Flashbacks in store for Coke Studio’s next episode


Saba Imtiaz June 18, 2010

The second episode of Coke Studio premieres on June 20 and while it is titled ‘Will’, it should really be called ‘Flashback’.

Entity Paradigm (EP), which split up several years ago after releasing one album Irtiqa has reunited and performed five songs for this season of Coke Studio.

Interestingly enough, EP’s rivals in the early 2000s, Noori, will also feature in this episode, collaborating with Zeb and Haniya on a song called “Tann Dolay”.

EP will be performing their signature cover of Sajjad Ali’s hit “Bolo Bolo”. The song was a standard fixture on the band’s set list during 2003 and 2004.

However, the short clip of EP’s rendition does not look very promising. Rizwan and Muazzam are set to be the highlight of this episode. The duo, who hail from Ustad Fateh Ali Khan’s family, are performing the hauntingly beautiful ‘Ni Saiyon Asa Naina De Akhay’, which will invariably draw comparisons to uncle Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s rendition of the same song. The house band members interviewed for the behind-the-scenes video say that they felt like they were in a ‘time capsule’ and the ‘memory of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan had been brought alive’.

In other flashbacks, Amanat Ali will be performing an Urdu version of ‘Aicha’, the 1996 hit by the Algerian singer Khaled’s (of ‘Didi’ fame). The song was immensely popular worldwide.

Amanat Ali told The Express Tribune, “Initially, Rohail Hyatt and I had thought of doing a mix of the original French lyrics with Urdu ones. But then it did not make sense because people here do not speak or understand French so we thought of doing the entire song in Urdu.”

Going back in time, the “biggest surprise of the season” for producer Rohail Hyatt, Fakir Juman Shah and the Shah Jo Rang fakir troupe, are also on the bill for the second episode.

The group will be performing poetry by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.

Highlighting traditional folk music has been the key to Coke Studio’s success and popularity. Photographer Tapu Javeri recently told The Express Tribune, “Coke Studio is a great effort. It is introducing the younger generation to folk music taking them back to their roots - the generation that otherwise only listens to pop or rock music.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2010.

COMMENTS (1)

Obaid | 13 years ago | Reply Hey you should check the EP fan page. They have reacted in a very bad way.
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