Zeb Bangash thinks Coke Studio Pakistan and India should not be compared

"I first visited India in the fall of 2009 and that is when my cousin Haniya and I landed in Mumbai," Pakistani singer Zeb Bangash recalled her visit to India in a recent open letter for an Indian publication. The renowned artist, while penning an exclusive for Times of India, shared her experience while stepping into a familiar yet foreign country with just one contact in the Indian showbiz.

"Despite no more than a single contact in the Indian music and film industry, no plan and nothing beyond plenty of aspirations, we had decided to make a quick trip to the fabled city of dreams," Zeb went on, adding, "On our first night in Mumbai, we found ourselves in the hip suburban neighbourhood of Bandra. Our crumpled salwar-kameezes, heavy backpacks, and tentative steps made us feel completely out of place. But it wasn't long before we realised that people recognised us in this exciting foreign land. It was our first big embrace from a world we knew little about."

The singer shared how in just a matter of a few hours, they "walked out with our phones filled with numbers of people from the industry and numerous invitations from new friends. And just like that, everything changed. We had made it to Mumbai overnight. All thanks to the phenomenon called Coke Studio."

The duo, Zeb and Haniya, has been a prominent feature on Coke Studio since its early days. And Zeb wholeheartedly believes, she has seen Coke Studio's evolution. "A prominent media giant acquired 80% of Pakistani band music but decided against releasing more than 10% of their catalogue. There was fear amongst all of us musicians that our collective creativity would fade into oblivion. A void had been created."

In came Coke Studio to give a struggling local industry a world stage.

"This was a time when music shows on TV were sparse and mostly pre-recorded songs were mimed on-screen, which dampened a band's spontaneous energy and chemistry. And here was Coke Studio, recording music live on the floor," she continued.

"A lot of the sound that created the brand loyalty for Coke Studio, in my opinion, is specifically Rohail Hyatt's aesthetic. He made a signature sound for the program by fusing his influences, specifically psychedelic rock and progressive blues, with local songs from various genres. He carefully crafted the process and curated the house band to be his central team to create this sound and make it work."

Adding on, Zeb explained how Coke Studio flourished under former Vital Sign's bandmember. "The songs came about through a series of live jams with the singer and the house band, always directed by Hyatt. And they were then presented and recorded on the floor in that same format. The end product was, thus, primarily free of any trappings of glamour and commercialism. Instead, it felt honest with music taking centre stage because that's how it was conceived and executed."

In comparison

Zeb further shared how relatability worked to "create a magical perception around the platform because the Indian impression, till then, was influenced by exaggerated narratives about Pakistan." The Aaja Re Moray Saiyan crooner commented on the lack of reciprocation from the neighbouring country in terms of content sharing.

She remarked, "While Indian movies were being watched and their content was freely available on cable and satellite channels in Pakistan, there was no reciprocal access to popular culture originating from Pakistan for Indian audiences. Therefore, seeing a high-quality music platform was an unexpected surprise for Indian audiences. And that, to me, heightened the Indian curiosity and validated their love for the content."

Explaining how there always has been a 'romance' between the Indian audience and Pakistani music, TV serials, Zeb relayed how with Coke Studio, those memories reappeared in a new contemporary avatar.

"In my mind, Coke Studio (Pakistan) and the MTV Coke Studio (India) should not be compared, simply because they had very different contexts and purposes," she wrote. Adding on, "The former was a platform and voice for artists, whereas the latter was providing an additional aspect to an already thriving multifaceted industry. It’s important to note that Rohail’s six-year initial production tenure established the unique Coke Studio sound which contributed to its appeal. The single producer format was not feasible for replication in India’s thriving music industry which had many prolific and famous music producers."

She went on to add, "While Coke is a big multinational giant in India, Bollywood is much, much bigger. In India, Coke Studio was competing with a giant called ‘Indian films’ for one of the largest markets in the world. For Pakistan artists, Coke Studio was a musical catharsis."

Zeb, while concluding her letter, said how ecstatic she is for Coke Studio to act as a bridge between India and Pakistan. "Almost a decade-a-half later, it warms my heart to see that the phenomenal connection Coke Studio Pakistan established with India through music and digital accessibility continues to deepen. It’s just such a delight for us musicians and music lovers in both countries," she said. 

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