trip the kitsch fantastic

Somebody asked below how last weekend's party at Alwan went--it was good fun indeed. The first thing I saw when we walked in was a familiar face, and the music lived up to expectations. A little boring at the start--lazy lounge-y fusion stuff, and everyone was standing around looking awkward, making inhibited and vaguely dancelike moves. And then suddenly Rachid Taha's "Ya Rayah" came pouring through the speakers, and the party exploded. I keep missing DJ Rekha's occasional "Lipstick Optional" night at Cattyshack (our fine local lesbo-queer dancehall & bar) but there's another one coming up next month, and the Brooklyn posse unanimously agreed that we don't spend nearly enough time at Cattyshack, especially given that it's in walking distance--no 2am impending-hangover subway ordeals.

Sadly, she didn't play Nari Nareen. But in a moment of sudafed-fueled inspiration, I looked it up on YouTube, and oh my lord. Now, this song is pure cheese, and I know that, and love it still. But the music video is something else entirely--for one, it's terrible Orientalist kitsch, but a sort of East-on-East Orientalism: "India" as packaged for an Arab audience, complete with kathakali dancers and the Taj. Remember, while watching, that Bollywood is much beloved in the Middle East---as my favorite anthropology professor used to say of Amitav Ghosh's In an Antique Land, "those Egyptian fellahin aren't calling him 'ya Amitab' because they can't pronounce the letter v!" I myself have some great photos of hand-painted movie posters bearing Mr. Bachchan's face above the doors of Aleppo's cinemas.

One might perhaps attempt to analyze more seriously the dynamics of cultural appropriation, media consumption, and globalization at work here, but one would have to stop laughing first. Because Hisham Abbas is trying to get his desi groove on, with, um, mixed success. I only hope I can still dance to this song in the future without being haunted by the memory of his ass-shaking. Habibi dah!