Tu hi mere rab ki tarah hai (Mithoon)

When I went to my college last week, I noticed that everybody was seeing Rab somewhere or the other and Rab was pretty popular. Probably that's the reason Mithoon named his album on a song's second line.

But that's the only thing that is not classy about the album. Or at least the title song. Rest of the song is as good as Mithoon always gives.

Tu hi mere rab ki tarah hai is a typical song of Mithoon, a bit slow, with lots of background and surround music and the same touch as found in 'The Train' songs.

The first song, tu hi mere rab ki tarah hai, or tu hi mera sara jahan hai, as the first line goes, starts with Shilpa Rao (my guess) rendering the first two lines on a high note, with Mithoon mouthing 'Tu hi mera' twice in a surround sound mode just after that and then following up with his typical soothing, Rahman-sort-of voice.

Mithoon's music is great as always. Though he doesn't sing in some new type or genre, the song is as good as it could be, being in the same genre. In the mid of the song, the main musical instrument becomes Tabla and toward the end, the song gets into a completely different mode with the instruments changing to give a lounge feeling.

Mithoon's singing of his genre hardly needs a discussion. It's the same soothing voice zindagi ne zindagi bhar gham diye and sounds quite like that of Rahman when the latter sings his slow songs.

Lyrics of the song are, if not exceptional, not bad from any angle. Though the words tu hi mere rab ki tarah hai feel like cashing the popularity of 'Rab', there is nothing to suggest that the song is low quality or something. If you are a mithoon fan, go for the song. If not, try it at least.

Mann chandre (Connections)

First things first. Mann chandre is one the very best songs of Rahman. Or at least that is what I personally felt.

I don't understand Punjabi very thoroughly but courtesy Yash Chopra, i know quite a few words of the language and that helped me a lot in understanding the song, as it's completely in Punjabi, which is probably the only limiting factor of the song.

The song starts in a female voice, my guess being chinmayee, rendering the Punjabi lines in between slow, soulful music. And then suddenly when the song reaches it's peak, Sukhwinder Singh comes in and goes ahead with the song, in the high and low renditions. Later in the song, a soothing voice of chorus comes in to sing the same lines, but this time, the feeling is all the more strong with the chorus singing. In fact for the past sometime, i don't remember such an effective voice from a chorus. Of course in between, Sukhwinder gets a line or two and then takes the song back from the chorus, the background music lighter this time. The most interesting thing I found is that there are only a few lines in the song, which are repeated again and again, but still the music and the effects put in don't let the listener feel that anything is being repeated.

Here are the lines which form the entire lyrics as they are repeated.

Mann chandre nu raas na aave, Na aave dharwaas
Jigar da sauda kyon kar baitha, mukadi jaandi aas
Je lut janda te lut janda dil, hauke kha ke chhup jaanda

Beparwah da ki kehna, Na aave dharwaas..
Jigar da sauda kyon kar baitha, mukadi jaandi aas..
Dard sataunda bedardaan nu, bedardaan da ki jaanda..
Dard sataunda bedardaan nu, bedardaan da ki jaanda..

The English translation of the lines goes as follows:

Crazy heart neither gets satisfaction nor can afford..
Why it did the deal of heart, now even the hopes are dying..
Once heart is gone, its gone! It hides after crying..

What to say about heartless people, there is no relief..
Why it did the deal of heart, now even the hopes are dying..
Pain hurts and heartless have no regret about it..
Pain hurts and heartless have no regret about it..

Here is the SOURCE of the English Translation.

Rahman at Oscar: Appreciation or Ignorance?

Our very dear, very own, A R Rahman gets three Oscar nominations in two categories. One of the nominations is for the same song for which Rahman got a Golden Globe, the golden song - Jai Ho. The thing i'm happy about is that this time Gulzar also got nominated for the song along with Rahman.

The other song in the same category of original song is o saya, which is a fine song, though not upto the level of Jai ho, or even other creations of Rahman while one counts the best of him. Still, a nomination is acceptable.

But the nomination that came more as a shock to me rather than surprise was for a category called Original Score. For slumdog millionaire, of course. This was something i did not understand. I feel that if a movie gets an award (or a nomination) for an original score, it has to have more than a few good songs. And as far as Slumdog Millionaire is concerned, i beg to differ. Slumdog is hardly one of the best original scores Rahman has produced, even with a good song like Jai ho, for which i would like to give credit to Gulzar and Sukhwinder Singh along with Rahman.

If one has a doubt about the mediocrity of the score of Slumdog, one just needs to listen to Ringa Ringa, the song which is almost a choli ke peeche, I need not write, from Khalnayak. (probably more because of the notoriousness of the song, rather than popularity)

Though, i was told by somebody that Rahman and the Slumdog team wanted to give a 90's touch to the music. But then, i suppose if it's that much inspired or has a 'touch', it can't be Original.

On the whole, the thing that troubles me the most is that Rahman has made far better songs than the soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire, but owing to the ignorance of the 'big' people, the ones giving out all those Golden Globes and Oscars, and who never came to know about all that great music of Rahman, all awards are being given to a mediocre creation of Rahman, and I feel it's unfair to all of us Indians who know what actual Rahman is. And still, we're so happy to get all these awards. But I don't feel like celebrating the ignorance of these big people myself.

