Curtains have been drawn on the show’s eighth season as the final episode of Coke Studio was unveiled this weekend. Stringing together a farewell set list might have been a nervous job for the producers who used the currency of nostalgia to full use, week in week out.
The Fayyaz Hashmi ghazal is perhaps the most popular lyrical piece of the recent past which was further accentuated by the signature Sohail Rana ministrations. The old kingdom is no more and Farida Khanum is one of the few of its viziers, in Hali’s words — Yadgar-e-bazm-e-Dilli aik Hali reh gaya (only Hali remains from the milieu of Delhi), who are still breathing.
She leaves us in awe of her powerful presence and sets the bar of ageing goals way too high. While she is rightfully immune to scrutiny and her inclusion was necessary to the extent that the new generation of listeners should know where our music is coming from, there was little done on part of the producers to bring the arrangement at par with Farida’s singing.
Her struggle with breathing and clearing her throat saddens us as much as Rana’s absence from Pakistan does. While one has returned from a hiatus, we hope Rana too graces the screens.
This post originally appeared here.
from The Express Tribune Blog http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/29719/farida-khanum-setting-the-coke-studio-bar-very-very-high/
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