Soch Band bags IIFA nod

Adnan Dhool and Rabi Ahmed on gaining recognition for Bollywood debut song ‘Awari’

Pakistani band Soch has been nominated in the ‘Best Music Direction’ category at this year’s IIFA Awards. Featuring Adnan Dhool as vocalist and Rabi Ahmed on guitars, the band made their Bollywood debut with the song Awari for Mohit Suri’s film Ek Villain.

On bagging the nod, Dhool tells The Express Tribune, “I have mixed feelings … I’m both excited and nervous. I’m thankful to all my fans for believing in us and my parents, who have stood by me.” He added, “Soch will proudly represent Pakistan in front of the world at the IIFA Awards in Malaysia.”

The song was a smash hit and won the film critical acclaim from several music reviewers across the border. The other music albums competing in the category are 2 States, Yaariyan and Haider. “This news felt unreal. It was like a dream and I felt I was on cloud nine,” said Ahmed.

The IIFA nomination will be the fourth for the band, which previously got nominated for the Brittania Filmfare Awards, GIMA Awards and Life OK Screen Awards. Soch won the ‘Best Music’ award at the Life OK Screen Awards in January this year.

The band explained the concept behind the song in a 2014 interview in The Times of India, “Awari, to be honest, is no word – it does not exist in Urdu, Hindi or Punjabi vocabulary. The actual word is awara, which is used for both genders.” They further said, “The word ‘awari’ was coined by us just for the song. It was basically a shout-out to our society to speak up for girls who, for various reasons, are pushed into the gruesome profession of adultery.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th,  2015.

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