Here’s what we know about Umer Adil’s Chalay Thay Saath so far: the film has been beautifully shot in the picturesque Hunza Valley; it features a lot of new actors such as Kent S. Leung (a Canadian-Chinese actor), Faris Khalid and Osama Tahir. Syra Sheroz, Zhalay Sarhadi and Mansha Pasha aren’t new actors, as they have appeared in multiple TV serials, but the three actresses will be making their big screen debuts with CTS. We have also seen the trailer for the film and so far the plot seems unique and engaging. Technically and aesthetically, the film seems to be making no mistakes so far.
There is one more thing left to review before the film is finally released and that is the music of CTS. Earlier we met up with producer Abbas Ali Khan at the trailer launch of CTS and we briefly spoke about the soundtrack that he’s created. While the score of the film can only be heard once the film is out, the good news is that the OST of the film has been released on Patari and of course we’ve heard all six songs.
The good news is that the soundtrack is one of the most well thought out soundtracks we’ve heard in recent times. All songs have a relationship with each other and seem to be following a similar musical melody even though they have all been produced and composed by different musicians and producers. For instance, ‘Pariyan‘ by Bell is the first song released and it has very soft vocals and a mellow composition, much like Mooroo’s ‘Mariam‘, another song in the film. Mooroo has a very distinct sound that comes across in all of his music and while he experiments with instruments and singing techniques, all of his music sounds very soft and soothing. ‘Bolo‘ by Sikandar Ka Mandar and Natasha Noorani follows a similar groove. ‘Khalis Makhan‘ by Bakshi Brothers and Natasha Noorani is a slightly melancholic track but it also maintains the harmony.
Then there is ‘Jeep Racey‘ by East Side Story. This song is one of our favourite songs of the film so far. It is a really fun amalgamation of old school Punjabi vocals with contemporary instruments; you can also hear a hint of the tabla between the acoustic guitars.
There is a song by Behroze Subzwari, who plays Syra’s father in the film. Called ‘The Jinn Song’, it’s a track that won’t make much sense without the context. Even then, the song doesn’t sound bad. The melodies of all songs are well constructed.
To sum it up, CTS doesn’t have your average masala music. It features a lot of indie musicians and it’s unfair that these musicians are still considered indie because they’re the ones bringing innovation to Pakistan. Artists like Mooroo, Bell and Sikandar Ka Mandar are the future of Pakistan and we’re glad that the producers of CTS had the vision and insight to include such names in the film.