Anyway, for now I wish all the best to Rahman, because he has given us lots of lots of great music for which he deserves a lot more.

Jiya Se Jiya (Connections)

First of all, two words about Connections. It's music.

Pure, straight from the soul, true work of a genius we call A R Rahman, Connections, an album launched on the Nokia Xpressmusic phones (5220, 5320, 5800 as far as I know) is something which is not exactly commercial music, even though it comes straight from the business community rather than the aesthetic movie people.

The first song I heard from the album was Jiya se Jiya, the one featured in the advertisement of the Xpressmusic phones. The song Jiya se Jiya is credited to Karthik who has been Rahman's favorite for quite some time now and sang Behka in Ghajini, one of the most popular as well as critically acclaimed song. (Yes, now even songs are critically acclaimed)

The song starts with some typical Indian music that is just like what you listen at a big Indian festival like Durga Pooja in Bengal or Ganesh Utsav in Maharashtra. Big music with lots of traditional instruments and big sounds of Dhol and nagada and even claps.

And then, the song starts.

Ude re umang, bina dor ke patang, ek doosre ke sang, jud gaya jiya se jiya,
jiya se jiya, jiya se jiya,
koi gaaye dhun koi naache jhun jhun koi kahe sun sun jud gaya jiya se jiya,
jiya se jiya,
ambar se surtaal barse gulbar se gulhaar barse,
ambar se surtaal barse gulbar se gulhaar barse jud gaya re jud gaya jiya se jiya,
jiya se jiya, jiya se jiya, jiya se jiya..

Raat hai aaj gulabi raat gulabi
Naach rahi murgabi haan murgabi
Jud gaya re jud jud gaya re jud jud gaya re jud gaya jiya se jiya
jiya se jiya, jiya se jiya,

Ude re umang, bina dor ke patang, ek doosre ke sang, jud gaya jiya se jiya,
jiya se jiya, jiya se jiya,
koi gaaye dhun koi naache jhun jhun koi kahe sun sun jud gaya jiya se jiya,
jiya se jiya,
ambar se surtaal barse gulbar se gulhaar barse,
ambar se surtaal barse gulbar se gulhaar barse jud gaya re jud gaya jiya se jiya,
jiya se jiya, jiya se jiya, jiya se jiya,
Jiya se jiya!

Oops! I wrote the entire song. Well, actually I was just planning to write a line or two to give readers a feel of the lyrics but when I started I felt like going on and on and so I did write it. The song actually has a lot of Indian feel attached to it. Rather I should say that the entire album has a different Indianness attached to it and quite touches the soul of an average Indian, though I doubt how many will get to listen to the album due to the limited release.

On that note, I'd like to mention that you can download this song from youtube or songs dot pk or maybe some other places too. I'm not a supporter of piracy but I guess buying a phone for the songs will be a bit too much. So, just doenload this one.

Another interesting thing is that probably because the song is made for a phone release, it generally sounds better on headphones than on speakers as you can feel more surround sound like things there.

A full marks song. Listen to it. I very much hope you'll like it.

Dil Gira Dafatan (Delhi 6)

King is King.

Well, Dil Gira Dafatan proves that only. While AR Rahman gets his due credit for this beautiful composition, the British-born Singer Ash King is the one who deserves probably more for adding life to Rahman's composition with his beautiful voice as he sings Dil Gira Kahin Par Dafatan.

Ash King has sung Dil Gira Dafatan really wonderfully. So much so that right from the start of the song, when Ash starts crooning Dil mera, dil mera.. one starts wondering who is the singer.

What all Rahman has used for the music, I can't tell. There is so, so much. All I can say about the genre is that it's a 'Different' song. The song is a slow number, a rendition by a youthful voice who is singing completely from the heart.

The singer seems to be sitting near some sea, on a rock, and the song reminds me somewhat of Dooba-dooba, not because of the song but the instruments, though the sounds of wind in the background are quite desert-like.

Another question which is there on my mind is about the video of the song. The voice of Ash King, our heroic singer is so much heartfelt that I'm thinking how they can let Abhishek perform the hero with that. My say is that if he does it, and does it properly, it'll be a big deal.

Chinmayee, an all time favorite of Rahman, is the supporting voice and she does her job pretty well. And not to forget, Prasoon Joshi does a real good job again. Ghazalon ki sohbat mein geet bhi behek rahe hain... Excellent!

But still, at the end, it's Ash King who is the King of the song. Or in my words, King is King.

Lyrics:

Dil mera Dil mera
Dil Meraaa

Dil Meraaa......
aaa......

Dil Mera Dil Mera
o..o...ou.... aee...

Dil, Gira kahin par.. daffatan
Dil, Gira kahin par.. daffatan
Jaane.. Magar Yeh nayan
Teri Khamosh zulfon ki.. gehraiyaan
Hai jahan dil meraa uljha hua hai wahin kho gaya
Tu magar hai bekhabar, hai bekhabar

Dil, Gira Kahin par daffatan
Kyon goonj rahi hai dhadkan...
Jaane magar ye nayan

Seepiyon, ke honth se moti chhalak rahe hain
Ghazlon ki sohbat mein geet bhi behek rahe hain
Samandar lehron ki lehron ki chaadar odh ke so raha hai
Par mein jaagoon ek khumari ek nasha sa, ek nasha sa ho raha hai
Tu magar, hai bekhabar.. hai bekhabar..

