Music and Momin Durrani go hand-in-hand

Singer of ‘Coke Studio’ fame talks about being recognised as a playback singer for Pakistani films and more

KARACHI:

Going through Momin Durrani’s Coke Studio profile, you’ll realise he has a vast body of work in singing for television commercials. With over eight years of jingles to his credit, it didn’t take much for the artist to make an impression.

Unwilling to settle for less than what he deserves, he continues to aim for the stars. So, when the opportunity to sing alongside Indian playback singer Rekha Bhardwaj for the upcoming Pakistani romantic-drama Bin Roye came along, he made sure to avail it to his full potential.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Durrani shared the chain of events that landed him the chance to sing the song Chan Chariya opposite Bhardwaj of Namak Ishq Ka fame. “When the film’s producer Momina Duraid heard the song, she asked music composer Shani to get a male voice that can counter Bhardwaj’s style of singing,” he said.



As the Pakistani film industry gradually picks up pace, there are multiple possibilities for playback singers to prove their mettle. And with years of work experience in jingles, Durrani is confident that he’s well-placed. Having extensively worked with former music-producer duo Kami and Shani, Durrani said he was the latter’s first choice for the song, as his voice ticked all the boxes he was looking for. “They wanted the male singer’s voice to be on the same frequency as that of Rekha jee, but that it should also have its own tone, texture and identity. Fortunately for me, my voice fit the bill.”

On how challenging it was for him to work with someone as established as Bhardwaj, he said that more than anything else, it was about getting the right tone for the actors in the film. “When I was approached to sing for the movie, I had little information about its cast,” he stated. “It was only when Shani told me that Mahira Khan is the main lead that I got an idea about what sort of tone my character should sing for her in,” he added.

For Durrani, who served as backing vocalist for a host of renowned artists in Coke Studio season 7, the opportunity to work with the Bollywood singing maestro is, inarguably, one of his career’s highlights. “It doesn’t get any bigger than singing for the same song as her. She’s a legend,” he said.

Although the Filmfare Award-winning singer didn’t visit Pakistan for the recording sessions, Durrani got the opportunity to interact with her. The real icing on the cake for him was that she commended his work on the track.



Referring to his work on OSTs for TV dramas Dayar-e-Dil and Mera Aashiyana, he feels it has been easy for him to make a transition into film music. “My work for TVCs and OSTs would benefit me greatly in the long run, as I’m used to doing more commercial music as compared to other singers.” He cited the example of Bollywood singers, such as Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan and Kunal Ganjawala, he said the past few years have seen them become more successful than classic singers, such as Udit Narayan, as they’ve been singing jingles.

Currently, Durrani only aims at making the most of the opportunities he gets. Without divulging details, he said he’s also in talks for a few major upcoming projects.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd,  2015.

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