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With the ever-popular Pakistan Super League’s second season inching nearer every day, the promotional activities surrounding it have also grown tenfold. Plus, much like the last season, it has its own anthem too; or should we say anthems?

While news broke that Ali Zafar will be lending his voice to this year’s official PSL song ‘Ab Khel Jamay Ga’ about a month ago, Shehzad Roy has also released his own song sponsored by HBL titled ‘De Maar Saare Chaar’ and has left us confused as to which is the official song?

So, which one wins our vote? Something Haute analyses both so you don’t have to!

‘Ab Khel Jamay Ga’ by Ali Zafar

Ali Zafar’s booming anthem for PSL titled Ab Khel Jamay Ga features cricket legends Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Ahmed Shehzad and Ramiz Raja, apart from the singer himself, which is always a win-win situation and in this case, makes us want to keep on playing the video on a loop.

Plus, if that’s not enough, the lyrics resonate with anyone who associates themselves with Pakistani cricket, because the song surely evokes some serious nostalgia. That being said, we’d still want it to be a little catchier, which it sadly isn’t.

Directed by Soheb Akhar, Zafar’s music video for PSL is indeed great for anyone who loves the singer and has passion for cricket. After all, Zafar is no stranger to charisma and charm, which he proves in the song too and that’s what makes it an Haute video to watch.

‘De Maar Saare Chaar’ by Shehzad Roy

Out of the two singers, one definitely has to agree that Shehzad Roy’s charm as a people’s performer cannot be taken away from him and De Maar Saare Chaar proves that. There may be no long list of featured celebrities in this song but Roy’s antics within the video make it strong competition.

Having said that, how many times are we going to let composers rehash the classic ‘Ballay Ballay’? That’s right, like so many other renditions of the classic Punjabi Tappa, Roy takes up the song and somehow, makes it about cricket! If nothing else, it made us nostalgic for the era of classics.

If a video full of kitsch-y cricket fun is what you fancy, Roy’s video is a perfect ode to that, and we mean it in the nicest way possible. Plus, no one can ever get bored of Roy’s presence, so that’s another plus for this PSL music video. Does it win your heart though? We’d be interested to know!

 

Shahjehan Saleem

The author is Contributing Editor at Something Haute as well as a professor in the Media Sciences department at SZABIST, Karachi. Socio-cultural theories and geography fill up the rest of his time.