After two average tracks, Cornetto Pop Rock 2 is finally gaining some positive momentum. The last release from the music project, a collaborative track between Ali Azmat and Quratulain Balouch called ‘Chal Diye’ lived up to expectations in more ways than one. Produced by Omran Shafique, the song is everything we wanted it to be.
After two average tracks, Cornetto Pop Rock 2 is finally gaining some positive momentum. The last release from the music project, a collaborative track between Ali Azmat and Quratulain Balouch called ‘Chal Diye’ lived up to expectations in more ways than one. Produced by Omran Shafique, the song is everything we wanted it to be. A visceral, rock fueled prayer, it remains one of the best collaborations to have emerged on the mainstream front in many months and still feels like a silver lining and an ode to hope in this despair-riddled age of hate, rage and inexcusable violence.
Thankfully, the ride of music videos and new singles that can provide temporary escape, if nothing else, is not over just yet as another music video is in the pipeline, only this it is with the inimitable Meesha Shafi. Her impressive run on Coke Studio (heard across multiple seasons) followed by equally brilliant appearance on the soundtrack(s) of edgy Pakistani films like Moor and Manto has made her one of music’s most followed and revered names so anything featuring Meesha Shafi gets our attention.
Asad ul Haq, the stylish director who played executive producer to ‘Chal Diye’ is also playing the same role for the upcoming single featuring Meesha Shafi, which lends it more credibility.
Instep caught up with the director/producer Asad Ul Haq on the sidelines of the premiere of Fate of the Furious in Karachi recently during which he spoke about both music videos and expanded on the ideas that went into both productions.
Speaking about the Meesha Shafi single that is close to the horizon and should appear within the next ten to fifteen days, Haq noted that longing remains the central theme of the video which has been shot in Karachi and London.
“The song is about longing, so I got two directors on it,” said Haq. “One is doing the Karachi shoot and the other is doing the London one. The story is something like this: there’s a guitarist who plays (music) with Meesha. Maybe they were together at some point. He has moved to London and is struggling over there and missing her. Here, she has moved on and is successful. So he plays on the streets and she’s playing shows here. It’s like a split screen between two worlds. He wakes up in the morning and here it’s night. This one is more intense.”
Haq, who was also attached to the Ali Azmat-QB music video, spoke about how the duo’s palpable energy elevated the song to another level despite the fact that it was for the first time that the two were collaborating and sharing the stage in such fashion.
“Their shared chemistry looked incredible. We picked up more on the live thing when they were singing and that shows,” said Haq, before adding, “It was a nice, happy-go-lucky kind of video.”
– Maheen Sabeeh
