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Revolutions Per Minute: Sleevenotes

The Documentary: Sleevenotes: Episode 5: Mohammed Hanif

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Episode 5

Episode 5: Mohammed Hanif

Mohammed Hanif

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Sleevenotes, Mohammed Hanif

Pakistan's most enduring music export, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, by Mohammed Hanif

Mohammed Hanif focuses on Pakistan's most enduring music export, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

"The first time I saw Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, he was stuck in the door of a van and I feared that he might never be able to get out. I was eight years old and had never seen a man so enormous. Nusrat was not yet the global music sensation that he would become in a few years but he was already a rock star in my hometown. 

"His annual concert meant deserted streets, the whole village pulled an all nighter; even old women who never ventured out, sat on the rooftops and listened."

Mohammed Hanif is a novelist and journalist now based in Pakistan. Previously head of the BBC's Urdu section and a contributor to From Our Own Correspondent. His two novels A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2008) and Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (2011) were widely praised and his debut was longlisted for the Man Booker prize.

The Documentary: Sleevenotes

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Five writers from around the world explore what pop music means to them.

Five writers from around the world explore what pop music means to them.

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