Gul Banafsha is a traditional song from the Northern Areas of Pakistan which symbolizes the beauty of the beloved girl to a unique flower called “Banafsha”. The word “Gul” means flower.
During my recent visit to Shimshal, I met Sifat Shimshalee who played this song to us on Rubab at Sifat Guest House. The minute I listened to it, I knew I had to film it.
Later, I recorded him and his friend Ishaq, who played Tumbak, on two separate tracks using my little Sony pocket voice recorder and mixed the audio in the video editing software. Then we went and shot this video, without even playing the recorded song, at the Shimshal River.
Audio recording, mixing, video shooting, editing, and colour grading all took place on November 5, 2020 in Shimshal.
Song: Gul Banafsha — The Sound of Shimshal
Music: Saani The Band
Artists: Sifat Shimshalee, Ishaq Ali
Audio and Video: Kamran On Bike
Location: Shimshal, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan
Many thanks to Saad Munawar for helping me during the shoot and for lending his power bank so we could quickly charge the drone controller at the location, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to take any drone shots.