Dil, Gira Kahin par daffatan

Kyon goonj rahi hai dhadkan...
Jaane magar ye nayan
Khushbuon mein lipte mausam...
Teri Khamosh zulfon ki gehraiyaan
Hai jahan dil meraa...
Uljha hua hai wahin kho gaya
Tu magar, hai bekhabar.. hai bekhabar..

Dil! Gira Kahin par daffatan!

Rehna Tu (Delhi 6)

Strange how one can see certain patterns in the songs A R Rehman sings himself. The soft, philosophical ones (Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na-Tu bole, Ada - Meherbaan), his typical high pitched ones, mostly patriotic (Swades - Ye jo des hai tera, Bose - Jaage hain, Vande Mataram - Vande Mataram), his multi-singer ones (Yuva - Dhakka laga Buka, Yuvvraaj - Dil ka Rishta, RDB - Khalbali), and his praising-the-lord ones (Fiza - Piya Haji Ali, Jodhaa Akbar - Khwaja mere khwaja) cover most of the songs sung by him as he doesn't sing 'normal' songs.

This time Rehman doesn't sing the 'praising Him' song himself but instead goes for the philosophical one. The song is a slow number and will take its time before you like it. If you don't have the patience, you lose it. The song feels quite like the Title track sung by Rehman in Jaane tu ya jaane na as both have a certain amount of philosophy attached to them along with romanticism.

Rehna tu is a song in which the guy asks his lover to remain the same and to not change, praising his lover in the course. The lyrics of the song are good and Rehman sings the song ever so softly. Quite typical of him. Towards the end of the song Rehman also uses some wind instrument which runs for almost a minute.

Overall, the song is good. The only thing that I felt is a bit out of place are the few lines that say it cannot be both right hands when you walk holding hands. In those lines Prasoon Joshi suddenly seems to be going philosophical from romantic. The lines remind me of 'Tu bole glass adha khali, main bolun adha bhara', but in that case it was all part of the song.

Still, Rehman's music and singing fill all the gaps and the song goes smoothly. In fact, high chances are that a listener won't even notice the lyrics I feel out of place. So listen to the song when you are free. Once, twice, see the movie, and you'll be humming it someday.

Lyrics:

Rehna tu
Hai Jaisa tu
Thoda sa dard tu
Thoda Sukoon

Rehna Tu
Hai Jaisa TU
Dheema Dheema jhonka
Ya phir junoon
Thoda sa resham
Tu humdam
Thoda sa khurdura
Kabhi tu ad jaye
Ya lad jaye
Ya khushboo se bhara

Tujhe badalna na chahoon
Ratti bhar bhi sanam
Bina sajawat milawat
Na zyaada na hi kaam

Tuhje chaahoon, jaisa hai tu
Mujhe teri barish mein bheegna hai ghul jana hai
Tujhe chaahoon jaisa hai tu
Mujhe tere lapat mein jalna rakh ho jana hai

Tu zakhm de gar
Marham bhi aake tu lagaaye

Zakhm pe bhi mujhko pyaar aaye

Dariya
o... dariya
Doobne de mujhe dariya
Doobne de mujhe dariya

Rehna tu
Hai Jaisa tu
Thoda sa dard tu
Thoda Sukun

Rehna tu
Hai Jaisa tu
Dheema Dheema jhonka
Ya phir junoon

Haath tham chalna ho
To dono ke daayen haath sang kaise
Haath tham chalna ho
To dono ke daayen haath sang kaise

Ek daayan hoga ek baayan hoga
Tham le haath yeh thaam le
Chalna hai sang thaam le

Rehna tu
Hai Jaisa tu
Thoda sa dard tu
Thoda Sukun

Rehna tu.......
Hai Jaisa tu
Dheema Dheema jhonka
Ya phir junoon

Thoda sa resham
Tu humdam
Thoda sa khurdura
Kabhi tu ad jaye
Ya lad jaye
Ya khushboo se bhara

Tujhe badalna na chahoon
Ratti bhar bhi sanam
Bina sajawat milawat
Na zyaada na hi kaam

Tuhje chaahoon jaisa hai tu
Mujhe teri barish mein bheegna hai ghul jana hai
Tujhe chaahoon jaisa hai tu
Mujhe teri lapat mein jalna rakh ho jana hai..

Arziyaan / Maula Maula (Delhi 6)

A R Rehman suddenly gets all divine whenever there is a song in the service of God. Same is the case of Arziyaan in Delhi 6. Now that the song is not sung by Rehman himself and this time it's Javed Ali and Kailash Kher singing the song, the song is not as divine as Khwaja mere Khwaja, but very close, or still closer to Piya Haji Ali. Though in a few places Rehman gets slightly experimental, the song is basically one from his old styles.

Javed Ali, probably for the first time, is not feeling anything like Sonu Nigam but more like Kailash Kher himself as he croons Sufi music. His voice in fact sounds a bit husky and a bit different from his previous songs, but most of the times easily identifiable.

Kailash Kher does his job with perfection, as usual, and his bonding with maula-bande gets stronger with the song.

Arziyaan is a qawwali/sufi song with a huge length of more than eight and a half minutes. And Rehman must be applauded for the fact that even that length doesn't bore the listener. In fact in the first few hours of getting the song, I listened to it a number of times.

