2007 - the favorites from this year

Not in any order --

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
KK,Sukhivinder Singh,Mahalaxhmi Iyer,Shankar Mahadevan.
Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy
Gulzar

Saawariya
Saawariya Reprise
Shail Hada
Monty Sharma
Sameer

Laaga chunari mein daag
Kachchi kaliyaan
Sonu Nigam, KK, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal
Shantanu moitra
Swanand Kirkire

Chak De India
Maula Mere Lele Meri Jaan
Krishna & Salim Merchant
Salim - Sulaiman
Jaideep Sahni

Partner
You're My Love
Earl D'Souza;Shaan;Shweta Pandit;Suzie Q
Sajid -Wajid
Shabbir Ahmed

Tara Rum Pum
AB to Forever
KK;Shreya Ghoshal;Vishal Dadlani
Vishal - Shekhar
Javed Akhtar

Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.
Sajanji Vaari Vaari
Sunidhi Chauhan & Shekhar Ravilani
Vishal - Shekhar
Javed Akhtar

Khoya Khoya Chand
Khoya Khoya Chand
Swanand Kirkire, Ajay Jhingran
Shantanu Moitra
Swanand Kirkire

Aaja Nachle
Show Me Your Jalwa
Richa Sharma, Kailash Kher, Salim Merchant
Salim Sulaiman
Jaideep Sahni

Om Shanti Om
Dard-E-Disco
Sukhwinder Singh, Marianne, Nisha,Caralisa
Vishal - Shekhar
Javed Akhtar

Life...In A Metro
In dino
Soham
Pritam
Syed Quadri

Dhamaal
Miss india martee mujhpe
Adnan Sami, Amit Kumar
Adnan Sami
Sameer

Taare Zameen Par
Bum Bum Bhole
Aamir Khan, Shaan
Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Prasoon Joshi

Move Your Body
Johnny Gaddaar
Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendousa
Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Jaideep Sahni


Jodha Akbar
??
A. R. Rehman
Javed Akhtar


here's the list -- few comments-
SEL stayed strong, while the new boys Vishal Shekhar continued the good work from last year. The most promising composers for this year award woudl go to 'Salim Suleiman'.
I know J-A music releases on dec 18, so it still makes the list :). I am sure I will love atleast one song.
Details later --

Partner

Composer: Sajid - Wajid
Lyrics: Sanjay Chhel
Soundtrack
2007

I have to confess, I would have not bought this album had I not watched the movie, for here in phooren, you don't get to hear bollywood music unless you watch the movie or go ahead and buy the album ---i should start a Hindi movie radio station, only if for myself .. but that thought is for another day. This album is pure delight, completely nonsensical songs, seems like David dhawan found an able partner for his govinda movie. Each of the foot tapping numbers are well done and will make staples at 'bollywood dance parties'. The movie which is 'inspired' by the Hollywood 'Hitch', is funny but it is music that stand out, giving the rolypolly govinda a chance to bring out a his dancing abilty, an ability which is nothing sort of a bag of tricks, looking at the terribly out of shape 40 something, you could never guess he could move like that :)

Do You Wanna Partner
Wajid, Shaan, Udit Narayan, Suzi Q
Replete with techno tricks and voice layering this song makes for a great starting number-- the song breaks into a rock and roll beat -and then into dholak and dhinchik -- very funny and very danceable.

You Are My Love
Shaan, Shweta Pandit, Suzi Q & Earl D'souza
This is my favorite song int he album, starts with fingering some single string instrument for a twanging sound-- followed by an equally nasal double barreled flute... beautiful- the vocal ' your my love' refrain with a single burst from quaint flute the keeping time-- while a double time beat kept by maracas-- very very nice. Shaan and Shewata's voices are perfect foil to the other two who keep up the background vocal layers--- very very nice!

Dupatta Tera Nau Rangh Da
Sonu Nigam, Kunal Ganjawala, Shreya Ghosal & Suzi Q
Double time -- yes dance number with -- starts of with a screeching high speed train -- going into a keyboard interlude-- followed by full on Sonu and Kunal --and then it settles into a cadence determined by the drum beat. Suzi- Q's voice provides a nice dimension along with the various keyboard tricks. Nice.


Soni De Nakhre
Wajid, Laabh Janjuwa & Sneha Pant
This is Uma's favorite - me and her start with the 'Kudukoo' refrain when the song starts-bobbing our head whenever this song comes up -- we are rolling in laughter and usually miss the song in our laughter--
The four beat cycle has three equally spaced beats followed by a ' kudukoo' to complete the cycle. this beat cycle is the basis of the cycle. When I first heard this-- i was taken back to my college when 'pump up the jam' was in vogue. Laabh's Panjabi Jaat accent with 'Soni they nakhre ' is fabulous- very earthy-- very panjabi. Sneha's nasal tone make for a very nice contrast -- very well done. Slightly slow for dancing unless you are going some of the tapori govinda signature moves :)


Maria Maria
Sonu Nigam, Sajid, Sunidhi Chauhan & Naresh
Very 'Spanish' beginning bars -- 'Senorita Maria'-- followed by bars which are more tango than flamenco -- nice nevertheless. I cannot get over the image of Salman khan prancing about in this song -- very danceable.

