http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/reviews/film-music-reviews/blue#story
Lyrics: Abbas Tyrewala, Mayur Puri, Ajit Arora, Raqueeb Alam
Music: A R Rahman
Label: T-Series
Rating: 3/5
“This is my first film after Oscars, so expectations are scary!” wrote Rahman
on his blog after he was done with Blue’s score.
It would be an understatement to say, “Blue is the most anticipated album of
Rahman.” One, as he rightly mentioned, it’s his first release after Oscars, and
two, he has collaborated with international icons like Kylie Minogue for a
‘Chiggy Wiggy’ – which incidentally, have got rave reviews so far. To add,
Rahman has not been just making news, but literally driving news by winning
back to back laurels – be it for the doctorates that have been showered on him,
the grand Jai Ho concerts, or the numerous Indian film awards, which I assume
he must have lost count of.
With expectations so high, and a score which makes one say, “He has definitely
done better before,” one can’t help but think that something on this album is
off the beam – well, just a little maybe. Questions like, why do the songs just
manage to skim through your heart instead of touching it or why the sound is so
industrial, do arise.
For instance, the song Chiggy-wiggy sung by Kylie Minogue and Sonu Niigaam is
great until the Indian angle comes in – after that, it’s a tasteless hotchpotch
of bhangra and pop. Many even feel Kylie was wasted, but we’ll keep that aside.
Though the song has great dance beats, and may well incite one to break into a
jiggy, it may perhaps not be for long. The song is written by Abbas Tyrewala
and additional vocals are given by Suzzane.
Fiqrana opens with Vijay Prakash’s flanger’ed vocals, much like what Atif Aslam
is known to do with his songs. Nevertheless, the fast, peppy song starts with a
great hook, and is apt for that quiet long drive (please don’t exceed the speed
limits!) Shreya Ghoshal sounds very poised and controlled on this one. The song
is written by Ajit Arora. Though not the best song so far, it does grow after a
few listens.
It seems Rahman is quite fascinated by jazz, like his most songs on Jaane Tu.
In Blue, his love for jazz is extended yet again. Through Aaj Dil Gustakh Hai,
Rahman offers listeners something they have not heard before. The song
takesinspiration from jazz bands like Chick Corea or Metro who are known to jam
over some crazy looped samples – don’t miss the slick jazz piano work on this
one. The song is written by Mayur Puri and well delivered by Sukhwinder Singh
and Shreya Ghoshal.
Bhula Tujhe by Raashid Ali is one of the slow offerings on the album. This
track written by Abbas Tyrewala is more like an conversation with God. It also
presents the Kabhi Kabhi Aditi singer in a completely different way – not the
semi spoken way, of course.
PICKLIST:
BHOOLA TUJHE
BLUE THEME
REHNUMA
YAAR MILA THA
Compared to all the other songs on the album, it’s the Blue theme song which
takes the cake. Sung by Blaaze, Raqueeb Alam, Sonu Kakkar, Jaspreet Singh, Neha
Kakkar and Dilshad the song has defying energy to it. The Punjabi lyrics for
this song are given by Sukhwinder Singh, while Hindi parts are penned by
Raqueeb Alam – this one is sure to catch on.
Another song with a jazz and progressive flavor is Rehnuma. With several key
changes, this song must have been the ‘most’ challenging for singers –
undoubtedly, Sonu Niigam and Shreya Ghoshal do a fab job. But having said that,
it’s not a melody which is catchy, so hear it for yourself.
Yaar Mila Tha is undoubtedly the best track on the album, and introduces Udit
Narayan back to some mainstream bollywood singing. The song is a duet between
Udit Narayan and Madhushree (whom one can easily mistake for Alka Yagnik!!).
I’d like to mention the extraordinary background vocals and rap fillers on the
song without which the song wouldn’t have got the zing factor it has. The
lyrics are by Abbas Tyrewala.
Just as its unfair to expect Sachin to hit sixes on every ball, its unfair to
expect that every score that Rahman creates to be a magnum opus – but we are
habituated, of seeing our hero's the way we want it, not necessarily the way
they are. Blue *is* different then anything that Rahman has offered till date–
to a great extent, it's experimental, but is it better? I’ll leave that to you.