Lyrics of Prasoon Joshi are quite upto the mark and he has written some very good lines too. But for me, one word that didn't fit the song for some time is 'Marammat' as it suddenly takes me to mechanical engineering from the Sufi song (actually, first thing that comes to my mind is a plumber doing the 'marammat' of water tap n all). But then, in the beauty of the song, it's lost and I got used to it.

I don't think I've more to say about the song. I'd just advice to go for it.

Lyrics:

Arziyaan saari main chehre pe likh ke laaya hoon
Tumse kya maangoon main tum khud hi samajh lo.... maula
Maula maula mere maula

Maula maula mere maula
(Maula maula mere maula)
Maula maula maula maula
(Maula maula maula maula)
Daraarein daraarein hain maathe pe maula
Marammat muqaddar ki kardo maula
Mere maula..

Tere dar pe jhuka hoon mita hoon bana hoon
Tere dar pe jhuka hoon mita hoon bana hoon
Marammat muqaddar ki kardo maula
Marammat muqaddar ki kardo maula..

Jo bhi tere dar aaya
Jhukne jo sar aaya
Mastiyaan piye sabko
Jhoomta nazar aaya
Pyaas leke aaya tha dariya wo bhar laaya
Noor ki baarish mein bheegta sa tar aaya
Noor ki baarish mein.. o... noor ki baarsih mein bheegta sa tar aaya
Maula maula....

Daraarein daraarein hain maathe pe maula
Marammat muqaddar ki kardo maula
mere maula..

Jo bhi tere dar aaya
Jhukne jo sar aaya
Mastiyaan piye sabko
Jhoomta nazar aaya

ho..
Ek khushboo aati thi
Main bhatakta jaata tha
Reshmi si maaya thi
Aur main takta jaata tha
Jab teri gali aaya
Sach tabhi nazar aaya

Mujh mein hi wo khushboo thi
Jisse tune milwaaya...
Maula maula...

Daraarein daraarein hain maathe pe maula
Marammat muqaddar ki kardo maula
mere maula..

Toot ke bikharna mujhko zaroor aata hai
Par na ibaadat waala shahoor aata hai
Sajde mein rehne do, ab kahin na jaaoonga..
Sajde mein rehne do, ab kahin na jaaoonga,
Ab jo tumne thukraaya to sanwar na paaoonga
Maula maula....
Daraarein daraarein hain maathe pe maula
Marammat muqaddar ki kardo maula
Mere maula..

Sar uthaake maine to kitni khwaahishein ki thiN
Kitne khwaab dekhe the kitni koshishein ki thiN
Jab tu rubaroo aaya nazarein na mila paaya
Sar jhukaake ek pal mein..
Sar jhukaake ek pal mein maine kya nahi paaya

Mora piya ghar aaya
Mora piya ghar aaya....

Song by Song: Genda Phool (Delhi 6)

When I listened to Genda Phool, the first question in my mind was: Is it written by Prasoon Joshi? If it's a folk, or written by his grandmother, maybe it's easier to understand. But if it's written by Prasoon Joshi, he deserves praise once again.

Rekha Bharadwaj comes like a guest singer in Delhi 6 and she's been treated the same way. She sings a wonderfully beautiful song which is completely offbeat with all those beats of Rehman.

Well, enough of circular talks. ;) Genda Phool is a song that is a complete folk and has even typical instruments (if you count Ghunghroos as instruments) along with lots of beats that are not at all folk. Be it Rehman's music (leaving those beats), Prasoon's lyrics, or Rekha's voice, everything is perfect for a standard folk song. Now adding these extra beats and extra music makes the song a 'Rehman-Made-Folk-Remix'.

I think I've tried my best to explain what the song is like but if you still don't get the idea, Rehman is the one responsible.

One thing I would like to suggest still is that you get hold of this song and give it a proper listening. I hope you'll like the song. I won't say much about the song as this genre is rarely seen in contemporary movies. But I just loved this song. One wonderful piece of music from A R Rehman. Go for it.

Lyrics:

(Hoye Hoye Hoye)-8

Saiyyan Chhed Deve,
Nanad chutki leve,
Sasural genda phool..

Saas gaari deve,
Devar samjha leve,
Sasural genda phool..

Chhoda baabul ka angna bhaave dera piya ka ho..

(Saas gaari deve, devarji samjha leve, sasural genda phool..)

Saiyyan hain vyapari,
chale hain pardes,
sooratiya niharoon,
Jiyaara bhaari hove,
Sasural genda phool..

(hmmm hmm hmm hmmm hmm hmm hmmm..)

Saas gaari deve,
Devarji samjha leve,
Sasural genda phool..

(hmmm hmm hmm hmmm hmm hmm hmmm..)

Saiyyan Chhed Deve,
Nanad chutki leve,
Sasural genda phool..

Chhoda baabul ka angna bhaave dera piya ka ho...

Bush-shirt pahine,
Khai ke beeda paan,
Poore raipur se alag hai saiyyan ji ki shaan,
Sasural genda phool..

(Saiyyan Chhed Deve,
Nanad chutki leve,
Sasural genda phool,

Saas gaari deve,
Devarji samjha leve,
Sasural genda phool..

hoye hoye hoye
hoye hoye hoye

Chhoda baabul ka angna bhaave dera piya ka ho..)

