Coke Studio’s recent endeavor, with the arrival of new producers Zohaib Kazi and Ali Hamza, was to give a voice to unheard talents across the country. It may have been a success on a social turf but on a musical forum, it seems to lose its luster–to an extent.
The first episode of Season 11 of Coke Studio stood in limelight for quite a while since it introduced not just eminence of Iqbal’s poetry but a hopeful stage for the transgender singers- hence expectations were high.
In the second episode, songs of four very different tastes were released. One of them was Abida Parveen’s Ghoom Charakhra, sung by Abida Parveen and Ali Azmat.
One of the better ones in Season eleven, Dhoom Charakhra still seemed to have not made the mark it should have. Although there is no equal to the majestic Abida Parveen’s vocals, the rendition with Ali Azmat did not make much of a difference to the song.
On another side, Ali Azmat might have created a little bit of a rock factor, up beating the Sufi euphony but there were lack of gradients and variations that Coke Studio was always famous for. The composition was nothing different.
The musical instruments were quite an ‘instrumental’ enrichment within the rendition, in- fact they lifted up and modernized the song and amped up the sensation of lyrics and Abida Parveen’s incomparable vocals. But Ali Azmat’s part was creating a strange disconnect.
Dhoom Charkhra and the undisputed queen of Sufi singing, Abida Parveen, are in themselves a perfect pair. Any balanced fusion might be a good addition but there is nothing the song itself needed. And even if there had to be any fusion, it was supposed to be done diligently.
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