Music industry has changed over the years. Quality of music, however, has not gone up even with the use of modern technology. The old tunes of some songs are still a rage whenever we listen to them. Two songs have always been great hits since they were composed decades ago. One is Jugni composed by Alam Lohar and Balori by Ustad Tafu. Jugni proved to be a hit on Coke Studio with Alam Lohar’s son Arif Lohar and Meesha Shafi providing the vocals. Now in the seventh edition of Coke Studio Punjabi song Balori has been a great hit with the vocals of Meesha Shafi and Ustad Tafu performing on tabla. Balori was composed 45 years ago and sung by the melody queen Noor Jehan at the peak of her career.
The catchy Balori was Ustad Tafu’s first hit song as a music director. The song featured in the film Anwara, which was produced by Khalifa Nazir and directed by Khalifa Saeed Ahmed. The lyrics of the song were written by Khawaja Pervez. It was screened on film actors Naghma and Ijaz. The song was an instant hit and the film too was super hit at the boxoffice mainly due to this song’s popularity. The producer had prior to this film project made a film Akbara starring Akmal and Firdous, which proved a dud at the box office. The song Balori was screened in black and white colour on film actors Naghma and Ijaz. It was for the first time that both the heroine and hero wore western attire for the song. Naghma wore tight trousers and a shirt. The song popularity led to film’s success.
Bongos (Afro-Cuban percussion instrument) consisting of a pair of small open bottomed drums of different sizes was used for the first time in the composition of this song in Pakistan. Interestingly the fusion created by the orchestra at the Coke Studio did not use bongos making it more western. The song, however, was too strong and made it more appealing to the young generation, who had not heard the song.
He is part of a musical legacy that spans seven generations. The 69-year-old master tabla player and composer Altaf Hussain Tafu Khan is a living legend. He is adept at playing almost all varieties of musical instruments. He has composed music for hundreds of films and has performed with all the top singers of Pakistan. In the late 70s he was declared as the fastest tabla player of the world by musicians of Pakistan and India. He has performed across the globe in many countries. He has to his credit many memorable golden hit songs that are still listened to by millions of people around the world. Talking to Sunday Plus Ustad Tafu went back in memory when he was composing the song.
“The film industry was booming at the time. I was a very busy musician. My finesse and quality was music was well known. Munawar Zarif and Khalifa Saeed asked me to become music director of the latter’s new film project. At first I refused but then on their insistence and since both were my friends I agreed to compose music for the film. So Anwara was my first film as a music director.
“When I was composing Balori the people in the film industry laughed at me and tried to make fun of the tune. Even my mother was amused to hear it and was not sure if it would be popular with the Pakistani masses. It was an out of box music of the time. I wanted the song to be upbeat number, therefore, I decided to include African music rhythm instrument bongos. I had gone to Jakarta, Indonesia for a performance. There I saw musicians performing with bongos. The music appealed to me. I brought a pair of bongos and brought them to Pakistan with me. Later I had that instrument made here in Pakistan. It was used in Pakistan film industry for the first time. I used six musical instruments to compose this song. The song was an instant hit and I was flooded with offers to work as music director for films,” Ustad Tafu said.
About the experience of performing in Coke Studio Ustad Tafu said it was a very good and exciting experience. “Misha sang well. She is good on sur. She will certainly go places and one day would be a huge success. They did not use bongos for the new version of the song. They used drum and flute and made it totally western. I applauded the whole team for good work. Faisal Kapadia and Bilal both showed me a lot of respect. When I asked them how they wanted me to play tabla, they said please play in your own style. The way I want to and think should be played. The tabla blended well with the drum beat and other musical instruments.
“There is something special about the song Balori. It has been remixed many times by different artistes and each time it has been a great success. This time too it has been a hit. I am getting good feedback from all over the world,” Ustad said.
“I think Coke Studio has helped in discovering many talents, who were not mainstream and not as valued as they should have been. Coke studio has brought such talents in the limelight by showcasing their true potential,” Ustad Tafu maintained.
Meesha Shafi started her singing career with the band Overload with her husband, but left the band in 2011. She became an overnight success with the runaway success of her collaboration with Arif Lohar on Coke Studio Pakistan Season 3, with the song Alif Allah (Jugni). The single with Lohar gathered over 13+ million views on YouTube, and is the most-viewed Coke Studio song ever, and was used in several films like Cocktail, Diary of a Butterfly and Jugni. She returned to Coke Studio (Season 5) in 2012 in where she sang “Ishq Aap Bhi Awalla” with the Chakwalees, and sang a ghazal by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, “Dasht-e-Tanhai”. Meesha was the natural choice for Balori and the song has proved to be a huge success. Talking to Sunday Plus she explained her aspirations and how she met the challenge of singing the song sung by one of the greatest singers of the world Madam Noor Jehan. Following are excerpts of the interview:
In which city were you born?
Lahore
What are your artistic aspirations?
I want to contribute whatever little I can to our already existing treasure trove of musical heritage. I hope I can continue to learn more about my voice and how to use it to its maximum potential till the day I am no more.
What is fusion music to you?
A master blend of the old and the new
Simply put, what does Coke Studio mean to you?
A game changing, life altering platform for musicians and artists, old and new.
What do you envision you can bring to this project on the whole?
This time, I’ve come full circle by going back to rock and revisiting my roots.
Did it go through a large dimension of changes from what you initially envisioned for Balori?
Not a big change but definitely different from what I had been hearing in my imagination. That’s the interesting thing about working with new people. The results have a surprise element to them.
Any interesting memory you want to share which might have happened during the recording of Balori?
It was a dynamic experience. I could feel the energy of a new team buzzing in the air, which makes for an exciting creative experience.
There are almost a dozen, and at times more than a dozen artists engaged at the same time, rehearsing the same set, each producing their own unique sound – How was the feeling on experiencing the fusion feel once again?
It was very rewarding as an artist to be in sync with so many other musicians as always.
You belong to the western musician setup – in this recording phase, what was it like incorporating western elements into your music genre?
I have delved in both western and eastern musical sensibility. The eastern element which I am not keen on letting go of is language. I wanted to stick to my language if choice, which is Punjabi. I love how expressive this language is and really enjoy the diverse options of delivery, mood and tone that Punjabi offers.
Tell us something about the single Balori, what is the inspiration behind choosing the single?
We have done a tribute to the Great Madam Noor Jahan and it was no small task. She was a voice that comes around once in a blue moon and she was such an effortless performer that she made her craft look easy, in fact which it is not. The combination of tempo and scale was definitely challenging but we decided to retain both elements of the original composition and I’m very pleased with the results.
What did you find most thrilling or challenging at the recording stage in the project?
I loved the excitement and energy of the new team. They had big shoes to fill but instead of letting that stress them out, they took that energy and turned it into a positive experience, therefore, the creative process became much more dynamic.
What were your expectations for Balori?
I have embraced rock, Punjabi folk and Sufi sounds so far. With Balori, I have for the first time tried a Lollywood classic and since Strings have it an all out rock treatment, it is a new blend for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I think my fans will love the energy and the tongue and cheek subject of the song too. I loved performing this track because it gave me a lot of room to explore the character of a woman