Coke Studio Bharat is back with its fourth season, bringing together veterans such as Rekha Bhardwaj and Mame Khan alongside emerging voices including Faheem Abdullah and Aditya Rikhari, in a lineup that spans folk, Sufi, devotional and contemporary sounds from across the country.
The lineup also includes artists such as Kulte Khan, Arsalan Nizami, Madhur Sharma, Ashok Maskeen, Vaibhav Pani, Mohammad Faiz, Ravator, Khwaab, and Utpal Udit.
The season draws from a wide range of Indian musical traditions – Rajasthani folk, Kashmiri narrative forms, Banaras-rooted accounts, Sufi lineage from Punjab – while also making room for contemporary takes on personal storytelling and modern love, the organisers said in a statement.
“Every generation rediscovers its roots in its own way. Coke Studio Bharat provides a space where that rediscovery happens through collaboration. Season 4 is about preserving the spirit of tradition while allowing it to breathe in a new context,” said Rekha Bhardwaj.
Aditya said the platform allows the core of a song to remain intact even as its sound expands. “Season 4 feels intimate in its writing, but expansive in how it’s heard,” he added.
Faheem Abdullah, who broke out with the blockbuster success of the title track of the Hindi movie Saiyaara, said the season had enabled him to fuse his roots with a broader sound.
“Music carries memory, identity and emotion. Being a part of Coke Studio Bharat gives me the chance to bring that world of storytelling to a national platform,” he said.
Season 3 had delivered chart-topping tracks, including Arz Kiya Hai, a modern reinterpretation of India’s poetry culture that topped Indian music charts, and the festival-ready Holi Aayi Re. Season 4 is expected to go deeper into India’s local musical terrains, with the first track set to drop shortly.
Shantanu Gangane, IMX Lead at Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia, said the platform had consistently demonstrated the power of regional languages, traditional instruments and untold stories at scale.
“Over the last three seasons, we’ve seen a powerful narrative of regional languages, traditional instruments and untold stories being presented at scale. Season 4 accelerates that approach and showcases culture and music from the heartlands at a national and global stage,” he added.
Devraj Sanyal, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group India and South Asia, said Coke Studio Bharat represented the kind of creative ecosystem India’s music industry needed.
“Our prime directive is simple – to build the most compelling music with the most exceptional artists, and in doing so, help shape culture here in India and beyond,” he added.
“In today’s world, the consumer is no longer a passive listener but an active participant by way of being a superfan shaping culture alongside us. That makes our prime directive simple – to build the most compelling music with the most exceptional artists, and in doing so, help shape culture here in India and beyond,” he concluded.
