Lately, puppets have occupied Bilal Maqsood’s mind. Ten years ago, if you told me that the lead guitarist of the wildly popular rock band Strings would be the brainchild behind wholesome, Urdu-language programming for children that is both educational and entertaining, I wouldn’t have believed you. One half of the duo that comprised Strings – who hung up their guitars in 2021 — Bilal is beloved among the Gen-X and millennial crowd for his guitar riffs and distinct vocals.

Upon closer examination though, his latest venture makes perfect sense. There are common underlying themes between Strings’ lyrics and his musical program Pakkay Dost: those of compassion, companionship, and love. 

We sit in a hotel lobby in the Northern Emirates to discuss Pakkay Dost, and I am immediately struck by how laser-focused he is in our discussion. He’s dressed in characteristically all-black, a sharp contrast to my summery bright yellow. During our chat, a toddler waddles over to us, pointing, and I pause to smile and wave back. Bilal is unfazed; he doesn’t lose his train of thought once during our 40-minute discussion. You can only imagine the quiet, attentive diligence he places on his passion projects; the ideas behind Pakkay Dost germinated for years before the show aired late last year. Bilal speaks in a dizzying combination of technically perfect English and Urdu; I try to keep up since my Urdu has an indisputable room for improvement. The need for a show like Pakkay Dost for an increasingly Westernized Pakistani youth is more prevalent now than ever.

Pakkay Dost follows a cast of characters, including cautious Mateen (voiced and puppeteered by Umer Adil), rambunctious Lal Baig (voiced and puppeteered by Ahson Khan), and my favorite, kind but bossy Miraal (voiced by Shahzeen Usman) as they sing and learn about language and friendship. The first season, comprised of 4 episodes, is available on YouTube, and while it’s targeted towards young children, nuggets of wisdom such as “sirf moon terha karhne se English nahin aati hai” will draw you in regardless of your age group. Before long, you’ll be lost in a whimsical, colorful world of humor and catchy tunes. 

Bilal participated in each step of the process: design (he paints, so it’s not a crazy foray for him), storyboarding, composition, and, perhaps most importantly, casting.

“The moment Ahson put on the puppet, Lal Baig was born. He just gave life to him, and it was so amazing to witness.”

I ask if the actor felt the same way – in a Marvel-esque moment when he put on the puppet, did Lal Baig give life to him? Surely, a sense of joyful purpose, at the very least. 

“He kind of did, actually. That’s one of the best things about projects like Pakkay Dost. There’s incredible talent in Pakistan but not a lot of opportunities. To play a role in creating those opportunities has been undeniably fun.”

When you think about puppets in television programming specifically, your mind immediately jumps to classic American programs like Sesame Street or Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood; the former even served as inspiration for Pakkay Dost. However, puppetry is an ancient art form that has been embedded within Asian, African, and European cultures for centuries. Evidence of Lal Baig’s ancestry was found in the region: terracotta figurines with moveable heads and limbs, dating back to 2,500 BCE, were discovered in Indus Valley ¹. A more recent predecessor, Uncle Sargam, was pioneered by Farooq Qaiser in the 70s, a satirical character that was fearlessly vocal during a tense political climate. Google celebrated Farooq Qaiser with an Uncle Sargam doodle in 2023 (take a few seconds to click on the link – you won’t regret it!). 

Many forms exist today – shadow puppets, marionettes, glove puppets, to name a few, and historians have debated if puppetry pre-dates actors and theatre, making it one of the oldest and purest forms of storytelling.

When it came to the artistic integrity of the show, Bilal didn’t budge, even when faced with some tempting offers and sponsorships. His wife Tina played a role in nudging him towards the challenging, but ultimately rewarding self-financing route. 

“I just could not bear to clog the visuals with product placement. Then the show becomes about something else. Self-financing is hard, but it buys you so much freedom. It completely liberated me and the show.”

It’s also important to Bilal that the puppets are not talking down to the children: “That’s the key in communicating with children anyway, isn’t it? You want them to gravitate towards you, not run away from you.”

Soja, a lori (lullaby) is gentle and tender, and it wasn’t until I listened to it for the article that I realized that Amma’s loriyan are possibly my first memories of any language. Before twinkling little stars or Mary and her rather stalkerish lamb, I rested on Amma’s knee with a cotton dupatta covering my face as she impressively socialized, dined, and worked — all while serenading me to sleep. For whatever part of my brain processes phonetics, Urdu loriyan came first, before everything else. 

The gospel is spreading: last year, blogger Super Urdu Mom re-created Lal Baig’s costume for her son Zayn. While it’s extremely cute, it also raises an important question: is Lal Baig the cockroach apologist we all needed?

There are simple lessons embedded within the episodes. In one, Miraal explains the importance of sharing among friends, and in another, Mateen sings the Urdu days of the week as a means of simplifying them for a frustrated Lal Baig. 

But Bilal’s mission is not moralistic at all; it is simple and sustainable: quality programming for children – in Urdu. 

I have several more questions for Bilal, but conscious of his time, I ask a final one that’s been on my mind for years. 

“What artists inspire you the most?”

“I grew up around music,” he tells me. “It was just a part of my DNA; I was exposed to Alamgir and the like when I was very young. Music was all around. I never gravitated toward one artist, though, and was much more moved by specific notes or chord progressions and how music was being utilized. I get a blurry outline of an idea, and I just follow that and see where it takes me.”

Well, there you go, folks … what inspires Bilal Maqsood in music, art, puppetry, and life – is music itself. I can’t think of anything more fitting. Rock’n’roll is about a complete expression of self – and by that measure, his Dost – Miraal, Lal Baig, Tufail, Mateen, Bajjo, and Jagga — are very rock’n’roll indeed.

References

¹ https://www.dsource.in/resource/history-puppetry-india/mapping-timeline