
Maanu whose real name is Rehman Afshar, is a talented Pakistani musician who seems to be on track for great success, if his latest music video is anything to go by. Maanu was not only able to release his brilliant new song ‘Khwaab’, but he also managed to shoot an A+ grade music video during the pandemic. His music video perfectly complements the style of his song, it’s moody but dreamy. In fact, the lighting and tone of the video is reminiscent of the hazy neon lights peeking out of the dark city in the movie Blade Runner 2049. Maanu credits the success of the video to director, Zain Peerzada and Luke Azariah. Zain and Luke are actually both guitarists in the Pakistani metal band Takatak. But, they also do creative video production through Flux Media. Director, Zain Peerzada, and Maanu are old friends, and Zain was the one who taught Maanu how to play the guitar and motivated him to finish the song ‘Khwaab’. “When I wrote ‘Khwaab’ and sent it to him he sent back a voice note saying that he loved the song (you can hear the voice note at the end of the video too) and that motivated me a lot. A few months later, Zain expressed interest in shooting a music video for me and since ‘khwaab’ is our favourite song from my album, we realized that it was meant to be.”, said Mannu.
Most of it is shot in my room and at Zain’s house so we didn’t have to worry much about covid since we were in a controlled environment.
–Maanu
The ongoing pandemic obviously imposed serious limitations on how they could shoot a music video, as SOPs had to be followed to ensure no one got sick. But, Maanu, Zain and his team were committed and tried to use what they already had to great effect. Mannu elaborated on that saying, “We decided to make a video with whatever equipment we already had available. Zain did a brilliant job as director, even though this was his first time directing a full length music video and we couldn’t rent any extra equipment.”.
I think the best thing to have come out of this video is the realisation that even low budget shoots can lead to great music videos as long as the team making it is capable.
–Maanu
They were able to shoot a cool music video despite a low budget and less equipment than normal music video shoots because everyone involved genuinely loved the song and wanted it to be represented in the best possible way. Mannu said, “The process of shooting was a lot of fun since we weren’t stressed about any external costs and we could just focus on having fun making a video that we’ve always wanted to make. Most of it is shot in my room and at Zain’s house so we didn’t have to worry much about covid since we were in a controlled environment.”. The end result of this shoot doesn’t reflect the reality it was shot in, the video is sleek and can rival any big budget music video from the Pakistani industry. Maanu stated that this video turned out exactly how wanted it to, and, “I think the best thing to have come out of this video is the realisation that even low budget shoots can lead to great music videos as long as the team making it is capable, and that’s really encouraging for me and other artists who want to compete at the mainstream pop level.”.