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Thursday, March 14, 2024

Ali Zafar pulls out of Pepsi Battle of Bands due to Meesha Shafi spat

News Desk |

Pepsi Pakistan’s biggest musical platform, Pepsi Battle of the Bands, is all set to launch its third season in July 2018. To announce the launch of the season, an event was organized at X2 Restaurant in Karachi, which was attended by media representatives, digital community, socialites and senior management of Pepsi Pakistan.

Read more: Meesha Shafi-Ali Zafar spat is futile but may prove beneficial for…

The upcoming season of Battle of Bands features a diverse genre of bands, including two bands with strong female leads. According to the information shared by Pepsi Pakistan to local publications, more than 400 bands applied for the auditions this year.

The judges for this season include Strings, Meesha Shafi and Fawad Khan while Farooq Ahmed (Aaroh) will be seen as the guest judge for the auditions on the show.  In addition to this, Shahi Hasan will be seen in a new role of music producer this season. Ali Zafar was supposedly signed as a judge on the panel too but he pulled out after Miss Shafi’s allegations of sexual harassment.

A special screening of the TVC of season 03 was organized at the event. In the opening sequence, popular band from the previous season ‘Kashmir’ is seen singing their classic hit KaghazkaJahaaz, with singer-turned-actor Fawad Khan, followed by the second sequence featuring Meesha Shafi matching her powerhouse vocals to Badnaam’s, with a new rendition of Kala Jora.

Read more: Ali Zafar demands an apology, rupees 100 million from Meesha Shafi

The last sequel of the tvc screening featured “Hai Koi Hum Jesa”, the most popular “Strings” release till date, which was originally released in 2003 and endorsed as the 2004 world cup song.

The closing of the ad features all the artists appearing in it joining Strings to chant the Season’s anthem together. It has been announced that the show will kick off on July 15 and a new episode will be aired on every Sunday.

Ali Zafar was supposedly signed as a judge on the panel too but he pulled out after Miss Shafi’s allegations of sexual harassment.

Speaking at the occasion, Saad Munawwar, Senior Marketing Manager, Pepsi Pakistan, said, “The third Season of Pepsi Battle of The Bands is just around the corner and we are proud to present to you another exciting Season of the show through which we have taken the responsibility of reviving the band culture in Pakistan and providing the opportunity to our young musicians to showcase their talent in front of the entire nation.

The debacle took a turn when it was revealed that the whole issue might be related to the fact that Miss Shafi had asked for a bigger cheque against her services in the latest season of Pepsi Battle of bands.

On 19th April, a controversy stirred up when pop stars Meesha Shafi and Ali Zafar took to twitter to battle out Meesha’s harassment allegations against Mr. Ali Zafar. The debacle took a turn when it was revealed that the whole issue might be related to the fact that Ms. Shafi had asked for a bigger cheque against her services in the latest season of Pepsi Battle of bands. Reportedly, Ms. Shafi was to act as co-Judge on a panel with Ali Zafar and she had a spat with the management when they refused to pay her as much as the “Channo” star, since the latter has had a longer and more successful tenure in the Pakistani music industry and worldwide. These allegations were never confirmed nor denied by either party.