(hoye hoye hoye)-8

Song by Song: Masakkali (Delhi 6)

Mohit Chauhan must have thanked Pritam a hundred times for throwing his career to such heights with tumse hi. Now it's time to thank A R Rehman. For the image makeover.

Mohit had become a singer of soft romantic songs only, after tum se hi. And he got really good songs in that genre. Or maybe he made them good. But finally the under-rated talent goes with Rehman, and the guy sings a song totally different from his usual genre, and sings it really beautifully. And that's how we know this talent was under-rated.

Masakkali is a song about a dove, that u must have seen by now on tv. But being a song about dove doesn't make the song all good. It's the music that matters. And the beautiful singing of mohit chauhan. The song starts with mohit's vocals in an open voice, something like kunal ganjawala. And then, once he starts, there is no stopping him.

Masakkali is a song full of masti, and the lyrics, music, and singer all three make the song completely enjoyable. Rehman also gets into his experimental moods at some points and does some 'manmaani' with the song.

In short, masakkali is a song you'd like to listen to. Just get it and start flying.

Lyrics:

re re re re re re
ra ra ra ra

Hey hey hey hyyy
ho ho hoo hoo

Aye Masakkali Masakkali
Ud Matakkali Matakkali

Aye Masakkali Masakkali
Ud Matakkali Matakkali

Aye Masakkali Masa Masakali
Ud Matakkali Matakkali

Masakkali Masakkali
Ud Matakkali Matakkali

Zara Pankh jhatak, Gai Dhool Atak
Aur Lachak Machak Ke Door Bhatak
Ud dagar dagar kasbe kooche nukkad basti mein yeah e yeah e

Itdi se Mud Ada Ud
Kar Le Poori Dil ki Tammanna
Hawa se Jud Ada Se Ud
Purr Phuur Phuurrr
Tu hai Heera Panna Ree

Masakkali MasakKali
Ud Matak Kali Matak Kali

Masakkali Masakkali
Ud Matakkali Matakkali

Ghar tera saloni
Baadal ki colony
Dikhlade thenga in sabko jo udna na jane

Udiyo na dariyo
Kar manmani manmaani manmani
Badhiyo naa mudiyo kar nadani

Udiyo na dariyo
Kar manmani manmaani manmani
Badhiyo naa mudiyo kar naadani

Kad taan le muskaan le
Keh sana nana nana hawa

Bas Thaan le tu jaan le
Keh sana nana na na na hawa

Aye Masakkali MasakKali
UD MataaKali MataaKali

Aye Masakkali Masa MasaKali
Masak kali Masak kali
UD MataK matak.....

re re re re re re
ra ra ra ra

Hey hey hey hey
ho ho hoo hoo

Tujhe kya gham tera ristha
Gagan ki baansuri se hai
Pawan ki guftagu se hai
Sooraj ki roshani se hai

Udiyo na dariyo
Kar manmani manmaani manmani
Badhiyo naa mudiyo kar naadani

Udiyo na dariyo
Kar manmani manmaani manmani
Badhiyo naa mudiyo kar naadani

Kad taan le muskaan le
Keh sana nana nana hawa

Bas Thaan le tu jaan le
Keh sana nana na na na hawa

MasakKali MasakKali
UD MataK MataK MataakKali
Masakkali Masa Masakali
MataK matak

re re re re re re
ra ra ra ra

Hey hey hey heyyy
ho ho hoo hoo

re re re re re re
ra ra ra ra

Hey hey hey heyyy
ho ho hoo hoo

Musical notes: Delhi 6

It's never been easy to review a Rehman album. And that was the reason i started the concept of reviewing one song at a time. Really, behka and kaise mujhe tum mil gayi were worth it when i heard ghajini. And this time rehman comes up with Delhi 6. Something that again proves that Rehman is not a believer of instant music. Give music your time, and you'll love it.

It's been just two days to the release of Delhi 6 and after hearing to the tracks for hardly twice, i don't think i can do much justice to Rehman's soundtrack. Still, here are a few musical notes on the album.

Ten songs and twenty-two singers. This was the first thing i had noticed on the album's cover. It was good to know that after a long time Rehman comes with a long soundtrack of ten songs, that too with no instrumentals (and of course no remixes). The second thing worth a notice was the range of singers. First of all, i searched for Rehman's own name which i found at the end of the soundtrack. Phew! This is what i always look forward to. One song sung by Rehman himself. The most disappointing part of Ghajini soundtrack for me was that there was no Rehman in singers. Besides, Rehman brings in people like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, probably for the first time in the industry, at least since the time i've been watching it. Big deal, of course. Mohit chauhan's presence was already known but i was looking forward to a complete masakalli. The wait is finally over. But the most interesting thing of all was the name of Rekha Bharadwaj, that too on two songs. Rekha, the wife of Vishal Bharadwaj, sings really well (i still remember sunidhi craving for lakkad from omkara) but she sings so few songs that i never thought she'd be singing for anybody other than Vishal. But here, Rekha gets a fair deal with Rehman as she gets definitely one of the best songs of the album as 'Genda phool'. Another thing in the album very much worth looking for is Arziyaan by Javed Ali (Rehman's favorite now) and Kailash Kher.

