Sound check

Coke Studio has enjoyed tremendous success in neighbouring Pakistan where it has aired for three seasons. It has been applauded for bringing together different genres of music in Pakistan where artistes like Abida Parveen,Rahat Fateh Ali Khan,Amanat Ali,Aunty Disco Project,Zeb and Haniya,Ustaad Gullu and Rizwan-Muazzam have performed.

The Pakistan series has also gained a massive online following with its music currently available on iTunes and its YouTube page has over 16,000 subscribers while its Facebook page has an astounding 4,00,000 fans. “The series has achieved unparalleled success in Pakistan. Other countries like Brazil,where it was first launched,have shown that the series can work anywhere. Now is the right time to bring the show to India,” adds Swamy.

Commenting on launching the show in India,he explains that India’s divergent music culture was a major factor in getting Coke Studio on MTV. “India is such a musically rich country. We are surrounded by music from our birth to our death. And Coke Studio is already an established platform. We thought of mixing the two and hope the combination works in favour of the audiences,” he says.

In India,mainstream singers like Shaan,Shafqat Amanat Ali,Shankar Mahadevan,Sunidhi Chauhan,KK,Hariharan,Kailash Kher,Colonial Cousins,Richa Sharma and Bombay Jayshree will share the stage with folk legends like Khogen Da,Wadali Brothers,Rashid Khan and Sabri Brothers as well as upcoming talents like Advaita,Shruthi Pathak,Chinna Ponnu and Harshdeep amongst others.

At this point,the channel has selected a total of 70 musicians who will appear on the show. Swamy,however,feels “this is just the tip of the iceberg”. “We had an entire production team that went and looked for indie and folk artistes. Of the 7,00,000-odd musicians in the country,we have zeroed in on only 70 artistes. There’s a lot we can do with a show like this,” he says.

Musician and singer Leslie Lewis has been roped in as the technical director of the show. “Lewis is the music mind behind Coke Studio@MTV. He will curate it,select the tracks as well as guide the artistes,” says Swamy.

The show is produced by MTV India in partnership with Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and is sponsored by F&B giant Coca Cola. “Coke Studio@MTV exemplifies the melodious symphony of the diverse genres of music ranging from famous Bollywood rhythms,traditional tunes,modern western,folk and much more bundled into a one spectacular musical treat. For example,imagine Shankar Mahadevan coming to sing something you don’t know anything about. It’s a jam session so the result could be anything. It’s like mixing two different chemicals and watching something new emerge. That is the beauty and USP of the series,” Swamy explains.

Last week,Coke Studio@MTV’s first recording propelled it to the top of the India timeline on Twitter. Coke Studio and MTV were both trending on the micro-blogging website. Most users were tweeting on their expectations for a good,clean show of singing that will bring talented and unknown artistes to the forefront. MTV India has also launched the India page of Coke Studio@MTV on Facebook. The page,available at http://www.facebook.com/cokestudioatmtv,has garnered close to 3000 fans. “The response to the show even before it has gone on air is phenomenal,” says a visibly excited Swamy.

MTV India,however,is not going off the Bollywood track with this show,insists Swamy. “Coke Studio@MTV is part of our Stay Raw campaign. We will continue our non-fiction and Bollywood shows as they are. The launch of Coke Studio@MTV does not mark any kind of major programming shift,” he points out.

Coke Studio@MTV will begin on June 17 at 7 PM on MTV.

priyanko.sarkar@expressindia.com