Contrary to popular belief, not all doves are white. Meet Khooghi, the red collared dove, and discover how she managed to survive for 153 years. Kauser Mukhthar’s family friendly show, set within a beautiful toy theatre stage, uses puppetry, music and song to tell a story of humour, tragedy and hope, build around a song and a Kashmiri folk tale, Saif ul Mulooq (The journey of Love), with a brand new script written in both Punjabi and English.
How did cassette letters connect British Pakistanis who came to work in the mills to their families in Azad Kashmir? Khooghi travelled through many generations and to every continent having been brought to life by the Sufi Saint Mian Muhammed Baksh in British India under the shadow of the Empire. Khooghi was brought to England by Alam Lohar, Pakistan’s most famous folk singer, where she found a new home with a little girl in West Yorkshire but now she is in mortal danger from the Hawk and the Hunter and needs your help if she is to survive. Will you come? Will you save Khooghi?
Khooghi is created by Kauser Mukhtar and directed by Alison Duddle. It is performed by Kauser Mukhtar and Harry Hingham and funded by Bradford Producing Hub.
Alam Lohar was born in 1928 in Achh near Kotla Arab Ali Khan, Gujrat Tehsil, Gujrat District of Punjab, British India. Alam Lohar famously modified a new style of singing the Punjabi Vaar, an epic or folk tale which made him popular when he toured villages and towns in the Punjab region.
He recorded his first album at the age of 13 and during his career he was awarded 15 Gold Discs. During his childhood he read Sufi poetry, Punjabi folk stories and participated in local gatherings and Festivals, reading passages of great poets. With these performances, he became one of the most listened to singers in South Asia during the 1970s.
In the 1970s, Alam Lohar toured many different countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, United States and Germany.
