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Yaad
Sunset Point
Woh Mera Hoga
The Complete Bhupen Hazarika
Kashish
Album: Yaad
Artist: Sonu Nigam
Label: T-Series
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Sonu Nigam is no Jack-O-Lantern. He did not knock on Faiz Anwar’s door after their murky and much-publicised fallout, during the making of Yaad. The lyricist who partnered the blue-eyed boy of Indipop to chalk out the success of Deewana abandoned Yaad midway. But Sonu manages to hold the album together, thanks to the caressing quality of his vocals. His voice packs emotion, pathos and chutzpah, all rolled into one.
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This is also a resurrection of sorts for composer Nikhil-Vinay, who roll the dice right, to create one of the brightest stars to dot the Indipop sky in a long
time. The canvas of the album is wide, and Sonu colours it in myriad hues. Jeena hai tere liye packs the punch of a lover in longing, but there is no languor here. Sonu plunges into the song head-on, and infuses it with gusto, only to slow it down at the end of the mukhda. You are jolted out of the gentle initiation with Mohabbat kabhi maine, which quickens the tempo. Sonu leaves his feeling of longing behind, and dons the garb of the lover out to woo his beloved. We then plummet to the inanity of Shara la, which is about the only black patch on the album. Not that the track is to be totally dismissed. The lyrics have a certain carelessness about them, but Sonu executes it with finesse, which is the mark of a true performer.Sonu is reinvention personified, but it is rare to see such vast differences in style within an album, which he achieves. It is as if each song was recorded in different points of time and then strung together. Kuchh hua and Hum na jaane have a will-o'-the-wisp quality about them, and threaten to almost disappear from your memory. Aa pukare is a jaded finale to the album, but since the better tracks have already been heard, there is no reason to invest extra interest in it. Nikhil-Vinay have some rough edges to be sharpened; it seems like they will make an appearance more often. Yaad is not another Deewana, and will never be. But it will be tucked away for a long time to come.
Album: Sunset Point
Artist: Gulzar, Bhupinder, Chitra
Label: Sony Music
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A love story unfolds through the narration and the songs as the subtitle - Suron pe chalta afsana, suggests. Conceived, written and narrated by Gulzar, Sunset Point is definitely a work of great beauty. The narration and the lyrics merge as completely as the colours red and yellow do in the setting sun. Singers Chitra and Bhupinder have done more than justice to the songs, which take forward the love-story.
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Chitra's voice is soft, subtle and vivid and the tone of her voice itself tells the story of two separated lovers and their pining for each other.
It is largely the woman's voice we hear, as she recalls her first meeting with her lover, their times together and the eventual separation. The album partly draws its title from the story that makes for the central theme. The Sunset Point as it turns out, is the lovers' secret meeting place where the separated twosome could be reunited once more. The words and lyrics teamed with his expressive rendition never fail to stir emotions. Consider these - Kachche rang utar jane do, mausam hai guzar jane do, nadi mein itna pani, sab dhul jayega. Or the happy number, Aa chal dubke dekhe, ek do chand se kude, or the poignant song, Tere jane se to kuch badla nahin, raat bhi aayi thi, aur chand bhi tha, haan magar need nahin, neend nahin....Music director Vishal can only add to the beauty of Gulzar's words with his lilting tunes. Thankfully, background orchestration is kept at a minimum. Also, adroit use has been made of the sound of running water, suggestive of the eternal flow of love, time and life. This Sunset Point is definitely worth revisiting after a frazzled day. It diffuses the serenity of sunset.
Album: Woh Mera Hoga
Artists: Mohd. Salamat, Alka Yagnik, Ila Arun
Label: Tips
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If you can get past an initial disillusionment, you may enjoy this album. For this is not really a compilation of Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun’s duets or their solos as the faces of Alka and Ila on the inlay card and the absence of the third singer Mohd. Salamat may suggest. The two noted female singers come together only in the first song, the title number of the album Woh Mera Hoga. After that, it is Salamat’s show all the way.
