Coke Studio Pakistan 14th edition unearths hidden talent with different genres.
By Sushmita Dey
When I was pursuing my undergraduate course in New Delhi, I used to visit Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi every Thursday evening for the serene experience it offers. A chance to dive into the qawwali sessions with Sufi devotional music. Entering the narrow lanes of the Nizamuddin area of Delhi, the scent of rose petals mixes with the aroma of grilled kebabs, rows of hawkers selling chaddars (shawls) and flowers, and incense sticks sending plumes into the air. This is what Coke Studio Sessions have always felt like—a warm mehfil (session) brimming with happiness, melody, and the diverse synthesis of music and emotion.
After a one-year gap, the culturally rich Coke Studio Pakistan unveiled its 14th edition on January 14, 2022, with Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan (Xulfi). He replaced Rohail Hyatt, founder of Pakistani band Vital Signs as the show’s producer.
Over the years, Coke Studio Pakistan has featured artists from varying genres who have blended genres to produce spellbinding masterpieces, each with a story to convey.
Coke Studio season 14, however, has taken the internet by storm.
What sets this particular season apart is that every song is an original track—as the behind-the-scenes videos reveal. Over the years, the music platform has often been criticised for plagiarism and cover songs, where musicians simply perform the cover versions of old songs and ghazals with a contemporary twist. But this time Xulfi has given it a new touch.
“So we begin. With love. With togetherness. With collaborative power, With endless possibilities,” he wrote on his Facebook page before sharing the teaser of the new line-up.
We are naturally drawn to music, which amplifies whatever emotion we’re feeling at the moment. It could be a cathartic headbanging song to relieve stress, an upbeat pop song to dance our heart out in happiness or perhaps a sad song that puts into words what we’re reluctant to say aloud. For the past two years, with the world grappling with a pandemic, we’ve been struggling with a range of emotions. Coke Studio Pakistan underwent the same upheavals, but it is in action and took off the show with its first song: ‘Tu Jhoom’ by Naseebo Lal and Abida Parveen on January 14.
"Main deewani, kuch na jaana, mast ho ke gaawaan,
Duniya raazi karke kamle, phir bhi chain nai aauna
Saari khushiyan mil jaavan te picche ki reh jana
Tere bas me kuch vi nahi eh, dil nu eh samjhavan
Tu jhoom, jhoom, jhoom, jhoom (in chorus)"
In the above lyrics, Pakistan’s Sufi doyennes Naseebo Lal and Abida Parveen graced Coke Studio and drew the focus towards how we spend time making the world happy, but how we still never find peace. They brought comfort to our lives by asking us one question: If we attain every form of happiness, then what will remain? So, stop worrying. Nothing is in our control. Just swirl, swirl and swirl, and wear your heart on your sleeve.
The most interesting part of this year's edition is that the show features a blend of old and new indie artists. The line-up boasts of music veterans such as Abida Parveen, Atif Aslam, Meesha Shafi, Ali Sethi as well as younger artists such as Shae Gill, Hasan Raheem, Butt Brothers, Eva B and many others bringing their creativity every week.
For me, the Coke Studio Pakistan songs were something my elder sister and I also shared. With each new song, following a long discussion how the particular song made us feel or which lines we like the most.
Coke Studio Pakistan premiered in 2008, where artistes like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ustaad Naseer-ud-din Saami, Nabeel Shaukat Ali and Quaratulain Balouch, along with a bunch of other legendary singers, made a home in our hearts from the get-go.
Through the years, the show has seen a mix of Sufi, Urdu sounds, Punjabi words, and other languages with contemporary instrumentalisation.
Season 13m, the last season, started off with an upbeat song, ‘Na Tutteya Ve’, consisting of a group of powerful women artistes including Sehar Gul Khan, Meesha Shafi, Zara Madani, Sanam Marvi, Wajiha Naqvi and Fariha Pervez. The song was all about empowerment and the producer explained how this year they would focus on social messages.
When the new season premiered this January, just when I thought no track could transcend Coke Studio 14’s splendid treat ‘Tu Jhoom’, I witnessed absolute magic in the season’s third song, ‘Mehram’, by Asfar Hussain and Arooj Aftaab and the sixth song ‘Pasoori’ by Ali Sethi and Shae Gill.
In an interview with Images Dawn, Ali shared how he started writing ‘Pasoori’ at a time when local performers were barred from working across the border - by turning angst into art. But, this season the highlight of the video, other than the singers, was the incorporation of iconic performances by the jhoomar-style dancers, artists, and the creative sets for every music have done full justice to the message of the songs.
In a nutshell, Coke Studio Pakistan is a stage that showcases the musical talent hidden in Pakistan to the world. Sometimes I wonder, how can someone unroll the Quranic concepts via guitar, drums or perhaps turn the writing of Sufi and Ghazal mystics into the anthems of peace and love by surpassing all barriers and even languages.
Comments