Everyone has come to the conclusion by now that Coke Studio is going on a bit of an unpredictable and random tangent. There are hits and misses. Some things are working, by accident (Momina Mustehsan overshadowing Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is not something anyone could have imagined.) So of course, this episode also brought it’s usual list of surprises.
For starters, the biggest surprise turned out to be Mohsin Abbas Haider. Even though the song ‘Uddi Ja’ itself isn’t much to write about, Mohsin has truly proven that he has a future in singing if his acting career slows down (which it probably won’t, because Mohsin is all over our screens nowadays.) Jaffer Zaidi’s compositions are turning out to be a little disappointing as he has not yet managed to make his mark with any of his songs so far.
On the other hand, another surprise that we got with Coke Studio’s latest episode is the Arabic/Urdu composition by Shiraz Uppal, ‘Ala Baali’. The fun, infectious song is really stuck in our heads and what makes it greater is the fact that there are two new vocalists who have really delivered a memorable performance. Nirmal Roy has shown great diversity in her vocal range, and Jabar Abbas sings flawlessly.
Noori has been showing consistency in their work. ‘Paar Chanaa De’ is perhaps one of the best tracks of this episode, maybe even the entire season. Apparently, the song is considered a family tradition, which is why we see Noor Zehra, mother of Ali Noor and Ali Hamza, also making an appearance in the song. Also featuring in this song is Shilpa Rao, a Filmfare award nominee for her Bollywood song, ‘Khuda Jaane’, who has also added her charm to the song. There is an intelligent fusion between contemporary and classic, using instruments like the sagar veena in the middle of the song and picking up the tempo with a more electronic sound towards the end.