You Are My Love - Remix ,Do You Wanna Partner - Remix
Eric Pillai
Nice as remix's go but no comparison to the remix's at the end of Vishal Shekhar albums-- I prefer the 'non' remix'd songs -- they a re fast paced as such. And I think you are my love is ruined with the remix -- but that's just my opinion.


Overall very nice album, I must say when I heard these guys were passed over in favor of Hmiesh Reshamiya, I shook my head in disbelief. This is one of their early albums, so lets see if stand the test of time :)

JBJ

It has been a long dry season without any good music releases. I saw the posters for JBJ and heard about its music being directed by SEL and gave it a wide berth, see my last few purchases for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have been heart breakingly bad. The trio was so talented and the mediocre scores have been becoming a constant source of depression for me.

However, this weekend, I made a trip to the panjabi market in Vancouver and heard a the JBJ song - quite inadvertently- there isn't much you can say when faced with a formidable Panjabi kuudi with fake lashes and paranda, is there?

But, I was intrigued with what I heard and went on to get a copy of the CD. Let me say- it is the best they have been since BnB- and in some respects I think the music is one of the best scores they have ever produced - In one respect they have pulled all stops- the singer list is quite impressive- Neeraj Shridhar, Rahat Fateh Ali, Vishal Dadlani, KK, Sukhvinder, Sunidhi, Alisha Chinai and Vasundhara Das ...quite a list wouldn't you say? Shankar sings one version of the title track -


Jhoom
Shankar Mahadevan
The title track sung by an itinerant jack sparrow meets baoul is an attempt to keep fragmented narrative of the movie seem somewhat contiguous. The sound track does not pay heed to the number of people enacting the song to the number of the playback singers- leav alone trying to match voices to the personalities – apart from Shankar Mahdevan and Amitabh in the various tempo's of this song. Shanaker Mahadevan is very good-he would have given Mohd Rafi a run for his money with his lovely punju accent. I was astounded :) The song is a typical SEL song - lots of synth and a strong beat - with a very good baritone provided by Shankar. The carpenter technique of over laid vocals is very successful in lending dimensions to the song.

Ticket to Hollywood
Neeraj Shridhar, Alisha Chinai
I love the slightly nasal -echo-ey voice of Neeraj Shridhar- the lead singer for Bombay Vikings. I can never forget the 'Woh chali -' in his voice, still makes me go weak in the knees. The song is played as a pleading- conversation between the two - somewhat like ' ‘panch rupaiya barah anna'. Alisha Chian is a perfect foil to the male voice and the transitions are handled nicely with the single time beat and the repeating refrain of 'Ticket to Hollywood'.

JBJ
Zubeen, Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan
One part of the multi part dance competition song. It has a re-mix-y touch to it with super-imposed beats and vocals.The song required strong vocal chords, what with the overpowering beat and background- Sunidhi , Zubeen rise to the occasion beautifully, there is a section where the two pass the baton, so to speak, with the title phrase - 'jhoom- jhoom barabar', reminds me think of a two duelers bowing before they jump in - Shankar's voice is mostly relegated to the background echo vocals- as always adding a nice dimension to the track.

Bol na halke halke
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Mahalaxmi Iyer
Love the way the song starts off … the same beat cycle playing over and over again, each time around a new instrument is added - you hear the harmony building - ghatam, synth, jal tarang, flute and the final round the voice of Rahet Fateh Ali. His voice is like a caress, very well matched with Mahalaxmi's dulcet soprano. The only song that can be called -hindustani in the olde world Indian classical music sense, it uses a lot more instruments than I have heard in a typical SEL number- there is a fairly heavy reliance on synth and guitar- still. The song is given to transitions as it relates a whole story of the two young lovers; it is perhaps the only song in the album that relies on the vocals as much as it does. The strange attempt to show old-age in the last few lines by morphing the voice to some weird back play is tacky. The song shines despite it though.

Kiss of Love
Vishal Dadhlani, Vasundhara Das.
This unexpectedly is my favorite song in the album and the credit goes to Vishal( of the Vishal-Shekhar fame). The raspy voice and no holds barred rendition is one of the best I have heard him do... the first time he says ..
Oye baand kar le, oye baandkar yaara dake dalti aakhe!!
makes you want to jump up and join him in the hoarse plea.
Thoroughly danceable, This is one of the songs in which Gulzar's genius shines thru- simple words twisted to match the beat and yet they convey the passion ... Vasundhra is usually pretty good and she holds up her part in the song - but she cannot match the ferocity of Vishal's voice.
The Oompha Lumpha warning starting and ending song is kinda nice - it does end abruptly - but it is too impassioned and simmering down the tone might have been lot worse than the abrupt edge.

