Shukriya Pakistan 2017

The Story Behind Shukriya Pakistan 2017

Shukriya Pakistan 2017 is ARY Digital's Independence Day anthem for that year, the second the network built around the voice of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. The campaign behind it is an annual tribute to Pakistanis who have made the country proud in cricket, the arts, entertainment, charity and sport, and ARY framed this edition with its own invitation, Aao Mil Kar Sajaen aur Banaen Pakistan.

Zeeshan Zabih directed the video for ARY Films and TV, with Syed Hamid Hussain producing and Wajid Hussain Najmi on camera, and it carries the network's on-air faces, Faysal Qureshi, Waseem Badami, Iqrar ul Hassan and Neelam Yousuf, through scenes of Pakistani life and landmarks. ARY released the song cut on 11 August 2017, ahead of the holiday, and this fuller official video on 24 August. A review in the week of release called it an emotional journey through the country and singled out Khan's vocals.

Meaning & Translation

Shukriya Pakistan means thank you, Pakistan, and the 2017 edition turns that thanks outward into a job of work. The line ARY placed at the head of the release, Aao Mil Kar Sajaen aur Banaen Pakistan, translates as come, let us together adorn and build Pakistan: gratitude is the starting point, and the country is something still being made rather than simply inherited. The slogan the video carries in its title, Pakistan Zindabad, is the oldest of them all and means long live Pakistan. Sung by a voice trained in devotional music, the address reads less like a boast than a vow, spoken on behalf of a crowd rather than a single person.