By Abid, Bollywood Trade News Network
Year 2008 will indeed go down as one of the most historic one for the lovers of
quality film music as it will be remembered as the year when Bollywood's most
revered and
talented and extremely choosy music director, of this era, A. R. Rahman
bestowed upon his fans four superlative albums. Starting with Ashutosh
Gowariker's magnum-opus JODHAA AKBAR followed by ADA - A WAY OF LIFE, Aamir
Khan's JAANE TU... YA JAANE NA and the most recent one, Subhash Ghai's
YUVVRAAJ. Needless to add that all these albums were classy and a hit with the
patrons of good quality music, barring ADA- A WAY OF LIFE (commercially). His
long term association with perfectionist actor, Aamir Khan has always brought
out the best in Rahman (RANGEELA, LAGAAN, MANGAL PANDEY and RANG DE BASANTI)
and naturally expectations assume humungous proportions as his last album,
GHAJINI, makes it to the stands this year itself. The Tamil version of GHAJINI
had some rocking music by the top music director of South India, Harris
Jayaraj. And with music maestro, A.R.Rahman at the helm this time around, with
help in the lyrical department from the new age lyricist, the
intellectually brilliant Prasoon Joshi (their RDB was path breaking), things
can only get better. So, without wasting time let us check out the GHAJINI
audio.
Sonu Nigam's cupid struck humming and mandolin strums commence 'Guzarish' as he
serenades the listeners, transporting them into a beautiful make belief
romantic world, through this stunningly striking love ballad. Much like the
signature tune of Rahman's last romantic track from the album, YUVVRAAJ ('Tu
Meri Dost Hai') this love ballad too relies heavily on Sonu's haunting
background hummings to create the subtle love effect. Here though, Sonu Nigam
is the guest vocalist and is present only for the humming part, which is
incorporated in the beginning, in between and also in the end. But don't be
disappointed as Rahman's new favourite, Javed Ali ('Jashn-E-Bahara') holds fort
quite strongly with his crackling strong vocals. Javed Ali is a revelation
here, as in 'Jashn-E-Bahara' his vocals were quite base and deep to match
Hrithik while here Javed's superb voice modulations are in sync with Aamir's
perfect and smooth ones. Only his diction presents a minor
problem which needs to be corrected. This propositioning number becomes super
special because of Prasoon Joshi's lovely lyrics which are simple yet they are
awesome, as there cannot be a better word than the urdu word, 'guzarish',
meaning request to appear polite and polished . 'Bas ek haan ki guzarish, Phir
hogi khushiyon ki barish, Tu meri adhuri pyaas pyaas, Tu aa gayi man ko raas
raas, Ab to tu aa ja paas paas, Hai guzarish.' A proposal which cannot be
turned down at any cost, such is the effect of the number. So all you guys in
love go ahead, it's our 'guzarish' to propose to your beloved with this number
this Valentine day and you sure will succeed. An excellent, in fact, a gem of a
track from the maestro.
Suzanne is the female vocalist who has been entrusted with the next number,
'Aye Bachchu' . And the number is just right for Suzanne, as she has become a
sort of an icon for the songs that require full of attitude, westernized
singing. But we are forced to say that if this number was by Pritam, one would
have rated it as passable but this comes from Rahman, the musical genius and
so, it disappoints. Nothing, but the best is expected of the maestro. May be in
his defense we can say that the song is a situational one but it is a let down
nevertheless, specially after a cracker of a start in form of 'Guzarish'.
Prasoon Joshi's lyrics though situational and apt still disappoint. Once again
it's Prasoon, the lyricist of RANG DE BASANTI and TAARE ZAMEEN PAR, so
obviously the level of expectancy is much higher. The recent number on this
line that we heard was 'Oop Oop Cha' (DRONA) and 'Soniya'(KIDNAP).