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
KK, Sukhvinder Singh, Mahalakhsmi Iyer, Shankar Mahadevan
Part deux of the dance competition song- delightful. The lyrics are amazing - nutty imagery and wordplay-- Gulzar had a ton of fun writing this- so must have the music director and the singers- it is foot-stamping-longing to dance-rhythm. The puckish guitar and the strong bhangra beat ( with the authentic drums) plays amazingly well with a ton of synth work and reverb- effects.
Mahalaxmi sings at a lower octave - she is unrecognizable - I have only heard her render the higher octaves of mellifluous soprano so this comes as a complete surprise. A lovely one I must say.
KK and Sukhvinder Singh are amazing as is Shankar who appears midway thru the song ( as amitabh's appears half way thru the song) - changing the pace of the song- very smoothly done!

Jhoom jam -
Passable instrumental jam of all the songs -

Over all the album is a look at how SEL is maturing - using varied vocals and moving away from the synth and guitar based accompaniment - while keeping their signature strong beats and a frothy spirit. Very nice effort indeed- this album has not quite redeemed the unqualified disasters a few of their last albums have been, but the star is on the rise again.

I wish the movie and the choreography was as inspired as the music – alas!

Omkara - Music Review

Ever since Rang De Basanti, I have been buying hindi music albums in the hope that I'd like something. The last something I liked was the one number from KANK. This weekend, I went it to watch the movie, Omkara, 15 mins into the movie, I was itching to fly go buy the soundtrack. The movie was very nice. Othello, has been one of my favorites, mostly because of my feministic tendencies. But more about the movie and Othello at some other times, this is about the music.
As, I was saying it has been a dry season as far as new hindi music is concenred. But the wait is so over!
Ah! I couldn't believe, I did not believe this CD earlier, with music of Maachis, Satya and Maqbool under his belt, I should have known better.

Omkara. Sukhvinder Singh
Uma’s favorite track in the album. It has captured the iterant –singer-retelling-a - folk-lore element very well. Very very nice.
The song starts with a jangly sound of something like an toomba (sister of the ektara, sounds a lot less sharp) . Sukhvinder’s voice is beautiful. The music wells, as a metallic clang of a matka and booming bass join and then there is sound of ghunghroo, the beat is taken on by the Nagada( or Nakkara as it sometimes spelled, a large one sided war drum, played with wooden sticks) and unexpectedly, sound of clapping hands. The main stay is the beat, but the beauty of the song is how the beat is carried forward on varied instruments, like a relay race the baton is passed from the booming bass- to the war drums to the matka- to the clapping hands- to the wooden stick- to the voices of the chorus and then back- to the booming bass. The song relies very heavily on Sukhvinder Singh’s voice which waxes and wanes and moves thru the octaves effortlessly. There are plenty of modern tricks like echo effects and the synth filling in spaces but it is done with subtlety, cleverly disguised by overlaying chorus. Masterful.

O Saathi Re Shreya Ghoshal, Vishal Bharadwaj
Starts with keyboard piece which with a very subtle use of the metal kabbas, transitioning to Shreya’s voice. Flute, subtle beat and occasional twirling of the kabbas. There is a full orchestra in the background( a bevy of violins in tow), but it doesn’t overwhelm the song. The short synth piece in the middle seems false. Vishal and Shreya’s voice blend well and convey the languorous, wistful mood of the song very well. The ending piece when the orchestra lets off is very nicely done.

Beedi Sunidhi Chauhan, Sukhvinder Singh, Nachiketa Chakravorty, Clinton Cerejo
Boy oh boy! The best instrument in the song the voices of the singers. The raunchy lyrics are uttered with a relish. Sunidhi is awesome, the song does justice to the strength of her vocal chords as she switches octaves, picks up and backs up Bipasha’s seductive eyes with her voice. Sukhvinder Singh is himself ( love the way he rolls his r’s :)). Nachiketa Chakrotrovorty is an interesting find, his voice blends enough with the rest of the song with Sukvinders’s to not be noticed; except for the first few lines where he does a great varying level tricks. Somewhere in the middle the song switches from modern instruments with their echos and layers to good old harmonium and dhol, and the song carries on as if nothing happened. The end is nice and abrupt.

Gulzar out did himself, I never expected this from him. The dialect is perfect, the imagery, leaves you a little stunned. The vocabulary is a little arcane, but you feel the impact, rather than understand it. Very in keeping with wordsmith image.

Jag Ja Suresh Wadekar
I haven’t heard the guy in a while, in the movie the lullaby-like song doesn’t have any musical accompaniment, in the CD the music is at its minimum. The minimalistic style adds to the song very well. The words are amusing, the guy is trying to wake up the girl, calling her a doll, a princess, a fairy a queen and then things like ‘ Mooi’ and ‘Maari’ ( god forsaken). Very pretty.

