Soch has made waves with its soundtrack for Pakistani films such as Dekh Magar Pyar Se and Sherdil and it doesn’t surprise that the craze for the band’s music extends all the way across Wagah. The band’s music collaboration for Bollywood project Malang shows that even bans placed by the Indian government on Pakistani actors and musicians cannot curb Bollywood’s love affair with Pakistani musicians. Despite all the hot air blowing from the corridors of power in New Delhi, Indian filmmakers continue to woo our musicians with prestigious projects.
The movie in question, Malang, is an action thriller directed by the Aashiqui 2 fame filmmaker Mohit Suri which released last weekend. While the film opened to a mixed response, the critics and audience are all praises for the film’s musical compositions, which also feature Soch’s soul-stirring Bol Hu playing at key moments during the film. While not credited in the official soundtrack, it features quite prominently in the film and social media has been abuzz with raves from the audience for its effectiveness during the movie’s important action and emotional scenes. The song is an original composition that went viral on YouTube last year in February.
Soch comprises of Adnan Dhool and Rabi Ahmed, and the phenomenal duo collaborated with an 8-year-old, Hada Hashmi for the soulful melody. The band described this song as “a soul searching trance of belief and devotion, braving the test of time as it has within it and the strength of the universe.” About Hadia’s haunting alaap and verses in the song, the band said: “She triggered goosebumps everywhere and stole the show with her vocal mastery.”
This is not the first time that the band has lent its music to a Bollywood film. Their song Awari from Ek Villain was a chartbuster and received much airplay. Interestingly Awari also marked the supremely talented Momina Mustehsan’s foray into Indian cinema. The band bagged a prestigious award nomination from IIFA for the song.
Despite the ban on Pakistani artistes which has been in place since late 2016, Soch’s Bollywood endeavor has managed to create quite a stir across the border as is evidenced by commentary over social media. While the Indian restrictions have been near absolute since last February, previously a few other Pakistani singers and musicians have been credited for working on Bollywood films. They include Quratulain Baloch in Pink (2017), Atif Aslam for Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) and the veteran Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for Simmba (2019).
Singer Aima Baig was also approached for the Indian version of Big Brother, Bigg Boss 13 but the Kalabaaz Dil fame singer politely turned down the offer. Pakistani musicians have overwhelming popularity in India and most of Mohit Suri’s films have featured music by Pakistani artistes, including his debut film Zeher which featured an uncredited remake of Iqbal Bano’s popular ghazal ‘Agar tum mil jao.’
We hope that collaborative efforts across the nations increase in near future.
