y the time you read this, Indian music will be living in the aftermath of Coke Studio. The music-based reality show debuted on Friday on MTV, after hype and a PR buildup that rivals, well, a new season of Roadies. The format (originally Coca Cola Zero Studio in Brazil, though this was a one-time promotional project that Coca Cola ran in conjunction with the launch of a new music phone by Nokia) was made popular by its highly successful Pakistani interpretation, which saw mainstream and upcoming artists perform live versions of their own songs and collaborations in an incredibly well produced package. The big question everyone's asking though is — will it work here?

Coke Studio Pakistan nailed a crucial formula — incredibly talented artists performing on a show dedicated to music and packaged in a way that focused on the music alone and not the public image of the artists performing it. Much of the credit for making that work goes to Rohail Hyatt, the producer of the first season of the show in Pakistan. Industry insiders believe that it's Hyatt's vision that has made the show what it is — a remarkable music television achievement in the age of YouTube and 3G. In India, that responsibility has been put in the hands of Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment and Colonial Cousin Leslie Lewis. The selection of Lewis is curious given that he has been out of the public spotlight for much of the last decade. But given that the Indian version of the show has been positioned as a platform for fusion between the old school of Indian music and new blood, the choice seems to make some sort of skewed sense. Let's just say, if Coke Studio India was a show airing in 2001 rather than 2011, it would've...no.

The hype around Coke Studio India comes predominantly from Indian fans of the Pakistani show who've watched clips of it on YouTube. The brand of sufi fusion performed on the show has been making its way into the Indian mainstream with several of the artists having made, or looking to make, careers in Bollywood. The Indian version of the show features a host of different musicians from around the country, both well known names and relative newcomers. However, it feels as though a checklist of artist requirements was made beforehand and that spreadsheet was filled with the most available artists of the time. The musical palette that Coke Studio India aims to cover is vast, and while they've booked artists ranging from Punjabi folk to indipop to qawalli to folk rock, one wonders what "new thinking" it took to get Indian music talent show everyman Shaan and acts like KK onboard.

As far as production values go, if the preview clips that MTV uploaded on YouTube prior to the airing of the show are to be believed, the show is definitely not as slick as the Pakistani version. Cheesy 3D graphics of instruments like tablas and guitars zoom into the screen as the Coke Studio logo appears. Sloppy camera work and lackadaisical live editing featured heavily in the clip of Harshdeep Kaur's Hoo that was previewed a few days before its broadcast on TV. The saving grace though, and luckily for all the stakeholders in Coke Studio India, is that they've captured the music beautifully. Put your headphones on, face away from the monitor and listen to that recording. As Kaur hits the peak of her falsetto on the song, you can't help but feel goosebumps at the power of her voice.

And that's all MTV, Coca Cola, Red Chillies, even Leslie Lewis have to do really to ensure that this program is a success — focus on the music alone, no one cares about the frills. They've got Roadies for that.