Namak Rekha Bhardwaj, Rajesh Pandit
This could be mistaken for one of the ‘item’ numbers, something hindi movie soundtracks are making a genre out of. It is sung by Rekha Bhardwaj, a fully trained classical musician ( and Vishal's significant other). She has rich voice, reminds me of Shubha Mudgal and Kishori Amonkar, almost. Song is sung in a semi-sufiana style ( with the back ground chorus a-la- Qawali), with harmonium, tabla as the instruments of choice. The training in Rekha’s voice is very obvious as she renders the semi-classical vocal gyrations with ease. The pace is controlled, as always, by the percussion. Lovely voice and very nice rendition.

Naina Rehat Fateh Ali Khan
Of the ‘Rahet Fateh Ali’ style, strong on vocals and
minimalistic in music, yet it manages to distinguish itself. The overwhelming sense of betrayal, helplessness is palpable, some of it is the words-some of it is the music. Naina thag le ge…
Haunting.

Laakad Rekha Bharadwaj

Laakad jal kar koyla hoye jaye, Koyla hoye jaye khak;
Jeya jale to kuch na hoye re, naa, dhooa naa rakh

A twist on famous dhoha:
Lakdi Jaal koyla bahi, koyla jaal bhai rakh;
Main abhagan yon jail, koyla bhai na rakh.

Nice rendition, in keeping with the tone, wistful, melancholy ….
Minimalistic music, the beat keeps the pace of the song ( the loud echoing sound of a dhak).The song starts with a sound of a oars dipping in the water, the dhak carries the beat of the oars. Synth backdrop, mostly keyboard, violins. Rekha’s voice emotes very well. The song ends with a huge audible sigh. Very well done.

Tragedy of Omkara
Short piece, mostly a full orchestra, with avery western feel to it, maybe it is violins. What seems like the marching feet or an army, or is it Othello’s destiny?

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

It has been a while since I wrote about Hindi film music,a dry season so far, not much to write about. There are three Hindi movie music directors that I would buy, without listening. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are one of the trio. While their sound is not heavy duty, the soul gripping kind, it is, light and frothy, easy on the ears, without sounding like a total rip off. Vocals are ususally the best you can get ( I love the Shankar's voice) and the songs are usually grounded with a very strong underlying beat.
This is one of their weaker album, I almost didn't write this post, I was so disappointed....

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna- the title track is insipid and uninspiring. I am not a big fan of Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik, I wish I could blame them... The opening bars on the piano and synth transition start out nice, the solo voice with just the piano bars kinda keep you listening to the first 15 seconds. As soon as the percussion ( a ghatam like sound) starts, the song is lost. From there on it is banal. Reminiscent of a hundred songs you might have heard. The musical interlude borrow the theme from kal ho naa ho.
Disappointing.

Mitwa- Shafqat Amanat Ali, Shankar Mahadevan, Caralisa.
This is typical Shankar Mahadevan fare. Reminds me of one of his initial albums, breathless. Full of energy, he completely lets go of his voice, the result is very nice. The two male voices blend really well. The beat is at odds with the song, it overpowers the song. The dhin-chak after the first salvo makes me want to cry, it ruins the effect, subtler beats would have been so much better ....The lyrics are the by Javed Akhtar, the words make this an introspective song,
yeh jindagi jo hai nachti to
kyon bediyon me hai tere paon.
Alas...

Where's the party tonight-Shaan, Vasundhara Das, Loy, Shankar Mahadevan.
As the words say, a dance floor song, strong two step beat and tons of echo effects. Vasundhar's voice has so much substance to it, it is not the typical ephemeral, ethereal voice ( like Lata, shreya et all), earthy without being all character, bordering atonal (like Ila Arun) and fills the song nicely. Between Vasundhara and Shaan and the occasional taan's by Shankar, the song is dancable, listenable, hummable version 2 of 'its the time to disco' ( kaal ho na ho).
Okay...

Tumhe Dekho Na - Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik
Extention of title song. Pretty much the same stuff. forgive me for not being inspired.

Mitwa Revisited - Shafqat Amanat Ali, Shankar Mahadevan, Caralisa.
Umm, being better acquainted with the song does nothing to improve its charm. This time the beats are heavier, while the heavier beats take away any pretense to introspections (words or no words), it transitions to a good old dhin- chak song. And it fits in with the 50 million songs produced in bollywood for this category. :( Ok, that was too harsh, but serously, I expected more from these guys.

