Diminutive ‘Au Fait’ and Meek Exquisiteness with Coke Studio Season 3 Episode 2 ‘Will’

By

Sadaf Fayyaz

Coke Studio Season 3 Episode 2 'Will'

The second episode of Coke Studio 3 aired on June 20th. The episode featured five tracks out of which only two proved to be extremely amazing. Coke Studio is famous for maintaining its style of fusion and diversity in music, this time flavored a bit experimental and mind-numbing. It was nice to see EP performing together but they could not maintain the real essence of the beautiful song “Bolo Bolo” by Sajjad Ali.  A very famous song from hit album “Babia” of Sajjad Ali, which was released in early 90’s, had “Bolo Bolo” as the second most favorite song, after “Babia”. The vocalist Fawad did little justice with this legendary and gorgeous song of Sajjad Ali. The bona fide quintessence of the song wasn’t felt at all. Upon asking Ahmed Ali Butt about the Coke Studio sessions, he shared,

It was a wonderful experience, the whole team and crew of CS3 was fantastic. It was great to work with similar minded people who know how to deliver perfection. We felt great. The whole studio feel was very challenging and fresh. EP has always been known for its live performances and energy but this time around we wanted to show a more mature side of the band. CS3 gave us the opportunity.”

Upon asking him further about what they were expecting from their fans, Ahmed Ali Butt said,

Well, we don’t have any idea about that, we did coke studio not with that intention. EP has a cult following and fans might object to the fact that EP went soft or tried something bluesy on the other hand they might love the fact also, so it’s only fair that EP did this for EP. It’s something new and fresh and EP took it as a challenge to do something totally radical. We had fun and hope people will have it too.

Also EP fans may feel amazed since the video of their song “Shor Macha” is coming out soon. Stay tuned to that.

The drum maestro Gumby has always been amazing and energetic, in a way he was in the previous episodes too. The beautiful beat of his drum has no match. He shared,

The project by far has grown in terms of video and audio production. Everyone, from Zeeshan and Adnan on the visual front to Rohail, the technical staff and the musicians, has set the standards in their own right. It’s lovely working with a team like that over the past 3 years. The vision of the lineup and especially Coke Studio just seems to be getting clearer and brighter when it comes to the arts. It was high time that Pakistan experienced something this genuine and of quality where one can safely say that “we are here to give the audience a show that they will remember for a long time!

Amanat Ali has been an amazing singer. Last year his album got a very good response in the yearly album charts. But this time, the authentic splendor of song “Aicha” by Khaled, could not be retained by Amanat. However, Zeb and Haniya managed to maintain the beauty of folk Dari song “Bibi Sanam” (First episode of Coke Studio 3). When it comes from Persian to Urdu, the essence of translation isn’t that hard. But from French to Urdu, needs a deeper analysis, richness of the language and understanding its diction too. Amanat has super vocals, but the lyrics of the song don’t sound that strong as the ones of original “Aicha”. Though, the melody and music is really beautiful and catchy. This beautiful song has been sung in many versions and languages. The French version was performed by Khaled and Faudel, a Malay version with tinges of Arabic in it was by Yasin, titled as “Aishah”. It had two cappella versions: one by Penn Masala and the second by Aquabella. The French/Arabic version was performed by Lobo Ismail. The Hebrew version of this legendary song was written by Ehud Manor and performed by Haim Moche. An English version of the song was performed by Aqmal and Sufyan. The Salsa version was done by Africando where the Zouk version was performed by Kassav. The Serbian version was made by Dragana Mirkovic and was titled “Pogledaj Me”. The Danish hip hop band, Outlandish, recorded and released an English version of the song “Aicha” which was included in their album Bread & Barrels of Water and was produced & and musically performed by Mintman aka Carsten Mortensen. It could be said that such a rich song, that had multiple versions, shouldn’t have been experimented this time in Urdu.

Coming to Zeb and Haniya, along with Noori, we can see Haniya singing too. She is always seen on guitars. It was refreshing to see her on vocals too. Over all, it was an above average song. Zeb and Haniya stole the show with their “Paimona” and “Bibi Sanam”, in the past. But this time this marks as only a good song, not a show-stealing one.  Same goes to Noori too. The song “Aik Alif”, with Saieen Zahoor, in last season was highly ranked. “Tann Dolay” is an ordinary song.

The most beautiful and melodious song of the entire episode was “Moomal Rano” by Fakir Juman Shah. The beauty and richness of Sufi Kalam by Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai could be felt deeply in the form of soul touching and awe-inspiring music. The fusion marks great. The song starts with a traditional folk touch and transforms into something highly mystical in the end. Moomal Rano basically is a history of folk stories that took place on the soil of Pakistan. The three famous tragic stories of the literature are Sassi Pannu, Heer Ranjha and Sohni Mahiwal. The story of Moomal Rano is a beautiful and historical tale of winning love. The seven queens and heroines of Sindhi folk lore have been given a status of royalty in “Shah Jo Rasalo”, (the name for compiled verses of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai). Moomal is one of those seven queens.  Fakir Juman beautifully maintained the essence of this tale with his soulful voice.

The second beautiful song was “Naina De Akhay” by duo Rizwan & Muazzam. Still it cannot be compared with the legendary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The talent runs in the blood. They maintained the essence of the show by their super Qawwali style and measured momentum. This time, CS fans are a bit disappointed. But let us wait for the next episode on 4th July. Stay tuned to some amazing performances by Abida Parveen, Meesha Shafi, Aunty Disco Project, Sanam Marvi, and Tina Sani & Arieb Azhar.

– Photography by Kohi Marri and Rizwan ul Haq