'Coke Studio' has placed Pakistan's music on the global map: Meesha Shafi

Earlier this month, two Meesha Shafi songs from two different platforms garnered millions of views in just a couple of hours after being released. Both, Na Tutteya Ve and Boom Boom, touched the base of two completely different genres and languages.

This was followed by another Coke Studio track that made it big, featuring Shafi alongside Ali Pervez Mehdi. And owing to an earlier release whereby she collaborated with Abdullah Siddiqui in Magenta Cyan, followed by her electrifying performance in a more recent release by Mughal-e-Funk titled Sakal Ban, there is no denying 2020 has been Shafi’s year.

But even if you’ve passively come across these songs and weren’t as impressed – there’s hardly anyone in Pakistan who can’t sing to her Jugni from Coke Studio season 3.

Now, in a recent interview, Shafi has reflected upon the success this year brought her along with how the entire decade has made her feel. “It is sinking in. I have felt this feeling before, but this time it’s on a different scale. It gave me nostalgia, reminding me of the time I experienced this kind of love when Jugni came out,” the Gulf Times quoted her as saying.

“At that time, it was a kind of my mainstream debut and it feels like this beautiful starting and ending sort of punctuated my ten years in music,” Shafi told the outlet.

The artiste elaborated on the shift she witnessed in the Pakistani music scene over the years, starting from the time she first stepped in. “Listeners have changed, music has changed. As an artiste myself, I have explored a lot of different things, stylistically. The way I sing, the way I use my voice and play with different genres – making it an audio-visual experience now for the last few years has come into play.”

Since 2007, Coke Studio has become one of the most influential platforms in Pakistan’s music industry, garnering a fan following across the globe. However, some have expressed reservations about such platforms being a source of 'inhibition' in the growth of music.

To this, Shafi said, “You know the idiom ‘sour grapes’? That’s it! I think it’s a case of that. I’m not saying it in a judgmental way but very factually, I think it is human nature to feel resentment towards things you’re not included in.” She went on to advise people to refrain from viewing things from a ‘bitter’ perspective. “Myself included, there are lists of names of artistes these very platforms have been responsible for transforming the lives of.”

Shafi claimed that platforms such as Coke Studio have provided a voice to folk and regional artistes while bringing folk instruments to the mainstream. “It’s not fair to say that it’s doing nothing. Such platforms have created an eco-system by introducing new artistes every season. Coke Studio has especially placed Pakistani music on the global map.”

Speaking of Na Tutteya Ve and its resonance with female empowerment in Pakistan, Shafi said, “It’s an anthem of equal rights, female empowerment and saluting the resilience of women. I’m very close to it and feel very passionate about right and wrong, moral values and what our responsibilities are as a society and as artistes.”

She went on to express her happiness about the current season opening with such an anthem of ‘radical-feminist poetry’.

“Female empowerment in Pakistan is heading where it needs to head. I’m noticing that even men’s awareness is expanding and they’re now more cautious about what’s right and wrong. This generation is not in the mood for nonsense and it’s not gender specific. So I think Na Tutteya Ve was a strong statement.”

Having a theatre background, Shafi had also ventured into acting with a few projects in the Pakistani drama industry, along with a couple of appearances in Hollywood and Bollywood. However, she didn’t pursue it later as keenly.

About her discontinuation, Shafi revealed “I didn’t pursue [acting] because in Pakistan, 95% of the scripts just don’t resonate with me. I am selective towards substance. I think our dramas are romanticising women who put up with mistreatment, abuse and injustice. I don’t agree with that and I don’t want to be a part of that narrative.”

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