Rest will be following soon but one thing i can assure u of is that u can buy this album without thinking twice. You won't be disappointed.

Ek Hulchul si (Dev D)

Ek Hulchul si is not exactly rock. But it does rock. It reminds me somewhat of Phas Gaya of aamir but it's quite different. Still, Ek hulchul si somehow defines a new brand of Amit Trivedi. Though something close to this has been tried by Shankar Ehsaan Loy in Johnny Gaddar n all, Amit Trivedi goes deep down and puts his experiments out to the world. And the results are things like Emosanal Attyachar and Ek halchal si.

As Joi Barua starts singing amid the all new music, the song sounds good to ears and the voice soothing, which later on goes to higher notes equally well. In short, the new voice of Joi Barua is wonderful.

I undoubtedly loved the music, but interestingly I'm quite fascinated by the lyrics too, which are quite simple, but different.

Dhadkan maheen dil mein jagati, ek hulchul si-2
Kohra hata ke sooraj jalati, ek hulchul si-2
(ek hulchul si)-6
Zinda hai ek hulchul si.

Had nazar ki, jahan talak hai
Ek bharam hai, wo jo dhanak hai
sach hai sach hai sach hai...

ku koo koo koo
ku koo koo koo

Jeene ki ek talab phir jagaye, (ek hulchul si)-2
Bujhti si saanso ko kash banaye, (ek hulchul si)-2
(ek hulchul si)-6
Zinda hai ek hulchul si..
Mehsoos kar le, ya dil ye pal.
Saanso se chhoo le, lamha ye bekal,
Bekal Bekal Bekal..

o ho ho ho ho ho
a ha ha ha ha ha

Kar le kar le ab kuch aisa kar le, kar le, kar le
Tu aaj an-gin roshan kirano se tan man, bhar le, bhar le
Macha le, jala le, dil mein...

o ho ho ho ho ho
a ha ha ha ha ha

Had nazar ki, jahan talak hai
Ek bharam hai, wo jo dhanak hai
sach hai sach hai sach hai!

If you're a kadardaan of non-traditional music, I hope you'll love the song.

Jai Ho

I actually didn't know that the Golden Globe Award A R Rehman won was not for the entire movie but one specific song until I decided to read full story as I wanted to write something like 'Slumdog Millionaire isn't the best creation of Rehman and only a few songs could be described as great, Jai ho probably the best of them' but before I would do the mistake, I fortunately got the detail.

Jai Ho is actually one of the best creations of Rehman, even though one surely cannot say that it's better than all other songs created by him. The song is sung by Sukhwinder Singh and is full of energy like all songs of Sukhwinder, something that Golden Globe people won't know, so A Big Thanks to You Sukhwinder, for a voice so strong that almost never fails to penetrate through the walls of our hearts. Chak De!

Besides the energy packed music and lyrics, the song also has some 'background' music, a typical of A R Rehman. The background vocals, including numerous 'Jai ho' sounds are mainly sung by Rehman himself. The main female voice in the song is Mahalaxmi Iyer. Besides Hindi, the song has lyrics in Spanish too, sung beautifully (being a love language, Spanish has to be sung beautifully) by Tanvi Shah, of course an Indian, and a resident of Chennai. :)

Gulzar's lyrics are wonderful, (not as always now, as now he sometimes writes things purely with market on his mind) though I don't know who has written the Spanish part, because as far as I know Gulzar doesn't write Spanish. :)

For lyrics, you can go to inkspillz, where I got the Spanish lyrics for myself. Don't read the English translation there, as it might make you realize that Gulzar won't get a Golden Globe ever, poetry cannot be translated.

Song by Song: Kise Awaz Doon (Jugaad)

He's a singer from Pakistan. He sounds like Atif. And he sings beautifully. Finally, after his album Koi Chehra, Adeel gets to sing in Bollywood with Jugaad.

Kise Awaz doon comes up as a bonus track or a collaboration between Sachin Gupta, the composer for Jugaad and Adeel, as it's a good thing for both, the singer and the movie. Sachin Gupta had composed this fairly good song for Adeel's album Koi Chehra but the song and even the album were hardly noticed. So now the song has been put in the movie so that the movie gets a good song added to its soundtrack and the singer gets himself noticed.

Kise Awaz doon is a light song which starts well and Adeel's voice seems noticeable from the very first line. Though the singer sounds a bit Atif-ish and one may expect the song to go high in the same way as Atif's songs go, the song goes on low notes only and still sounds quite good. Another positive point of the song is lyrics, which are written by Adeel himself and the make the song worth listening.

Overall, the song is an above average one and one may like it well while in a light mood.

Song by Song: Tu Hai Rab Mera (Jugaad)

When I read the title Tu hai Rab Mera, my first thought was of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, but as soon as I listened to the song, I was sure that this was not any cheap attempt to cash the popularity of the movie but a genuinely good song.

With the music of Jugaad, young composer Sachin Gupta proves that he has something in him as he comes up with quite good music soon after his Bollywood debut, Dil Kabaddi.

The song Tu hai rab mera is a Sufi style song sung by Krishna with mostly Punjabi lyrics and English background vocals. Krishna has recently started singing quite a number of songs solo and he's doing simply great. 'Tu hi Rab Mera' is one more in the list.

