Pepsi Battle of the Bands episode 3 started with a bang. The most revered Pakistani band Strings made their iconic entry in the show by performing to two of their most popular tracks ‘Najane Kyun’ and ‘Mera Bichra Yaar’, which made our head sway to the soulful tune. Both the tunes were slightly modified compared to the original ones while not taking away the actual feel of the songs.
Apart from that, episode 3 was the Top 8 Knockout Round comprising a retro theme, which all eight bands had to perform to. The songs couldn’t have been original but rather a rendition done in their own style.
The band Sarmasta was the first to perform to Sajjad Ali’s ‘Kuch Larkiyan,’ which fell flat to the ears considering it was the first performance. It garnered mixed reviews from the judges who thought the rendition could have been more impactful than it was. Next in line was the band Dejavu who did quite an interesting rendition of ‘Purani Jeans’Â by Ali Haider which has always been a favorite and takes us back to our school days. While the musical notes were spot on, the stage presence was quite dead. The track was enjoyable yet didn’t compel anyone to dance to the tune, that’s what the judges believed and so did we.
The band Tamasha’s smashing performance to Junoon’s ‘Sajna’ received a standing ovation not just because of their rendition but also how well they presented on stage making a headbanging track we could all enjoy. Sadly, the band Khamaaj couldn’t live up to its expectations this time as we had hoped. Their rendition of Alamgir’s ‘Dekha Na Tha’ failed to impress as it started off on a melodious classical note but soon took off to another angle which contradicted the way they had started off. The judges felt the classical bit was forced and didn’t come as naturally as it did in their auditions which really won them praise.
21 – the band had something different to offer this time with ‘Inn Se Nain’ by Najam Sheraz. While the band showed diversity in style with their performance, they altered the lyrics according to the tune which raised eyebrows among judges since it can’t be done with an original track.
Xarb, on the other hand, gave an energetic performance with maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s classic hit ‘Dama Dam Mast Qalandar.’ Interestingly, the rendition has been done by many in the past giving them another challenge but they certainly lived up to it and received a standing ovation which came as a hearty surprise.
The band Kaghaz performed to ‘Disco Deewane’ by Nazia & Zohaib and managed to impress the judges with their performance. According to them, this was the first performance of any song by Nazia doing great justice to it. Lastly, the band Bayaan chose a track by Hadiqa Kiyani titled ‘Inteha-i-Shauq’ which was sung on a low note and the band couldn’t do much to salvage that despite their talent. That, unfortunately, led the band Bayaan to fall into the danger zone with Khamaaj and Sarmasta and it became challenging for the judges to choose one band from the three.
While Bayaan and Sarmasta were given a chance of redemption, Khamaaj was asked to leave which left us a little sad. The final competition was then between Bayaan and Sarmasta where the former chose to sing an original track titled ‘Hum Nadaan’ and win hearts of the judges while the latter chose to do a cover by Junoon titled ‘Dosti.’
Both the performances concluded on a good note but Bayaan ended up getting selected while Sarmasta had to leave for what we may think was due to originality in the performance which the latter lacked.
We look forward to the upcoming episode.
Do let us know your thoughts in comments!
