Actually nobody around me is quite able to understand exactly why I am so excited about Coke Studio. Harumph. It is NOT a rave party destination. And yes, it could have been worded better.
Anyway, Coke studio translation: In a studio setting in Pakistan, musicians from various backgrounds (pop, soft rock, eastern classical) jam together live. This is then telecast. The entire exercise is sponsored by Coca Cola and hence the name. Brainchild of Rohail Hyatt, a former band member of Vital Signs, Coke studio was a big hit in its first season. It saw folksy strains, western rhythms, eastern alaaps (as the website mentions in solemn political correctness) all meshing together with mind-blowing results. You have to hear it to believe it. (www.cokestudio.com.pk). Now it’s back for a much-anticipated second season and yes, I am getting back to explaining why I am so excited.
Apart from the obvious reason of Atif Aslam jamming with classical musician Riaz Ali Khan this season (I CANNOT wait to see Atif in the studio) the other big reason is I just love to see my favourite singers sing.
And if you have ever seen great artistes performing in the studio (their very hearth so to speak), I don’t have to tell you what kind of an immensely sensual experience it is. I have very grainy memories of flautist Vijay Raghav Rao composing in our studio way back and all I remember today is a lot of people crowding around him admiringly after a recording, masala dosa packets lying around and a strangely serene smile leaking out of his rippled face. Come to think of it, I don’t even remember if this memory is true or garbled.
What I do remember clearly is watching a recording of Rafi singing in a studio. I even remember when it was telecast — just before ‘Filmfare Awards Live’ in 1992. Rafi has one of the most endearing smiles for a musician and astonishingly, this smile was constant throughout the 10 or so minutes of the recording they showed. Try and smile that genuine smile, (while singing a half-alaap perhaps) in Rafi’s vocal range!
Then there is or rather was the young Ravi Shankar. His mischievous eyes dart here and there, just like those magical hands and he has the grin of a filmstar who knows he is terribly good looking and audiences are lapping up his charm :) I am sure he felt like that as well. Balamurali Krishna was what you would call the Dravidian version of Ravi Shankar. He too darted around, not just with his eyes but with his entire well-dressed, well-fed self; looking up and down, left and right and everywhere else for inspiration/admiration.
Now that Coke studio is set to air, I am left wondering what today’s star singers/musicians would look like in the throes of performing pleasure. Does Yesudas do those fluttery quick hand movements in the studio as well? Does Amjad Ali Khan squeeze his entire face while playing, as always? Does Sonu Nigam close his eyes while singing those excruciatingly emotional lines? (Aside: For onlookers’ sake, let’s hope Kumar Sanu does close his when he ‘sings’.)
Why the hell is Coca Cola not thinking of a Coke studio in India?? How would it be if SPB jammed with, say, Amjad Ali Khan’s sons? Or Rakesh Chaurasia is paired with Kailash Kher? Mohit Chauhan with Yesudas? Brighter ideas anyone?
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