The two-month long journey has finally come to an end resulting Auj as the winner of Pepsi Battle of the Bands season four.
After weeks of intense competition and hard work, the final battle narrowed down to Auj and Aarish, who became the two finalists of the clash.
Auj besides taking home the crown, also gets Rs50 lac, an album contract and lifetime royalties of the original songs performed during the course of the season. Aarish, the ever-competitive runner-up, took home Rs25 lac and an album contract.
During the episode, after entire Pakistan had voted to make their favorite band be crowned the Pepsi throne, the finalists stepped foot in the battlefield one last time to entertain the crowd on the grand blue stage.
But before that, the grand finale held a ton of other surprise performances for the audience. It was started off with a mashup duet ‘Dhaltay Rahay’ by Pepsi Battle of the Bands season two and three winners Kashmir and Bayaan.
The occasion also meant other big names on the Pepsi stage. Shahi Hasan, Qawwal Fareed Ayaz and Abu Muhammad, Asad Ahmed Guitars, Imran Akhund Guitars, Imad Rehman Keyboards and electronic precussions Salman Rafiq (Fifu) Drums and Percussion and a vocalist/rapper Maria performed a song ‘Jaag Musafir’ which fused spoken word, rap and qawwali composed by Hasan four years ago.
Moving forward, the families of bot the finalists came recounted their childhood anecdotes, their stories and struggles and incredible rise. The band members, then, also traced through their whole journey to Pepsi Battle of the Bands.
In the end, both bands performed for the last time this season on the stage. Aarish performed on their original ‘Pukaar’ while Auj chose ‘Aansu’ as the last performance of this season, which again earned them a standing ovation.
To make the finale more grandeur, judges of Pepsi BOB also performed on stage. Meesha Shafi came up with a rendition of ‘Leila’, which as Shafi explained, comes from Sanskrit and the poetry revolves around a conversation between a girl and the moon. Yes, it couldn’t be Pepsi Battle of the Bands finale without having Fawad Khan perform and that’s what he did, bringing his old EP gang back including Xulfi. They presented ‘Jaag Musafir’ which narrated a conversation an individual and time itself. The veterans of the industry, the timeless duo of Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia, Strings performed a new original called ‘Hum Aaye’ in what was the episode last performance.
Then it was time for what we have been waiting for the last two months: the results. The hosts called on stage the marketing director of PepsiCo Saad Munawar to share a few words and award the trophy to the winner.
With Auj being crowned the Pepsi Battle of the Bands season four winner, they have not only joined a prestigious lineage of previous crown-bearers in Aaroh, Kashmir and Bayaan but most importantly, become harbinger of the rise of original music!