Rock N Roll Soniye - Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan, MahaLaxmi Iyer
Now, this is what I was talking about. It is, as the song says, bhangra on rock n roll. The song is high energy with a hyper beat. But the beat is not the only thing contributing to the soongs charms, it has numerous little interludes that come in and change the song's pace.
The attempt at baritone by Shankar Mahadevan adds a little something to the song. The sar pe -topi lal interlude is interesting as is the boogie woogie piano work. The wham-bam reference threw me off a little :)
The mainstay of the song is beat, the basic beat is a two step which sort of holds the song together. The second beat which overlays moves it between, rock and roll and bhangra and at times goes double time into with the typical shift level piano work...very very nice.
Love the 50 rock n roll with jazz, R& B and gospel influence. I love they way they have merged the two different music genres and made it sound so seamless and comfortable in each other's proximity.
rock and roll - to the beat of the dhool
Honey honey honey honey mere sang dol -- to the double time is lovely, it makes me break out into a big ol grin even when I hear it in my head :)

Farewell trance-Shweta Pandit, Caralisa
Erm, what? this is a plain old instrumental for the title track, need I say more?


Over all, the album was redeemed by that one number. I am sure, all songs will look lovely on the screen.

As far as the movie is concerned, all I can say is I am intrigued. Karan Johar has made a lot of name for himself in the past few years. The movies he has directed or produced have been lavish affairs, exceptionally executed with remarkable attention to detail. Stylistically he is wonderful. But the topics addressed and the treatment of the topics has been, erm, naive. The settings are ususally affluent and the motivations noble. Sordid details, petty meanesses have no room. That is not real. So this venture, which talks of relationships, with the byline "what do you do, if you meet your soulmate, when you are married to someone else?" leaves me, as I said before, intrigued.
There are rumblings of the movie being a rip off of silsila and/or closer. The guy is shah rukh khan, and from the previews, it looks like he is being his usual self. So despite Rani and Abhishek, my hopes are not very high content-wise. But one thing I am sure of, it will be a treat for my eyes :)

Paheli

What can I say, as soon as I realized M.M. Kreem had a new album out, I had been haunting my local Indian store. Today, as I got in the store, he had a smile on his face, couple mins later, I had Paheli's soundtrack in my hand… anxious to get out of the shop.

There are three music directors I buy music CDs of without even bothering to read the reviews, MM Kreem is the least prolific of the trio. I have heard the CD four times, end to end, since I got it. I have not skipped a single song (though I have repeated one of them). Amazing accomplishment, not a single song (including the one instrumental ) out of the 8 on the cd is 'skippable'. Lyrics by Gulzar (he still is a poet, tending more towards a wordsmith than a philosopher, but he's the best we've got).

Dhire jalna: reminds me of a concerto by Beethoven, you can hear the rain and the thunder ( not literally) by the lulls, crescendos and the beautiful themes that crossover and resonate … he uses Santoor and flute, best use of these since shiv-hari stopped directing music. And Sarod!!!! Sonu Nigam's voice is made bearable by the music, you almost don't notice it. Breath catches in my chest when the orchestra picks up… To be heard with volume as high as your ear drums will allow.… The song tells a story, in music ( not words)…I just hope that the picturisation lives up to it. Most definitely my favorite song so far.

Kangna re: Three voices so similar in timber; Madhushree, Bela Shende and Shreya Ghoshal…mellifluous is the only word to describe the combination of these voices:). Kalapini Komakali is the Ila Arun replacement, in my humble opinion, better than the original, her voice lacks the aggressiveness of Ila Arun. Nice mellow song with a medium paced beat.

Phir Raat Kati: features twice, Sunidhi Chauhan and Sukwinder Singh. Uma's favourite so far, hyper paced, very minimal music. Primary instrument one of those single strand ektara's played with the violin like bow, beautiful use of the voices and instrument..niether of which hides the 'imagery of the words' ( can't write hinglish, gotta listen to the CD) … Sunidi Chauhan tries out some vocal tricks.. which gain full approval from Uma :)

Laaga Re Jal Laaga : was waiting for it, only song which kreem sings in this album, unfortunately he sings only the opening bars. Full orchestra; tons of violins, good beat… It has jal tarang this time… he has used voices well, Shruti Sadolikar has a couple lines that add character like an unusual instrument… very well done.

Khaali Hai Tere Bina : semi ghazal-ish, reminded me what Hariharan was famous for, his voice. I do not believe anyone has gotten Hariharan to do a taan, beautiful, haunting… perfect. Hariharan has not done anything this beautiful, ever (or at-least in a long time) simple tabla and flute backdrop…

The amazing part about the entire album is the beauty of each instrument, each voice, how everything is perfectly framed … This guy is a master of all instruments, I did not hear synthesized music anywhere… pure instruments... all Indian , played well. Everything is exactly right, not too little and definitely not too much.. thing of joy( fine, I know I am going gaga.. but I haven't heard anything this beautifully done in a looong time... even Bunti aur Babli or Swades are a feeble second..)

Minnat Kare: three intermingled voices, reminded me of the teasing girl numbers from taal, virasat.. this is what they were hoping to become. Flute, ghungroo this time, tabla, sarod, sitar, veena, dholak, shehnai.. amazing!!!

Dhire Jalna, instrumental: This is one instrumental you actually want to listen to, sarangi, they say is the instrument that mimics human voice the closest… you can see why they say that, Beautiful.

