Rohail Hyatt’s vision has been a major factor – besides Standard Chartered Priority Night and Uth Records – in revolutionizing the music industry of Pakistan. The days of our artists being sidelined by the neighboring entertainment industry were over as Coke Studio opened up with a bang!
And over a period of time, the amazing show that we call “Coke Studio” has produced some of the brightest stars of Pakistan to the entire world. Not only that, it has also helped promoting the music scene of Pakistan like no other.
As of today, Coke Studio has aired five successful seasons, and today we are gonna take you back to the very first one:
Coke Studio – Season One:
Year 2008 was when this wonderful invention came in to being. The first season of Coke Studio aired four episodes in which some of the well-known names and some of the lesser-known – which then eventually got noticed after the success of Coke Studio – names of Pakistani music industry performed.
– Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
– Ali Azmat
– Strings
– Ali Zafar
– Tufail Ahmed
– Mauj
– Ustaad H.B. Gullo
– Saba and Selina
– Sajid and Zeeshan
The highlights of Coke Studio Season One:
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan collaborated with Ali Azmat for the very first time, providing an amazing version of Garaj Baras ¬– a song that was used for the John Abraham-starrer Bollywood movie Paap. Ali Azmat is truly a rockstar in his own way and Rahat simply owns a character of soothing and charming voice.
The legendary maestro Rahat Fateh Ali Khan also went on to sing a mesmerizing rendition of Shaman Paiyan – a song that was originally sung by the late classical master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. No one could compare anyone with the great master, but in this version, his own nephew RFAK produces a song in his own charismatic way.
String’s duo, Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia, were also one of the highlighted performers of Coke Studio Season One as they sung some of their hit songs like Sar Kiye, Anjaane, and Zinda before collaborating with Ustaad H.B. Gullo for Dhani. However, Sir Kiye was definitely one of the top-notch performances of Season One.
The prince of pop, Ali Zafar sung Jaanay Na Koi, Chal Dil Meray, Channo, and Rangeen but the hot-favorite would simply be Allah Hu that he sung with the Sufi singer Tufail Ahmed Sanjrani. Allah Hu is a track that was also used for Shoaib Mansoor’s movie called Khuda Kay Liye, which was originally sung by Khawar Jawad, but this version is undoubtedly the best from all in my opinion.
*Stay tuned for the rest of the best of Coke Studio. And in the meanwhile, you can post your feedbacks/comments about what your favorite performances were and what you disliked about the Season One of Coke Studio.
