The second episode of Coke Studio Season 8 was a tad more sedate than the first one. It tried to please the purists of music, save for Ali Zafar’s song Rockstar, and succeeded to a reasonable extent. However, it clearly lacked the ‘wow’ factor.

Rizwan and Muazzam Ali Khan’s Sakal Ban was a safe effort. Sammi Meri Waar by Umair Jaswal and Qurutulain Baloch was a decent attempt, but it has to be kept in mind that both singers are essentially good with higher notes, so Baloch did well to reign herself in.

Suraiya Khan’s Chiryan Da Chamba had a good vocal tone to it and it was nice to see Anwar Maqsood adding a touch of prose to poetry. That said, a little bit of editing on his part would have been better. At times his reading sounded a bit lengthy.

Ali Zafar’s Rockstar is difficult to categorise. More than trying to exhibit his range, he perhaps was striving to prove a point to his critics.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, August 30th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play