The music of the song has been experimented with in many areas, especially background vocals as they range from English ones in female voice to male-voiced dhoom-dana-dere-dana types to slow alaaps and more. One interesting thing with the song is the Dhoom-dana-dere-dana vocals of background which sound a lot like those in 'Yeh Hausla' from Dor.

Lyrics of Rohit Sharma are good. A small piece of the lyrics is here.

Tu hai rab mera rab jaanda hai
Mainu kaafir keh ke na sattaya kar
Mainu mod de paanve lakh vari
Mere ishq ka maan ta rakhya kar..

In short, the song is good and at least worth a try if you like Sufi style Bollywood singing. I hope you like it.

Song by Song: You get me rocking & reeling (Billu Barber)

Pritam and Neeraj Shridhar is a combination that almost never fails. And this time, as Sayeed Quadri writes lyrics for this always hit combination in You get me rocking and reeling, the result is a soothing-slow-romantic-foot-tapping dance number that one would love almost instantly, especially after seeing Shahrukh Khan dancing to the tune with Priyanka Chopra.

The song is a quite typical Neeraj Shridhar song with rap 'n' all but has more to it this time. Not only the level of lyrics has gone one step higher, Neeraj gets Urdu words like khudaya khair, not quite typical of him.

The song has two remix versions. One is a normal remix where just the speed of the song is increased and the song ends in 4 minutes and 5 seconds instead of 4 minutes and 49 seconds and some extra instruments are added. In fact, original song sounds much better than this one even though fast speed also suits this song.

The other one is a video edit for which Dominique is also credited along with Neeraj as she sings a few lines in the video edit. The original version doesn't bear her name as she gives only vocals there along with rap. This version is almost the same as the original except for Dominique's lines.

To sum up, You get me rocking and reeling is a beautiful song. Listen to it to love it. Or still better, see it if you are an SRK fan. (-:-)

Musical Notes: Billu Barber

Composer: Pritam.

Lyricist: Gulzar, Sayeed Quadri, Ashiesh Pandit, Neeraj Shridhar.

Singers: Abhijeet, Ajay Jhingran, Akruti Kakkar, Dominique, Kalpana, KK, Monali, Neeraj Shridhar, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Rana Mazumder, Soham Chakrabarthy, Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Suraj, Tulsi Kumar.

Any one remaining will be taken in Pritam's next movie.

Well, jokes apart, for seven songs and their eight remixes, fifteen singers are roped in. (Yes, one remix also has separate credits) And thus, zero scope has been left to remixing DJs. Though it's a different thing that they will still remix the songs, because hits are going to be there. Sure.

The first song, Marjaani, sung by Sukhwinder and Sunidhi, is made to be a hit, or an instant hit according to me. Though I feel KK must have been Pritam's first choice for the song as a remix of the song is sung by him.

The second song, Love mera hit hit, sung by Neeraj Shridhar and Tulsi Kumar, is a good song, though not as great as Neeraj's previous hits with Pritam which used to be the best numbers in the album. Sukhwinder overshadows Neeraj and Tulsi hardly does something exceptional.

Third song, You get me rocking and reeling, is again sung by Neeraj Shridhar. This time Neeraj gets a better deal and he sings the song absolutely wonderfully. Rocking and Reeling is a comparatively slow romantic-dance-song and sounds quite good with rap. Sayeed Quadri's lyrics are good.

Rana Mazumder and KK come together for the next song, Ae Aa O, and I had hoped there will be some blast but the song, though not bad, is nothing that big. Rana Mazumder is the guy who had sung Door Na Ja in Jannat.

Now there is one song in the movie which has not been remixed. This honor is given to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Rahat sings Jaoon Kahan which is quite fast a song if compared to the songs he is singing for past some time. The song is no doubt good, as Rahat's all songs are, but the typical Rahat Fateh Ali Khan feeling is somewhat missing.

Another slow song is Khudaya Khair, which is sung by Soham Chakrabarthy and supported by Akruti Kakkar and Monali. The song sounds very fresh, even though one can find a slight touch of Pehli Nazar Mein in the starting of the song. The song is sung by Abhijeet also and the Abhijeet version is equally good, or probably better.

Billu Bhayankar is a non-song among all these songs and I don't think you'll find time to listen to the bhayankar thing a lot. Let's keep this one for the movie.

In short, music of Billu Barber is quite good and has a number of hits in the making. I you buy a CD, you won't be disappointed.

Song by Song: Marjaani (Billu Barber)

Pritam is Back. It was the first song of Billu Barber and I was listening to it for the very first time and still I could visualize the song being played on a DJ and people dancing to the tunes of Pritam once again.

Probably it's for the first time that Sukhwinder Singh is singing a Pritam's composition and the result is undoubtedly an INSTANT HIT. While Sukhwinder Singh singing for Shahrukh Khan has become a very common thing, Sukhwinder-Pritam and Shahrukh-Pritam are both quite rare combinations. In fact it's for the first time that Shahrukh Khan will be seen dancing on a song composed by Pritam and surely Pritam has given one of his best dance tracks here.

As it must have been clear by now, the song I'm talking about, 'MarJaani' is a fast dance track which comes with Pritam's trademark. The song has a few Punjabi words and some very desi lyrics like 'sochta rehta haiga' and 'sab kehte hainge'. The female voice is Sunidhi Chauhan's and she has once again been wonderful.