Hanuman

I am back once more, with a music review of an album where the music is not done by any of my favorites :)
I must say, I bought the CD purely on the cuteness of the little hanuman. And I have not been disappointed.
Let’s start then ...
Mahabali Maharudra: So many of my favorite voices, Kailash Kher, KK, Shaan, Palash Sen, Madhushree, Sneha Pant and alas Sonu Nigam. It starts with khadal and manjera and the chants from hanuman chalissa. The thunder and lightning as the music picks up and ebbs. The mix of voices is magical. The words, Mahabali maharudra shauravaan .. hanuman. The track does justice to each of the voices, it is grand and magnificent, my favorite track so far.

Jay Hanuman: Two voices I never thought I'd hear together, Kailash Kher and Shankar Mahadevan. So different and yet they go so well together. The hunger in Kailash Kher’s voice fits the supplicatatory note required for this song. It is a spin on the hanuman chalissa- Jay hanuman gyan goon sagar, Jay kapish theun lok ujaagar. The song has repetitive meter, the four lines cycle back over and over, it could have been monotonous, but the richness, interplay of vocal contrast from the two singers and the semi-classical taan's in the background, which add a dimension to the song, lift it from the ordinary to memorable.
Akdam Bakdam: The exploits of little hanuman, as he flies thru the sky and creates all kinds of mischief. Sung by shravan. Reminiscent of the jungle book song ' chaadi pahen ke phool khila hai'. The hyper active song with nonsensical lyrics ( akdam bakdam) is so far uma's favorite song and I can see why :).

Jay Bajrangbali: Baby hanuman's exploits continued. Sung by Palash Sen and Kinshuk Sen. The lyrics stray a little bit from the traditional in this... Sabse solid gada kiski../ yeh magic poonch bhi hai uski ... sing it kid! Lovely mix of classical/ pop. Very euphoria and very Palash Sen( even has 'dhoom pichuk dhoom' in it ). Very nice and utterly danceable.

Hanuman theme: it does a great job of mixing the tranquil bits with the crazy high energy bits. Chorus and taan's in the background with jaal tarang and trumpet, mostly synthesized music, but blends in the transitions and seemingly opposing elements well.

Hanuman Chalissa:( Vijay Prakash, Nandini, Rashmi) The only piece that could qualify as the old school devotional music. The verse of Hanuman Chalissa is very well adapted. The rendition is lovely, with clear enunciation and the background theme (mostly taans by the female half of the vocals and some chants) add a nice dimension to the number.

Destroying Ashok Vatika: very nice, I can almost see Hanumna jumping around destroying the places, uprooting the tree... bam bam bajrang bali :)
Bridge across the Ocean: slightly serious and somber tone with chants of jai shri ram. Nice.
The war begins: somber to signify a marching army perhaps.
Kumbkaran: interesting, with the resounding drum beat to mirror foot steps?
Ravan goes to war: Very tantric, with the invocations to the Mahadev Shambhu, Lord shiva. Suitably ominous and the lone conch shell at the end. Very nice.

The music is by Tapas Relia. Impressive. The music is not very complex or subtle, most of the number have a couple themes which are laid out with simplicity. The numbers are short enough to not become tedious and repetitive. The voices are well used. The music is energetic and well arranged. He definitely has used the best vocal talent around. I am not sure I am ready to add the guy to my favorites list yet, He has potential, I was impressed but not quite blown away. I am buying his next album. The jury is out still :)
The lyrics by Satish Mutatkar are mostly amalgamation of Hanuman chalissa and Hanuman astak, which take me back to my childhood (I could recite in entirety by the time I was 6-7 years old). He has held true to the words, and any additions and manipulations sound suitably supplicatory, joyous or ominous as the mood demands. Very nicely done.

Mangal Pandey - Music Review

Mangal Pandey
Kyon kaptan sahib... Kaale aadmi paar jor ajmayenge?

Unlike the last time, when I was waiting for my new CD love, this time I chanced upon it. I was in the local Indian store, attempting to locate the latest PC DVD, when I saw the red orange cover. Aamir Khan! Haven’t seen anything by him for a while, and then AR Rahman, my second favorite, ofcourse, I had to buy it. It took me a little bit of time to give it my full attention, but after what seems like a long time I am love with ARR music, again.
He is a master arranger, always think of him as an arranger than music maker, he overlays so many themes, weaving, interlacing and suddenly, when you least expect it, one of the themes takes over. It takes me many listenings to identify the various parallel threads. It is complex and it grows on you. My favorites move around the CD, resting atleast once on each of the numbers. His last release (Bose) was a disappointment, maybe it was the shriek-y bangla rendition of my favorite lullaby or the 'aklaa chollo re...' sung by Sonu Nigam but, I felt saddened.
Joy of joys there is no Sonu Nigam or Alka Yagnik this time. There is Kailash Kher though. I was enchanted by his voice when I heard the qawali by him in Dev.
ARR has done something I used to associate with him in his earlier days. He uses the right voice in the right way in the right place. With recent constants like Mr Nigam and mango face I had started believing that he had lost his knack for locating and using the right vocals. This time around, he surpassed himself, tons of new voices! All in the right place!

