‘Chori Chori’ to get the Coke Studio treatment

After sharing the stage with the uber-popular icon Arif Lohar, Meesha Shafi is set to cover a song by another legend: Reshma.


June 29, 2010

After sharing the stage with the uber-popular icon Arif Lohar, Meesha Shafi is set to cover a song by another legend: Reshma.

The Overload singer’s performance with Arif Lohar, “Alif Allah Chambay Di Booti”, has been one of the most memorable songs of the show’s third season, and has racketed up over 295,000 views on YouTube. But with Reshma, Shafi is stepping into another league altogether.

The singer will be covering Reshma’s hit song “Chori Chori” for the third episode of Coke Studio, which goes on air on July 4. The song was plagiarised in a Bollywood film, and was re-titled, “Yaara Sili Sili”. However, director Subhash Ghai roped in Reshma to contribute “Lambi Judaai” for his film Hero which starred Meenakshi Sheshadri and Jackie Shroff.

However, Shafi is not the first contemporary musician to cover Reshma’s music. At the Lux Style Awards in 2008, Atif Aslam and Shehzad Roy performed “Lambi Judaai” and “Chori Chori” respectively to pay tribute to the artist. Reshma, who is suffering from cancer, was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award at the ceremony, and despite finding it difficult to speak, was able to attend the event and sit on the stage as Aslam and Roy serenaded her.

Reshma is one of the country’s most iconic folk singers, and was a star in Pakistan long before Bollywood discovered her. Old recordings of Reshma’s earthy music have a magnetic quality to them, and her songs focus heavily on themes of love. She has toured extensively in Pakistan and abroad, particularly to the US and India.

Meesha Shafi told The Express Tribune that she had suggested doing the song, and that is how the cover came about. “The song is a personal favourite. As people know, Reshma does not sing anymore and I think that people should try and take her music forward. So it is more of a tribute to her.”

When asked about the inevitable comparisons that will be made between the cover and the original, Shafi said, “There is definitely going to be a comparison. Rohail Hyatt has given the music a completely different treatment, so the song has gone into another genre altogether. I’m sure there will be all kinds of reactions to it. With songs like this, people will either love it or hate it. So I am not nervous, but I am curious about what kind of reaction it will get. I haven’t heard the final version myself!”

Shafi also says she did not expect the reaction that “Alif Allah Chambay Di Booti” would receive. “The response has been quite overwhelming. It has been pleasantly surprising; people have had very nice things to say. The feedback has come from all kinds of people, from all kinds of age groups.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2010.

COMMENTS (4)

Atoofa Najeeb | 13 years ago | Reply I hope this is going to be a big hit... All the best with that...
PK | 13 years ago | Reply This episode is going to be amazing! Meesha, Abida Parveen & Tina Sani! Can't wait...
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