Coke Studio 12 comes to an end

Coke Studio 12, the behemoth that is more than a TV show, is still judged by the whole country or at least those who still watch it, as well as the music industry at large.

It is like a cricket match, which when it works is cause for celebration – albeit mostly on social media – and if it fails, triple the amount of hate takes over that same digital space. We already showcase strange love for cricket and while Coke Studio has never led to the same magnitude of national response, it has now created a kind of toxicity where a bad Momina Mustehsan song (‘Ko Ko Korina’) will lead people to make death threats on social media and the return of Rohail Hyatt will become something to be worshipped. In short, it elicits extreme reactions or complete ignorance.

That’s never a good thing. But that’s exactly what’s going to happen when words like ‘Sound of the Nation’ and ‘Cultural Cohesion’ are thrown at you with a TV show that started out as a space where people could showcase their original new music and not just get lost in the realm of ‘Sufi’ or worse, pander to the public. We’ll get to the larger verdict eventually but let’s look at the second last episode of Coke Studio 12 first.

Episode 5 – The return of icons and commercialism

In episode 5, not only did icons like Hadiqa Kiyani and Fariha Parvez – both of whom do not get enough credit in our industry – return to the series, but so did Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, who appeared for a second time (as did Aima Baig). Shamali Afghan was the only new voice in the episode.

Hadiqa Kiyani opted for folk (which after Wajd is not hard to predict) with poetry by Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah, and Mian Mohammad Baksh. During the BTS, she explained the larger meaning behind the song and noted that you have to look beyond the superficial to feel the depth. She spoke of Ishq, be it for the Divine or worldly, and how ‘love’ is unconditional.

The song, titled ‘Daachi Waaliya’ finds Hadiqa Kiyani at her best on Coke Studio as a performer in all her years because her own understanding of Sufism and folk has deepened with time, which is why Wajd (Volume 1) sounded so genuine. Thematically, ‘Daachi Waaliya’ is more Hadiqa than Coke Studio but sonically it is Coke Studio and it sounds a little like Coke Studio of the earlier Rohail Hyatt years. It’s got groove and little percussive sounds as well like the past, with the addition of Uncle Tanveer Tafu, who is playing an unnecessary mandolin in this song. There is such a thing as too much and repeating past successes is also boring. But Hadiqa is the reason you don’t shut off the song. The set has changed and so have the players and, though shot well with darkened hues, it looks a little like the old Coke Studio whereas by now it needed to evolve drastically – even if it meant being shot on the street or in a basement with natural light coming via windows. We saw a drastic change last year and decided to write it off even though it was a complete visual and audio change.

Anyway, moving on to Fariha Parvez, she sings ‘Balma’ which is in the language Braj and though is a Thumri, a semi-classical form of singing, this song according to Fariha Parvez is the pop version of it, which is an interesting way of describing this lasting love song and once again, you wonder why the likes of Fariha Parvez and Hadiqa Kiyani are not given more songs in films, in music shows because, if anything, their skill level keeps going up, never dwindling, something that is apparent in ‘Balma’. It is also a bit of hodge-podge to put Hadiqa and Fariha in the same episode.

With Rahat Fateh Ali Khan collaborating with Aima Baig – both in their second appearance on the season – Uncle Tanveer Tafu returns and opens the episode with his now-irritating banjo for some reason. RFAK doesn’t sound half-bad with ‘Heeray’ but that banjo continues to kill the percussive instruments and when Aima Baig enters, all hope dies because it is Jhankar Beats Volume Coke Studio and we are again harkening back to the old days of Coke Studio where this very sound had the country hooked.

The saving grace comes in the form of Shamali Afghan, who sings in ‘Pashto’ and makes his debut with a song called ‘Mram Mram’ (‘I Am Dying’) with lyrics by Khatir Afridi and Rahim Ghamzada.

All you have to do is give him a chance and he will work his magic; the beat is so different that it works and the Jhankar Beats is not used here. Add to it Kami Paul’s playing of the drums like a dream and you have a near perfect song.

– Watch out for the review of the finale episode and our Coke Studio verdict.

– Photography by Kohi Marri