No one's of Pakistani origin in any British show. That's why every actor of color is here working in the States. It's true.
Riz AhmedRead
I get good references from a wide range of music. Something who's been a good influence in the last few years is Qawwali music. If you listen to a Qawwali singer like Aziz Mian - he's like James Brown. Qawwali is like Pakistani gospel-jazz. It's emotional, but it's also improvised, and it's all about that sacred-and-profane tightrope.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Qawwali music blends emotional expression with improvisation, drawing parallels to other musical influences.
Riz Ahmed highlights the impact of Qawwali music on his artistic development, likening its emotional depth and improvisational nature to the works of well-known musicians like James Brown. He emphasizes the unique fusion of the sacred and the profane found in Qawwali, which allows music to explore profound themes while remaining vibrant and dynamic.
Themes
QawwaliMusicEmotionImprovisationSacredProfane
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a music appreciation class to discuss the emotional impact of different genres.
More from Riz Ahmed
All quotes →Rehearsing a scene beds a role into you. But sometimes, if you over-rehearse it without unearthing any new meaning in it, you can suddenly forget your lines. You realise that you are on a stage, not in the real world. The scene's emotional power, and your immersion in it, disappears.
Riz AhmedRead
Being South Asian in the U.K. is like being Latino in the U.S., I would guess. It's a bit more hood. You see things; things happen. I was bouncing between worlds. You're acting from a very early age, when you have to code-switch like that. I'm a hybrid, a mongrel. I think many people live that life.
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As a minority, no sooner do you learn to polish and cherish one chip on your shoulder than it's taken off you and swapped for another. The jewellery of your struggles is forever on loan, like the Koh-i-Noor diamond in the crown jewels.
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I'm an actor. Since I was a teenager, I have had to play different characters, negotiating the cultural expectations of a Pakistani family, Brit-Asian rudeboy culture, and a scholarship to private school. The fluidity of my own personal identity on any given day was further compounded by the changing labels assigned to Asians in general.
Riz AhmedRead
Sometimes when you're inside a story, it's almost better if you don't think too much about its wider cultural significance or if you don't think about how audiences might react to it. That takes you out of the reality of the situation you're committing to as you're telling the story.
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