Mausam e Nau – Coke Studio Pakistan: The Preface

As fizzy drinks go, the only one I ever stocked was “hara hara” Pakola, asinine patriotism clouding my judgment despite my determined advocacy against soda pops.  Thankfully for the nation’s health although sadly for the Pakistani brand, Pakola is now available only in limited production thus cleansing my refrigerator of fizzy hazards altogether. My children often express nostalgic disappointment over the absence of fizzies in the fridge. In return, I remind them of my maternal generosity towards our collective indulgence, the equally destructive but infinitely more delightful Rooh Afza, presently and perpetually ensconced in our fridge in a befittingly desi, plastic jug. 

I never drink Coke nor its alluring soda siblings, but for two purely personal reasons I can never disparage them either. 

First, because Rizwanullah Khan, bearer of a beloved name and GM of Coca Cola Pakistan, is a gracious human being whose generous friendship I cherish and whose astute professionalism, which has taken Coca Cola Pakistan to extraordinary success despite formidable competition, I respect. Second, because I am an intrepid Coke Studio Pakistan fan and resoundingly declare that, even if it occasionally stumbles into mediocrity, ours is better than everyone else’s.  Yes, I am given to theatrics while plugging brand Pakistan. Hang me!


Amidst the acid smog of negativity surrounding our image (some of it deserved, certainly not all), a few swashbucklers are making a valiant attempt to cleanse the air and restore national spirit and pride.  The spectrum boasts the awesome – Edhi, Shaukat Khanum, The Aga Khan Foundation, SUIT; the sustainables poised to scale –Shan, Bareeze, Naseeb Networks, Bundoo Khan, Nayatel, Govt of KPK(?); and the quirky and audacious – Khaadi, Sattar Buksh, Patari.pk, Blood Orange.  I’ve been too selective; in fact the rainbow carries a multitude of colors which will shine bright once the smog lifts.

Nestled smugly amongst these adorables is the “Sound of the Nation”, Coke Studio Pakistan. That it is born of an international brand is coincidental; that it embodies a quintessentially Pakistani spirit is important. Then, as a brain child of the gifted Rohail Hyatt, and now, in the creative hands of the incredible musical duo Strings, we have seen it evolve, mature and struggle to remain relevant to an audience which is multi-faceted and complex, engaged and appreciative but acutely discerning and critical. Whether it inspires or disappoints, the Coke Studio Pakistan phenomenon becomes yet more immense with each season, and the love affair between the nation and its favorite music show thrives.

For me, the magic springs from two notable aspects; a perceptive understanding of what defines Pakistan – our musical heritage – and a bold celebration of it through offbeat execution.  For too long we have allowed our identity to be hijacked, sometimes by well-meaning but ill-informed pretenders and at other times by evil predators, and often the first casualty has been our music.  But here’s what I know. Music is to Pakistan what water is to health, what air is to breath, what DNA is to life; if one is extinct, the other cannot exist. So, try as they might, misguided pundits who propose to redefine us have not been able to vanquish our music, and amongst many resilient reasons is Coke Studio Pakistan which stubbornly returns, season after season, with our nation’s signature style; the spiritual, earthy and traditional fused with the funky, eclectic and contemporary.


This is not to say that my favorite music show does not, sometimes, disappoint.  Rohail’s extreme experiments were enchanting but eventually tested our tolerance so, as often happens with gifted people, his relevance wore out.  In return, we lucked out with the equally gifted Strings but their refusal to court risk and be adventurous can be tiresome. Regardless, the anticipation with which the nation awaits every new season and the hyper-response the launch evokes reaffirms the fact that Coke Studio Pakistan is not just the sound of the nation but its very heartbeat.

Thus,  in the practice of listicles (memory-prompt: my FB moderator-cum-blogging advisor, Muns the Persistent, tells me these draw high ratings), I shall now attempt to rate Season 9 of Coke Studio Pakistan. Many such listicles exist, you say? Yes, they do but I bet none as comprehensive as the one you are about to experience.  With profound thought and immense care I have charted a category-element matrix for complex evaluation.  Phew! If I put this much work into real work, I’d have no time to do this nonsense. 

Here are the basic criteria against which I have rated each Season 9 production.  And oh, in case you missed the bilingual pun – Mausam e Nau….Season 9….get it!?   

1. 6 episodes, plus the opening collage and the season finale, have been evaluated.  I love the music but I tell you, it will be a while before I ear-phone myself to Coke Studio again. Naseebo screams in my ear and Ali Azmat appears in my dreams – scary shit!

2. An impressive 30 songs comprise the episodes. I didn’t realize there were so many, did you? Each has been assessed for multiple aspects.  It was not difficult to rate some of these low, they deserved it. But listening to the best compete for the top slots (in my head, silly!) was quite stressful.

3. 42 incredible singers, all brilliant (well, nearly all) have been critiqued.  Such pretention on my part as I am as pseudo as can be in my understanding of music.  I beg forgiveness of the gods of melody.

4. An interesting twist in Season 9 was the introduction of directors, some of whom doubled as singers, or vice versa.  Thankfully there were only 6 and since their styles were fairly distinct it was less challenging to critique them.

5. Arrangement, more than composition, captures my interest.  So, the backup vocals, the house band and the strings section are given more than just honorable mention. Other than Meesha Shafi (she is goddess!), the screaming, yod’ling, clapping, rocking Shahab Hussain remains my favorite.

6. I  have nothing to say about BTSs. They bore me. But once again, like an advisory Tinkerbell of blogging, Muns pops up on email “but you must say something about them, kids love them. Write your mental aga Ma, not your physical age!”  Well, that makes me her daughter, Freaky Friday style.  Scary shit again but, ok, you will find some BTS comments.

7. In terms of rating criteria, I have looked for something unique in each number; did the producers step out of safe zone and experiment, was the singer able to “own” it, nail it even though some mega-god has owned it for 800 years, were new lyrics tried and did they work (remember “Bewajaa”? Nabeel Shaukat to die for!), did the new kid on the block match the veteran, is someone a multi-faceted, once in a very long time talent discovery (someone is!), did we miss Atif Aslam and Ali Zafar yet again, why do the boys leave a mark and the girls not – or did they?  Ali Azmat ko ghussa kyun aata hai aur Jaffer Zaidi ko hair commercial kab mile ga? Such profundities did I mull over…

8. One can not write a short course on Season 9 and not say something about Pakistan’s pride, Strings.  If they were older I would marry them both, if they were younger I would adopt them. Since they are altogether the wrong age, I can just love them and say “Hum bhi dekhein ge”.

9. Finally, I mustered the courage to make suggestions for future productions.  Hopefully two things will happen: you will tweet yourselves silly over my epic listicle thus taking it from buried blog to @stringsonline, and my friend Rizwan Khan of Coca Cola will read it and think “hmmm…idea bura nahin hai”.

Now that we are clear on assessment criteria, we can proceed to the results. **Ta Da sound with echo** The real listicle emerges…or…err…not!

This blog entry is too long already. I see you dozing, some even snoring and hey, did you just click your way to another page…you with the attention span of an amoeba?  Ok, I get the message….let’s leave the rest to another day.


BTS, Aaqa, Abida Parveen & Ali Sethi, Episode 1, Coke Studio 9 from Coke Studio on Vimeo.

2/2 of Mausam e Nau coming up soon. Until then, mull over the criteria and let me know what else I should have considered (although there’s no way I’m listening to “Sasu Mangey” one more time…Hang me again!). You should spend at least as much time thinking about these as I’ve done documenting them.  It’s a fair exchange.