So lets start...
Mangal Mangal
Kailash Kher, Nagada and Khadtal.
There is a hindi proverb about a liar singing from his throat, a hungry man singing from his gut and a believer singing from his soul. Kher sings from his gut, something very hungry about his voice. Reminds me of the street urchins singing in the Delhi buses (two pieces of flattened stone clanging against each other for the beat). The song features, thrice in the CD, twice sung by Kher and once a duo by him and Sukhvinder Singh.
The song is a little different each time, probably features in different parts of the movie and somehow ties it together. Lovely renditions, I wouldn't have minded having it on the cd a couple more times :).

Main Vari Vari
Haven’t heard Kavita Krishnamurthy in a while, she is still as shrill and note perfect as can be. Reena Bharadwaj adds a nice balance to the KK voice. Tabla, ghungroo and sarangi mark the ‘mujra’. But the pace changes unexpectedly, I can almost visualize the abrupt ending of the song. ARR claims this to be the most difficult song for him in the entire album, I can almost see why.

Holi Re
By the time I came to this number, I had to go check the lyricist. None other than Javed Akhtar( of the Salim-Javed fame). Reminiscent of Kabir and Rahim in places ( if I might be so bold ). A great mixture of khadi boli, awadhi and urdu. Very period appropriate. And very well written. It is far and away from the fancy words and the vivid imagery of Gulzar, economical and prudent use of simple words. Definitely Bharat Vyas-ish.

Aamir Khan could almost be Mahipal (from Navrang) in his rendition of the initial part. Only ARR can make Udit Narayan sing like this. There is Madhushree, Srinivas and Chinmay too. Very bhraj bhumi. Somehow, ARR always does this. He takes something like a holi number and manages to go against the ingrained sound for the ‘genre’, which in this case is Amitabh Bachan sound-like and does something that is beautiful and still sounds just right. Just like he did with ‘mera rang de basanti chola’ I never thought someone could make me forget the original tune; but he did.


Rasiya
Richa Sharma, a singer who tries to make up with attitude what she lacks in aptitude for singing and a relatively unknown voice, Bonnie Chakraborty. Amazing. Bonnie is the real winner. She sings in the lower octave, usually better suited to male voices and hardly ever dared by female singers. Richa and Bonnie provide a perfect contrast as far as vocals are concerned. The words are beautiful, Richa’s attitude comes in very handy uttering words like ‘Challia’, ‘Rasiya’. The quaint mix of hindu and muslim influences that go by the name of ‘hindustani classical’. The backdrop of the beat and the chorus adds extended character if you will. A single twinkling anklet in the last few lines. Wonderful.

Takey Takey.
Sukhvinder Singh, Kher and Kartick Das Baul. A market place song with a chorus of kids. Hyper paced, with a soul. I heard a rooster crow in the song. It changes beat when you least expect it.
Starts with the snake charmer’s Been. The verbal gymnastics are beautifully rendered. Very nice, most definitely my favorite song so far.

Al Maddaath Maula
Ofcourse, there has to be an ARR sung song, but it seems the guy is learning about the limitations of his singing abilities. His voice is relegated to adding a dimension to the song and not something in the forefront. A lesser known type of sufi devotional music. Not the ‘regular qawali’. This is something that reminds me of a dargah in Lucknow…very sufi and very nice.


The music brings nostalgia …paints a picture of the age all of us read about in our history books, the mutiny of 1857. The hindu-muslim confluence to the patriotic beat is unmistakable. Very different from the pure Punjabi bhagat singh, just as patriotic nevertheless. The walk of Mangal Pandey to the gallows is just as moving as one in Bharat Singh. I think the movie is going to be nice. I hope it is going to be nice, last time I went gaga over a music album ... the movie almost broke my heart. This time it is Ketan Mehta ( not Amol Palekar) and Aamir Khan( and not SRK). There is hope; yet.

Rang De Basanti - Music Review

I have to say, I take umbrage to the loose translation 'color me yellow'. I guess Hindi is a hard language to translate to English, but color me yellow is horrible ( esp. if you think about the connotations that ' yellow' carries in English!!). Anyhow, my humble translation, Basanti has more to do with Basant( ie spring) and so basanti carries with it a notion of spring. Color me the colors of spring? it does go better with tag line of the movie ' a generation awakens'.

The music.
It is by A R Rahman. I was quite in love with the mangal pandey music, but with this album the ARR I used to love is sooo back :). The album is strange, almost weird, but boy, do the songs grow on you! It conveys the unrest and indecision of a young generation And he is doing what I love, picking out the right voices to support his songs steering clear of the popular.



