Ek Thi Daayan: Music Review (Vishal Bhardwaj, Gulzar)

When I heard Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola, I was a little disappointed. The songs were good, but they were not what you expect from Vishal Bhardwaj and Gulzar after waiting so long for every album. But then, this time, the wait wasn't too long, and the results are just beautiful. No issues, Vishal. And Gulzar sir, just keep showing us your magic.

And now, let me begin with a confession.

Before I could get my hands on the song Yaaram, I had read the lyrics of the song. I was fascinated with the words. Just flabbergasted, head over heels, whatever you say. And then I read that piece of poetry again, and again. And then only I heard the song, and saw the promo. And somehow the whole process made me feel that Vishal couldn't do complete justice with Gulzar's words in this one. No, I am not saying the song is bad by any standards. But I still feel the superb beginning of the song kind of gets lost where the best words of the song begin:

Tumhaari file-ein, tumhaari diary
Gaadi ki chaabiyaan, tumhaari eyenakein
Tumhaara laptop, tumhaari cap, phone
Aur apna dil..
Still, a Very lovely song. Must listen.

The next track is Phurr kar ke. Tote ud gaye. I was missing Suresh Wadkar in MKBKM. And he's back here, with no less than Sukhwinder and Rekha to support him. The song, which personifies the heart and makes some respectful fun of it too, maybe slightly short of Raat ke Dhai baje in the element of madness. But it's certainly worth shaking a leg.

The next song, 'Kaali Kaali Aankhon ka' is a romantic track with a haunting music, and some haunting effects in the beginning of lyrics too, with the words kaali aankhon ka kaala jaadu. The song, which talks about eyes through its length, has some lovely comparisons drawn by Gulzar. The music fits the movie and the lyrics well, and Clinton's voice surprisingly sounds great for this song. My guess is that he's not sung this kind of a song before. His first solo for Vishal comes out really well. Still, listen to the song for its lyrics.

Lautungi Main Tere Liye is the Rekha Bharadwaj track of the album. Haunting in lyrics, music and singing, the song should be the flagship song for the movie, as there is no title song. Anyway, being serious, the song is slow, serious and grows on you slowly. Should be more effective with the visuals, though.

Sapna re Sapna, the last of the album, is a lullaby, sung by Padmanabh Gaikwad, a kid of twelve, from Saregamapa Little Champs. The lyrics of the song, quite Gulzar-esque, have some really lovely lines. It's been long since I heard something like 'bhoore bhoore baadalon ke bhaalu, loriyaan sunaayen la-la-la-lu..'. So yes, I did love the lyrics, but the surprise of the song is Padmanabh, the kid who sings with the maturity of an adult. I mean, you can almost hear Rekha Bharadwaj in his voice. Not exactly, of course. But you get the drift.

So there it is, an album of five superb tracks featuring Suresh Wadkar to Sunidhi Chauhan and Sukhwinder Singh to Padmanabh Gaikwad. And no Mika. No, I don't hate him as a singer, but I believe a few albums without him wouldn't be a bad idea. Salute to Gulzar sir for the wonderful lyrics, and Vishal as well, for something that we can keep playing for a few months to come, at least.

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Aashiqui 2 Music Review

Artist : Jeet Ganguly, Arijit Singh
Album : Aashiqui 2
Tracks : 2
Rating : 9.9938
Released : 2013
Label : Unknown
Category : Hindi Movies

Aashiqui 2 Music Review  

Aashiqui begins with Arijit slowly humming Kyunki tum hi ho, ab tum hi ho, composed by Mithoon. The song, though slow, is effective, mostly as a result of Mithoon's composition and Arijit's passionate singing. Both of these are common, but the combination of the two comes out for the first time and is certainly going to be a hit. You can even expect lot of Mithoon-Arijit in coming up films.

Ankit Tiwari, another composer in the album with just one song, sings the next track. He sings Apne karam ki kar ataayein (almost sounds like adaayein, though you can rely on BollyMeaning to get you the right word ;-) ) fine, but it's the sun raha hai na tu, ro raha hoon main part that works. The song has some light rock in the background, and the I-shout-I'm-sad lyrics work perfectly with it, though consistency is missing. Nice, but could be much better with some work on it.

And, oh, the song may sound like it's addressed to God, but then in the beginning and end, it mentions a yaara, beloved.

Jeet enters with Chaahoon main ya na, a simple song with typical Jeet sounds audible in the background to an extent. Arijit Singh and Palak Muchchal are nice. Okay. Slightly better than that actually.

Tulsi Kumar. No No No. I mean seriously, the only song I ever liked her in was that one Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, with Rahat. This one, called Hum Mar Jayenge is also close to her career best, but then that's not good enough. If you bear with her not-bad-just-could-be-much-much-much-better singing for more than half the song, you listen to Arijit too. The composition has its pieces picked up from here n there too, most notably from 'teri aankhon ki siyahi, piya deti hai gawahi', that is Raajneeti's Bheegi si Bhaagi si, composed by Jeet's once composing partner, Pritam. Anyway, if you're a quality buff, you can skip this one.

Palak Muchchal in this one comes as a pleasant surprise. Before Arijit'sKyunki tum hi ho begins, Palak's rendition creates a beautiful mood, and she sings the song perfectly. She sings a lot like Shreya here, and I'm hoping I've got the credits right. Do listen to this version of Ab tum hi ho, called Meri Aashiqui as well. Oh, btw, lovely lyrics here. And Mithoon, please don't just become a singles' guy, howsoever great at this you are. Make more, we need your music.

KK gets a strange song from Jeet. Though the composition is different, with short, catchy 'piya aaye na', the song sounds a lot like KK-Jeet's last song in Shirin Farhaad ki Toh Nikal Padi. Some Jeet elements do that to the song, but my guess is that the song will soon be better known than the one in SFKTNP.

Bhula Dena Mujhe comes in sung by Mustafa Zahid here, though composed by Jeet. Jeet's style is audible in his light rock here, but the song turns out nice and Mustafa's voice to say the least, has some weight of its own. Worth a listen if you won't mind some rock.

Aasan Nahi Yahan is a short piece where some simple poetry is just simple sung by Arijit with a lot of O..o.o.o.O.o.o.o. Remember Pritam in Gangster days? It's lot like that, minus that superb music.

And now, when we needed a girl to sing Sunn Raha hai na tu, they finally bring in Shreya Ghoshal. Really, the song that was in rock mood, Shreya is made to sing in all typical Indian girl style with sounds of bangles, ghatam, and lot of what-was-that-'90s-instrument-really. Very well sung, but I still like the guy version a lot more. And guys, it's ataayein. Karam ki adaayein would mean styles of grace. Seriously, lyrics fail!

The end of the album comes with Milne hai mujhse aayi... kis mod pe hai laayi aashiqui. This one, they have got it right. The song sounds like an end song, and the lyrics, khud se hai ya khuda se, is pal meri ladaayi, I just love Irshad Kaamil. OK, Kamil. I'd spell it Qaamil if I could, but the guy is a genius.

OK back to the song. Lot of light rock. Some simple singing. Actually getting better towards the end. And impactful music. Probably Jeet's best for the album.

And Mithoon's theme is good. May work well if the movie is good.

Overall, Aashiqui is nice. Much better than the sequels of the day. But then Jeet is turning out to be repetitive. And Mithoon, though having been repetitive at times, surprises you, and hits in full blow. Ankit Tiwari's song is nice minus adaayein. Picks: Tum hi ho, Sun raha hai tu male, Wo Piya aaye na, and Kis Mod pe Hai Laayi Aashiqui.

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