The lively Coke Studio is about to get started again with its fourth venture, and I guess every single person in Pakistan is aware of what wonders Coke Studio has done for the artists and the music industry of the nation. And at the end of the day, it’s all due to one man’s vision, and that man being none other than Rohail Hyatt – the mastermind behind the success of Coke Studio.
However, with just a couple of days away from the air date of the first episode of Coke Studio Season4, there’s a controversy (or most probably a rumor) going around that one of the most talented guitarist of the nation, Amir Zaki, with whom Rohail had worked together in Vital Signs, was rejected to take part in season four of Coke Studio.
Rohail, while speaking with The Express Tribune, has however denied these rumors, “Not true. We were about to experiment with a new concept and I approached him (Zaki) for that. Unfortunately, the idea didn’t materialise due to the shortage of time. We don’t go around ‘rejecting’ talent, and that too, of the caliber of Amir. I’m sure we will work together on the same concept sometime in future.”
Apart from these statements made by Rohail, there were statements made by some sources close to Zaki that mentioned, “Back in October 2010, Amir Zaki and his session players were called up by the Coke Studio people to their pre-production house in Defence. They came there and played four songs, which included the very popular ‘Mera Pyar’, ‘Saaen Wadero’, ‘Mohabbat Blues’ and ‘Jaana’.” Not only that, those sources have also expressed that after that audition, Zaki never got a call from any of the Coke Studio officials.
Now, after hearing their statements (from Zaki’s close sources and Rohail Hyatt), I don’t really know what’s happening but I can surely tell you one thing that something fishy is going around.
