{mosimage}It had been sometimes I wrote about Bollywood albums. I just thought instead of writing out of initial jest and regretting later (like I did for the reviews of "Mazhai" and "Rasikan"), let me wait for sometime and if I feel that the album is something I want to hear for long, then write about it. This is one of the best periods for Bollywood as it had gained international appeal and the music had taken a totally different "world" sound. But there are few albums that manages to have a distinct sound for themselves standing apart from the maddening Himesh Reshammiya clone. "Vivaah", "Shiva", "Don" are such albums I liked among the recent releases. I also believe that "Umraao Jaan" will turn tides right for Anu Malik and Alka Yagnik who had lost their midas touch after the entry of spate of talented newcomers like "Pritam", "Shantanu Moitra" in music as well as emergence of Shreya Ghosal as a formidable force in the female playback singing.
{mosimage}Coming to the tracks easily the pick of the album is "Mujhe Haque hain.." rendered by 'sweetest voice in young Indian cinema' Shreya Ghosal & Udit Narayan. It beautifully expresses an young groom's "right" over his fiancee. While hearing for the first time itself we can visualise it to be a night song. A typical Hindi melody with orchestration dominated by string instruments. My next favourite is "Do anjaane ajnabi..", which shows the journey of two strangers coming together in the bond of marriage. Ravindra Jain's lyrics elucidates the expectations and initial ice breakings associated with the process. And my next pick is "Tere Dwaare Pe Aaye Baarat..", followed by "Hamarai Shaadi mein..". From here the album starts sliding alarmingly. The problem of this album is it gives a sense of dejavu while hearing. Even though the songs are nice to hear except "Mujhe Haque Hai" and "Do Anjaane.." all other songs sound too similar, sometimes even reminding you of "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun", which also faced a similar initial response but went to become a chartbuster. But considering the westernised music of Indian film scene, "Vivaah" is a refreshing change.
{mosimage}Even though it is bit late writing about Ram gopal Varma's "Shiva (2006)", this album is definitely not to be missed as it is far different from regular Hindi music dished out these days. Why it is different? Just because the composer is not a regular Bollywood music director but "Maestro" Illayaraja. To confess, when I heard for the first time I was upset that Illayaraja had run out of his creativity. Out of the 6 songs - 3 were straight Tamil tunes, while one was a dialogue redition sort of, leaving two for originals. Even in the original "Kaise Kahein..", the opening humming was from "Ninaivo Oru Paravai.." from "Sigappu Rojakkal". But after hearing for many times, I loved the album despite that I heard the orginal Tamil songs.
My favourite of the lot was "Kaise Kahein.." sung by Sadhana Sargam & Roop Kumar Rathod. An amazing interlude after the first stanza proving that Raja Sir is the ultimate when it comes to orchestration. Forgive the peccadiloes of initial tamil humming, nice peppy tune aided by lovely chorus, this song is sheer delight to hear. Next best is "Dheeme Dheeme.." sung by Shreya Ghosal, sometimes reminiding you of "Agni Nakshatram" for no reasons. In the south career of Shreya Ghosal, Illayaraja plays a major role in "grooming" her to near perfect Tamil diction. He had given her lot of memorable songs including "Enakku Piditha Paadal.. (July Ganapathy)", "Ilangaatthu Veesuthe... (Pithamaghan)". Coming to Shiva (2006), another number I like is "Polic Police.." which runs down the Police Department mercilessly. This tune was found in the original "Shiva" made around 17 years back, as "Botany Class..". A song from Maniratnam's Telugu movie "Gitanjali", finds a place in his friend RGV's "Shiva (2006)". The song in question is "Jagada Jagada.. (Tel)" reworked as "Josh Mein.. Josh Mein.. (Hin)" with changes after the first stanza. "Aanandha Raagam" a tough solo composition in "Panneer Pushpangal" that came 25 years ago is now as nice duet "Sara Yeh Aalam.." in Shiva (2006). Even though this album is not so great even by the standards of Raja Sir, it gives a nice break from conventional Hindi music.
{mosimage}Don (2006) has the maximum media hype surrounding it and it has helped the audio to reach the interiors, making it a blockbuster. Everybody was concerned about the classics "Yeh mera dil.." and "Khaike Paan Banaraswala.." and they have been "recreated" but I loved the "original" songs especially "Aaj Ki Raat...", which gives a sedate kind of feeling. "Ganesh Maurya Re..." is the best communal function song found these days. There is so much of energy and effervescence in Shankar Mahadevan's voice who rendered it. "Main Hoon Don.." has that feeling of mystery and enigma surrounding it, supplemented by its orchestration. Clearly the best of the album. "Theme of Don" echoes the same mysterical quality, that is very apt for the con thriller like "Don".
"Jaan-e-mann" has one of my all time favourites - "Sau Dard Hain...". The lilting quality of the song is very much appreciable and is definitely a surprise package considering it is coming from onetime "plagarism" master Anu Malik. Other than that the another song that makes a difference is "Humko Maalum hain.." from the same album, which also serves as the theme music for the movie. The rest of the songs are hogwash.
{mosimage}"Tumhare Mehfil Mein.." from "Umraao Jaan" is clearly the best comeback vehicle for Alka Yagnik. A "Mujra" song picturised on the Lucknow backdrop, features Aishwarya Rai in a sensuous and a stunning mode. This song is definitely one of the best melodies heard recent times and might stay as one for long. The next song from the same album that I liked to certain extent is "Dekha jo tumko..", but it sounds like a forced melody. The rest of the songs in "Umraao Jaan" - Sorry I couldn't recollect.
