http://www.planetradiocity.com/musicreporter/review.php?reviewid=334
Blue
Artist: Rashid Ali, Udit Narayan, Madhushree, Shreya Ghoshal, Sonu Niigaam,
Vijay Prakash, Sukhwinder Singh, Blaaze, Sonu Kakkar, Raqeeb Alam, Jaspreet
Singh, Neha Kakkar, Dilshad
Music Director: A R Rahman
Label: T-Series
Genre: Bollywood
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Review:
A R Rahman’s first big score for this year was Delhi 6, which – espite its
multi-dimensional range covering many genres – got sidelined once the film’s
collections at the boxoffice took a dip. Delhi 6’s music, in terms of its
access to the film, is an honourable failure, only let down by the film’s poor
synchronicity with its brilliance.
The last time something like this happened with Rahman’s music is when Dil
Secould not match up to its musician’s genius. The film’s music is vintage
today; having given birth to god knows how many composers. That is how Rahman
has shaped the future of music in the Hindi film industry.
With the music of Blue, it is given that Rahman will set a standard for the new
boys of melody to follow. What Pritam achieved with the Dhoom series, Rahman is
expected to up with his score of the action-adventure film Blue. He has in the
past set a benchmark in Tamil with the grand score of Thiruda Thiruda.
Blue bangs up with pixie Kylie Minogue piquantly announcing she wants to
‘Chiggy Wiggy’. What is exciting about this track is her pitch, which is
equalised to the Indian style of singing in tune with melody. Rahman is the
master of layered music, so as with this song – which has such unique sounds –
at times I thought I heard the sonic sounds of a dolphin flipping in and out of
this ice-cool number. Sonu Niigaam breaks Kylie’s staccato rhythm with his
full-throttled Bhangra portion, after which the two are quite in sync in a
track where more than them you’ll be tuning in to the odd sounds filtering out
of this track. It’s a party in a glass box suspended into the blue.
‘Aaj Dil Gustakh Hai’ comes along as only Sukhwinder could have sung (and
drunk) in his nasheela andaaz. Shreya Ghoshal is like a spark plug in this
maikhana of music – reverberating his dreams in a more translucent colour of
bluesy intoxication. Rahman’s shift in music from melody to novelty, then back
to symmetry, has come a lot from his success as master arranger, which allows
him to move freely within metres with unique sounds that only he seems to have
a tympanic ear for. The chorus goes ‘Ooooh Yeah.’ Yep, we’re there, swimming
free-style in his oceanic music.
The way ‘Fiqrana’ opens, you will be taken two steps back to ‘Aye Khuda Hafiz’
fromYuva, but then he quickly adds a chorus and steps into Guru territory. Back
again, when you begin to familiarise with Vijay Prakash’s Rahman sounding
voice, Rahman interlaces the track with sounds so quirky, it perks you up.
Shreya Ghoshal duets to give ‘Fiqrana’ a je ne sais quoi quality. There is an
immediacy to the track which, when blended with fitting images, will make for
an impressive visual statement.
‘Bhooja Tujhe’s symphonic landscape cannot salvage the track from a monotony of
sound when Rashid Ali’s wispy voice takes to the mike. I’m beginning to feel
now that every song that Rahman composes is his spiritual staircase heavenward,
his poetry to the almighty. If the lyric has a word like khuda or maula, you
know where he’s going to head with his string quartet.
A bevy of singers pump up the volume in 'Blue Theme' – Blaaze, Sonu Kakkar,
Raqeeb Alam, Jaspreet Singh, Neha Kakkar, Dilshad – which is like a zor lagake
haiya song. I won’t be surprised if this is filmed in a garage or used during a
snorkeling training session. Rahman’s use of a contrapuntal style is engaging,
even as he mixes two melodic strands to dissolve in the end, as if you were
adding colour to a bowl of water and changing its very meaning. It was aqua
before, now it is Blue. Such child’s play for this man. Just listen to how the
song closes on your ear drums; it’s not a conch shell sound of the sea, it’s
when you have drowned and are now floating with the sea fairies. Bliss!
Can a sea of lashing waves be contained in a musical stream? In ‘Rehnuma’, sung
by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal, Rahman stirs up a hornet’s nest of passion
bubbling under the veneer of noir and thrills. He lathers up a track whipped
from smoke and mirrors; of the kind a spy is so drawn to, of where a drunken
moll leads him to the villain’s den. This is espionage music made slow-mo for
Indian ears not yet acclimatised to racier, seedier sounds; and yet it serves
to whet an appetite with its tantalising mood.
Udit Narayan makes a comeback to the playback scene after quite a while with
‘Yaar Mila Tha’. He is joined by Madhushree, whose cinnamon flavoured honeyed
voice is a perfect foil for his flat sweetness. Somewhere between hip-hop,
reggae and masala, this track hangs in the balance, waiting to be leavened with
the addition of some spunky jhatkas. But alas, the track exasperates for its
lack of pizzazz, unlike if you recollect how groovy Rahman made that Daud
number ‘Shabba Shabba Haiye Rabba’, which ‘Yaar Mila’ bears resemblance to.
That doesn’t mean Rahman is not good with ‘Yaar Mila Tha’; just that it’s got a
diffident beat you will not groove, but swoon to.
Blue, as Rahman’s adventure-venture, is thrilling no doubt. He’s got the sounds
in place, and the voices are in fine form, it’s the lyrics that don’t stay.
Pritam’s score for Dhoom 2 still seems to be the definitive of an action packed
soundtrack that’s hummable long after the film is forgotten. This Blue will
soon fade once the film steps out of the marquee.
