New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) It started off as a Delhi filmmaker's travel through Pakistan. But "Khayal Darpan" has morphed into an exploration into the classical music traditions of urban Pakistan.

This Urdu/Hindi documentary (with English subtitles) is 105 minutes long and features artistes and scholars like noted Pakistani Khayal vocalist Fateh Ali Khan, classical singer of the Gwalior Gharana Ghulam Hasan Shaggan, Ustad Naseeruddin Sami, Badruzzaman, Sharafat Ali, Sarah Zaman, Raza Kazim and Sarwat Ali.

In 2005, Yousuf Saeed spent over six months in Pakistan as part of a research fellowship. He surveyed the development of 'khayal' and other forms of classical traditions in Pakistan after the country's independence 1947.

Khayal is the modern genre of classical singing in north India and its name comes from an Arabic word meaning 'imagination'. It appeared more recently than dhrupad.

Like all Indian classical music, khayal is modal, with a single melodic line and no harmonic parts. The modes are called raga, and each raga is a complicated framework of melodic rules.

After travelling in Pakistan's three main cities - Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad - interviewing musicians and scholars, attending music concerts, and observing music teaching in various institutions, Yousuf managed to document some of the surviving practitioners and patrons of music.

In his film, he raises many vital questions about cultural identity, nationalism, legitimacy of music in Islam, Pakistan's popular culture and its affairs with India, and the survival of classical music in South Asia.

This film, which will be screened at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) on Rajpur Road here, seeks to break stereotypes about Pakistan.