Ik Onkar : sung by Harshdeep Kaur, it the authentic rendition from Japji Sahib, reminds of the sunday morning guru-bani in the ye olde days of doordarshan when we did not have ten thousand channels on the Indian TV. ARR didn't mess with it, left it as is. Good.

Rang De Basanti: The title track, sung by, hold your breath, Daler Mehndi (and a cameo by Chitra). It is lovely. None of the brit-panjabi-pop, tunnu-tunnu's. When reined in, the guy can sing! The lyrics are part-patriotic and ARR uses the traditional bhangra instruments, the single strand ektara, plucked with the finger and the dunnalli( the double barrel flute) and the dhol ( the drum). Very dancable, and Daler Mehndi does an amazing job, esp the end, which is a couple, unadorned by music, lines. Chitra's shrill couple lines are note perfect ( with a teensy south-indian accent) and provide a nice dimension. This is my favorite in the album so far.

Paathshalla- This track features twice in the album. Very hip, pop-rock number. A little bizarre with its asymmetric three beat cycle. Sung by Naresh Iyer, Mohd Aslam, ( second version has Blaaze). I could almost see a hiked up car with the immense tires on a dirt track.
Love the lyrics: talli hokar girne se/samjhi hamne gravity,
ishq ka practical kiya/thaab aiye kilarity;
Even uses words like alpha, theta and H2SO4, college kid anthem:D. Hilarious. Uma loves it. My whole car was reverberating with the beats in the song. It was fun!

Tu Bin Bataye: the only romantic song in the album, much different from the 'kho gayi meri gathariaya' song from Swades, thank goodness! Uses some of the same ebb and flow of orchestra tricks. Sung by Madhushree and Naresh Iyer. Background is very subdued, the focus in on the vocals, the full orchestra of violins and some nice subtle touches like ghungaro, church bells and echo effects. The song is nice and mellow with a dreamlike quality to it. very nice.

Khalbali: This is middle-east inspired song, full with arabic lyrics ( Nacim) and the vocal gyrations ( which echo a belly dancers movements). ARR sings, but he is good in this song. The two other voices are Nacim and Aslam. This is one of the places the ARR stamp shows, interweaving themes (including a ‘khaalid’ strain ) give complexity to the song, which saves it from a horrible monotonous death. Not bad.

Khoon challa- Mohit Chauhan, a lead singer from one of the hip new pop bands, apparently. Nice voice, an untrained voice, can't manage complex tunes but does wonderfully well with this very simple tune with minimal music. The voice is reminiscent of Shailendra kumar, the same freshness. This guy loves singing, he puts his soul in the song; and it shows. It is a fragile song and ambient noise is going to distract from it. It shows has the unfinished touch. But it is not unfinished, the attention to the small details surface if you listen to it carefully. Low on layering and orchestration, mainstays are guitar which complements without distracting. Well done.

Luka chupi- It is a funny song, not literally. The words suggest a song sung by mom to call out to her kid, lullaby like… however, and here comes the twist, it plays out more like an amateur jam session. The music is minimalistic, there’s guitar, table and flute and jal-tarang simulation on a synthesizer(weird combo, I know). Lata’s voice is lovely ( and I usually don’t find her voice lovely anymore). ARR sings.
The guys’ been learning classical and practicing, but there are a few things he should leave to others, like singing.
It seems people want to be known for things that they are not very good at, while they take for granted the things they excel at. I have a hypothesis that folks let ARR sing so that he will direct music for their movies, just like folks let MM Kreem direct music just so he’ll sing for the score. ARR should really think twice before singing. Really.

Lalkaar: Aamir Khan recites in guttural tone ( it would sound so much nicer with a baritone like Amitab, but, Aamir does a decent job). Love the words…
Sarfaroshi ki tammana ab hamare dil mein hai …
Good job by the lyricist, Prasoon Joshi. The war backdrop is well done, chorus echoing the voice and the plaintive but subdued taan. Nice!

Roobaroo: Naresh Iyer and ARR. Reminds me of that ‘purani jeans aur guitar ' song, which was the archtypical college-dorm-dreaming-of-your-future-song. Naresh Iyer fits well, not a very well trained voice, but seems to possess raw talent and obviously loves singing. His voice fits in very well with the strumming-guitar-and-singing-along-popular-college-hero that rule the inter-college festivals persona, we all know and love. Minimalistic music, very in keeping with the mood of the song. Like the ‘aye saala’ bit. Nice touch!
It is small touches like this ( and the scatting) which belie the impression of the simple- almost rough edges in the album. It may seem unfinished, raw, but its lack of finish is like the frayed edge tweed coat by Channel. It is intentional and very much a statement.

All in all- love it.
Verdict? typical ARR fare, will not do well… Also, can’t wait to watch the movie… with this much attitude in the music, the movie looks promising.
Another Aamir Khan flick?
I am happy :)