Josh’s latest video, Meri Dua, showcases their acting talents, as well as exposes the dark reality that every relationship goes through. — File Photo

Images on Sunday sat down with Qurram and Rup of Josh to talk about the Meri Dua video, upcoming music, importance of music videos and much more.

The concept behind the new video?

Q: Meri Dua is a short film. The concept, as always, is to stay true to the inspiration behind the song, but we wanted to present it as a story rather than just a video. For us, this was very fresh and we had to play characters and act. The acting part, although not brand new for us, was still something that challenged us in a fun way, and we think we did a decent job of it.

Who conceived it?

Q: It was a combined effort between director Theo and us. We had told him about what the song meant, and what it represented, and he took that and interpreted the short film in his own way.

How challenging is acting in a video?

Q: Having done quite a few videos, acting is not a brand new concept, but not having to follow any lines in the song was new for us. Usually we have some shots at least that require singing along to the song, but Meri Dua was shot completely like a film.

Rup: The video depicts what happens in real life. Life is not always about positive stories and happy endings. The lyrics of Meri Dua speak of a broken relationship, so the video has to stay true to that. If by doing that, we’re highlighting some aspects of life which are not perfect, so be it.

Was it a good time to release the video in Pakistan with the ban on YouTube still in effect?

Q: The YouTube ban is clearly something that has impacted video viewing here in general. However, Pakistanis are very smart people, and they find ways around these things. As of now, we have over 200,000 views of this video on YouTube, and we know the number would be much higher if the ban did not exist. That being said, lots of fans have found a way to watch it.

Why have there been no more collaborations between Josh and international artists?

Rup: We approach collaborations in a more natural fashion rather than a constant need. When we have a good connection with an artist, or when we feel that we see an artist that we would love to work with, we collaborate with them. We have a few very exciting upcoming collaborations with North American artists. Just stay on top of our latest news by visiting planetJosh.com and by getting our Twitter and Facebook links from there.

When is your next album due?

Q: We shall announce it at the right time.

Future plans?

Q: For now, after releasing Beyond Kismat, we’re working heavily on Bollywood projects, and in the next few months you will get to see Josh music in some amazing films. Along with that, we try to balance releasing videos from Beyond Kismat, but Bollywood is taking most of our time for now when it comes to new music. Other than that, travelling and touring Pakistan is still a big goal for us, so we look forward to performing for our fans here as often as possible. After all, being able to connect and enjoy with our fans is always ‘goal number one.’ for us.