Thankfully, Rahman and Prasoon are back to their best with the next track,
'Kaise Mujhe', a classy romantic composition that has a mesmerizing effect on
the listeners. The beauty of the number lies in its very smooth, slow paced
melody and the lovely musical arrangements in the background. The superb use of
'sitar', piano' lend an air of romance, a number that can be effectively be
used in a candlelight dinner by a couple in love or even in ballroom dancing.
This is true blue Rahman, the Rahman we all love and revere. And his
counterpart, Prasoon Joshi who has always been a superb support too is in full
flow. His poetic prowess is diligently brought to the fore through this lovely
love ballad. 'Kaise mujhe tum mil gayee, Kismat pe aaye na yakeen' No
'tukbandi' (rhyming words), here. Of course the two singers Benny Dayal (after
a splendid JAANE TU... and YUVVRAAJ) and Shreya Ghoshal need to be mentioned,
as it is their combined superlative effort that
makes this one an outstanding track, though it may not be universally
appealing .
Next up is the hip hop 'Behka'. Rahman follows the path that so many others
have successfully transgressed but he does not add the usual rap and reggae and
synthesized musical addendums, like is the usual norm. Instead, he goes in for
a flowing smooth melody. Karthik, the singer has been a permanent presence in
many a previous Rahman number and here he is entrusted with this number and he
fully justifies the faith shown in him. His vocals sound melodious, fresh and
youngish and voice modulations are great. He has a superb control over his
vocals and is quite comfortable in high pitches. The song acquires a slightly
soft rock hue in between and the use of saxophone, trumpet and drums are great.
The organ piece of the 'Guzarish' humming which is interwoven in between is
absolutely mind-blowing. However the 'talking antara' is a bit of a letdown, as
it comes like an anti climax, thankfully it is curtailed and the smooth melody
takes over. The number has
been picturised well with the six different looks of a young and good looking
Aamir, though one wished he had danced more as the rhythm did allow it. After
listening to the whole number one comes to a conclusion that there is a
definite hook of 'Main Aisa Kyun Hoon' (LAKSHYA) but wonder whether this is
intentional or just incidental.
Next up is the new nightingale of India, Shreya Ghoshal, and it appears that
her wish for singing hip hop happening numbers has come true in the form of
'Latoo'. Shreya is a surprising choice indeed and she does a very fine job. In
fact at times it’s difficult to even recognize her voice as she shows her
versatility and capability to sing even these types of numbers and carries it
well. However Rahman could have gone in for Sunidhi, who is more adept at
rendering such songs. The Afro-Asian beats gel well with the Western hip hop
ones and this racy, pulsating dance track will look good on screen especially
with the beautiful Jiah or Asin dancing to its rhythmic beats. Although the
song on the whole is not truly befitting of the great Rahman and Prasoon combo.
Some haunting and mysterious sounding music and superb relaxed piano beats
commence the 'Kaise Mujhe-Instrumental'. The paino beats are followed by some
nice flute pieces of the 'antara' and so the instrumental does not get
monotonous. Shreya Ghoshal's melodious croonings as well as the soft soothing
chorus is delightful and one does not need words to enjoy this beautiful
soothing piece which does have a calming effect on the listeners. The
instrumental ends with the same mysterious synthesized piece.
When we had seen and heard the promo of 'Guzarish', the first song from
GHAJINI, our expectations had soared sky high. Right from the romance oozing
composition to the still youngish Aamir, romancing the beautiful south
sensation Asin, everything looked just perfect. Even 'Behka' and its cute
naughtiness caught on quite early. Unfortunately, the follow up numbers,
barring to an extent 'Kaise Mujhey' are a huge letdown. Any of the leading
present composers and GHAJINI audio would have been called good. But since it’s
a Rahman-Prasoon album and for Aamir, we are pained to say that it’s a let
down. And sadly, that is the kind of feedback we are getting from most of the
Rahmaniacs, more so after the magnificent YUVVRAAJ!
Rating: 3.5/5