The song has two remix versions. One is an electro mix for which there was not a lot of scope but still there is some good mixing and the result is not bad.

The other, Kilogram Balkan mix is not actually a remix but the song sung again completely, this time by KK and Akruti Kakkar. My guess is that this song indicates Pritam's original choice of singers while Sukhwinder could have been brought in because of Shahrukh Khan as he has sung quite a number of songs in past some time, most of them hit.

This version, though sounding very good, doesn't challenge the original version of Sukhwinder/Sunidhi and will probably not be heard as much.

In any case, Marjaani is all set to blaze the dance floors. Listen, and start dancing.

Song by Song: Man Baawra (Aasma)

During the past few days, I saw the trailers of a movie called 'Aasma' with the second 'a' hanging upside down. I found the promo track OKAY, so I decided to listen to the soundtrack, and here comes the surprise! The movie has a great track sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, called 'Man Baawra Tujhe Dhoondhta'.

Even with all new music directors and a lyricist whose name I saw for the first time, the track is worth listening and I loved it right from the first line. Probably that is the magic of Rahat, but the composer, Afsar/Sajid and lyricist, Shaab Allahabadi, both deserve their credit for the surprisingly good song.

The sogn starts with light background Alaaps while Rahat joins in the alaap and the background voices fade, only to come to his typical style of singing. 'Man baawra' is a song with comparatively lighter music and belongs more to the genre of 'Mann ki Lagan' or 'Main Jahan Rahoon' than that of 'Teri Ore'.

The song has a Lounge version also but it has hardly anything to the version except for experimenting, most of which fails and adds nothing to the original song to say the least.

Still, the original song is an original work and worth a praise. Listen to the track, hope you will like it too. Highly recommended one. (-:-)

It's Different: Emosanal Attyachar (Dev D)

I don't know how much Attyachar did Amit Trivedi bear before he came up with this song, but it's something. IT IS SOMETHING.

Tauba Tera Jalwa, Tauba Tera Pyaar,
Tera Emosanal Attyachar.

I won't like to disclose more than these lines from the song as I think it'd be the best if you listen to the song by yourself without me spoiling your entertainment. Yet, keeping everything to myself is difficult, so here is some detail.

As you must have seen by now in the promos (if you have a TV around, I don't, but I did catch them), there are two guys called Patna ke Presley in a song of the movie. When I listened to the track, I was instantly sure that it was the song of the 'Patna ke Presleys'. Reason: The Brass Band.

Yes, The Brass Band used in Indian marriages, is the USP of Emosanal Attyachar. The song has very beautifully mixed Hindi-English lyrics written by Amitabh. (Kudos!) But then, it's The Brass Band that is the Jaan of the song. Even Vishal had written Hindi-English mixed lyrics for Dil Dance Maare in Tashan, and the song became pretty popular too, but that was nowhere near Emosanal Attyachar I feel. The difference is The Brass Band.

I think I've written quite a lot about the Attyachar. Listen to it, hope you like it.

Song by Song: O Raahi Re (Luck By Chance)

Jaag Uthe hain Raaste, O Rahi tere waste
Teri zindagi, tujhse har ghadi, aur har kadam hai ye poochti,
Raahi dekh raha hai tu kya,
Har har disha hai raasta,
Bol tera hai kaunsa rasta..

I don't know whether Shankar Mahadevan keeps the best songs for himself or the songs he sings become the best because of him. I think though the reason cannot be entirely latter, based on lyrics, Shankar surely makes a song worth listening.

And so is 'O Raahi re'.

O raahi re is a slow, soft, touching, philosophical song with some nice lyrics from Javed Akhtar and some soothing music by the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio. And though it's difficult to search for one best part in such a complete song, I'd say it's the lyrics of the song and Javed Akhtar deserves accolades for that once again.

The song starts well as Shankar starts rendering slowly without any instruments in the background. After one line, light music starts pouring in, coming to a full-fledged soft beat song by the end of the first para and proceeds almost with the same down-up movements.

The only disapointing thing in the song is the length of the song which is a bit too short for such a soft and slow number. The barely four and half minute song could be easily extended to six minute one without making it too lengthy.

Still, the song is a really good number and surely worth listening. Make sure you listen to it if you haven't already.

Song by Song: Dhol Yara Dhol (Dev D)

Remember the old 'mhare ghar angna' Amul ad featuring Smita Patil and Girish Karnad? Dhol Yara Dhol reminds me of that same song.

Shilpa Rao and Kshitij Tarey are surely big people now. The 'critically acclaimed' singers. And in Dhol Yaara Dhol, they once again get a good song. Dhol Yaara Dhol is mainly a female song and Shilpa is the lead singer where Kshitij is mostly the supporting singer.

The music of the song is completely Rajasthani folk style and so are all the instruments used. Shilpa is impressive, all the more because her voice suits the song, probably a lot more than it suited Wo Ajnabi, her most popular song yet, though her best remains Javeda Zindagi.

Lyrics of the song are fine if not impressive. While with the music Amit Trivedi proves that he can deliver variety. Though it has always been an offbeat thing with him, it is almost certain Amit will go a long way in Bollywood.

On the whole, the song is as offbeat as the movie is, so if you are into different type of music, listen to Dhol Yara Dhol.