The article looks at 'Bewajah', Hasan Raheem’s new single with producer Umair, which explores emotional distance and neglect within a relationship, before focusing on its music video set around a polo match in Gilgit-Baltistan. Drawing from the cultural context of events like the Shandur Polo Festival, the piece highlights how the video blends fashion-led visuals and experimental storytelling, framing the track as a shift towards a more abstract, visually driven space in Hasan’s work while staying rooted in regional identity.
Known for shaping a smooth mix of R&B, pop, and hip-hop, Pakistani artist Hasan Raheem returns with a new single called ‘Bewajah’ made in collaboration with producer Umair. Written in Urdu and Shina, the language spoken in Gilgit-Baltistan, the song explores empty reassurances, lack of effort, and ongoing neglect in a relationship.
The lyrics speak of a dissatisfaction with a withering romance that’s marked by half-truths and a growing distance between two people, who are failing each other in different ways. They address an unfaithfulness that comes not from infidelity, but a withdrawal and detachment from the intimate world that a couple builds together when they commit to each other.
The music video, directed by Arham Ikram, who has worked with Hasan before, is built around a cinematic depiction of a polo match, a popular cultural sport in Gilgit-Baltistan, where the singer is from. The biggest expression of that culture is the Shandur Polo Festival, held every July at Shandur Pass at an altitude of over 3,700 metres, widely known as the highest polo ground in the world. The festival dates back to the early 20th century, and has grown into one of Pakistan’s most recognised cultural events, built around a long-standing rivalry between teams from Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral.
In the music video, Hasan appears in all white, set against darker tones of the players, horses, and spectators, in a high-contrast, slow-motion video with a modern art direction that draws from fashion film and contemporary indie music video aesthetics. With both a non-diegetic approach to the video, drawn from experimental art traditions, and an unusual time signature for an indie track like this, Hasan seems to be going into a deeper, more abstract space within his craft, while still finding creative ways to represent where he comes from.
Follow Hasan here and watch the music video at the top of the page.
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