Who mera hoga is a robust song reminiscent of old Hindi film duets like Mere mehboob mein kya nahin kya nahin. |
Ila Arun and Alka present an interesting contrast, Ila’s voice being earthy, base and raw, Alka’s sophisticated, high-pitched and slender. The song describes the battle of two women over one man, replete with lines like Alka’s Meri baahon mein usko jina hain and Ila’s counter statement, Meri roop ka ras usko pina hai. However, the song’s lyricist Nafees Alam disappoints with his lack of imagination. Both the women are not even talking of winning the man through different virtues. Mohd. Salamat makes an entry with the next number Wada kiya hai. Here is a rich, mature, classically trained voice, eminently at home with the seven qawwali-styled songs. He graces the songs with feely flowing alaps and small tans, and does full justice to Ali & Ghani’s compositions, which as I said, seem to bear the marks of Tu cheez badi hai mast mast all over. Tujhe apne husn pe naaz hai to hua kare also has a line saying meri ishq bhi koie cheez hai almost frankly acknowledging the relationship with Nusrat’s number. Wada kiya hai wada karenge seems to be an illegitimate heir of the hit song Parda hai parda from film Amar Akbar Antony. Alltogether, if one did not have the synthesizer’s beats drumming in the background, these qawwalis would make pleasurable listening. And to the singer Mohd. Salamat, all one can say is salamat rahe.
Album: The Complete Bhupen Hazarika
Artist: Various
Label: Virgin Records
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The name misled me. I expected a collection of songs composed and rendered by the Assamese doctorate in his sonorous, bell-like voice that emerges from the heart of our mountains in the northeast. However, once you get over the initial disappointment, you find that the album has a lot to offer anyway.
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The album brings you ten songs, composed by Bhupen Hazarika, written largely by Gulzar, and sung by modern singers like Kavita Krishnamurthy, Hariharan, Shaan, Mahalaxmi and Suneeta Rao.
Bhupen Hazarika sings the introduction to each song, which strikes you as a breath of fresh, natural air before you enter an air-conditioned room. Hazarika's two film songs Duniya parayee log yahan begane from Darmiyaan and the well-known number Dil hoom hoom kare from Rudali. All the songs convey universal emotions and retain their strong folk, pahadi flavour. (Kaise yeh shaher hai alone stands out as an out and out urban sophisticated number.) The poetry of the songs is fittingly rich in natural imagery. Like the song Dug dug dug dug dumbaroo, megh bajaye dumbaroo pag mein bandhe ghungroo crooned by Shaan, Suneeta Rao and chorus, beautifully evokes the feeling of monsoons and anticipation of romance. Like the Hariharan number Tum hi tum loses the lyrical impact of its Bengali counterpart Manush manusheri janye, jeeban jevaner hi janye.ektu sahanubhuti ki manush dite pare na bandhu, meaning ‘Man lives for man, life is for life, can’t man show a little compassion.’ However, in spite of some loopholes, this is an album worth listening to again and again for experiencing Bhupen Hazarika enrich one’s life.
Album: Kashish
Artist: Kishore Kumar
Label: HMV
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Kashish transports you back to the era when Hindi film music was clean, simple and beautiful, and when orchestration included only the sounds of real instruments. Kashish, meaning attraction, brings together nine of the popular late singer Kishore Kumar’s songs, digitally cleaned for modern audiences. Kishore Kumar’s humming is as effective as ever.
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The numbers in this collection are medium-paced and deeply romantic, neither touching the depths of despair nor the heights of happiness, as Kishore did with songs like Roop tera mastana and Mere naina sawan bhaadon. Pichli yaad bhula do is a sad number, in which the singer leads with his present love to wipe out the painful past for him, while Tera chehra is a eulogy of the beloved, glowing with lines like Tera chehra mujhe gulab lage / Din ko dekhoon to aftaab lage, shab ko dekhoon to mahtaab lage. The songs fall pleasantly as moonshine on the earth. You have philosophical lines from the ink of late poet Indivar - Yeh mehfil yun hi sajegi, duniya yun hi chalegi, jo dhadkan kiski ruke tum ruko na/ Taara toote koi agar, ambar khaali nahin hoga. You also have Rajinder Krishnan’s beautiful celebration of togetherness, Chalte chalte mil jaati hai aasmaan se dharti jaise, dheere dheere bas jaati hain do dilon ki basti from Chanda Chhode Chandni. Kishore sings the sad and the happy in his unique style. For ardent Kishore lovers, this comes as a welcome offering.
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