A R Rahman has experimented, quite successfully, with myriad musical genres. But when it comes to spiritual songs, he likes to leave them untainted by not adding a lots of bells and whistles and rely heavily on the core melody itself.
I don’t think any other music director (in Bollywood, if not in India) has given [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Music n Lyrics’
October 29, 2009
A R Rahman’s Spiritual Canon
September 12, 2009
Zeb & Haniya
I came across this wonderful song Chal Diye – many thanks to Manish Vij – and was completely blown away by this mesmerizing creation by Zeb & Haniya, a female-cousin duo from Pakistan, and qawwal Javed Bashir.
Below is another outstanding melody that I just can’t get enough of. This one is [...]
September 10, 2009
Blue (A R Rahman) Music Review
ARR has mentioned in one of his interviews that he was concerned about the high expectations from Blue since it’s his first release after the Jai Ho! hysteria. “It’s important that you don’t get typecast. It’s also important to give the kind of music the film requires and have fun with it!” said the maestro, [...]
August 6, 2009
Zindagi Ek Safar
The day before yesterday (August 4th) was the 80th birth anniversary of the great playback singer Kishore Kumar. Below is a two-hours long documentary Zindagi Ek Safar narrated by Ameen Sayani (in 10 parts).
June 16, 2009
Sonu Nigam Top 10
My favorite songs rendered by one of my favorite singers Sonu Nigam: (In no particular order.)
(1) Satrangi Re – Dil Se
Seven colors (Satrangi) symbolize the seven stages/shades of love: hub (attraction), uns (infatuation), ishq (love), aqidat (reverence), ibaadat (worship), junoon (passion), and maut (death). Gulzar weaves together these seven shades into a great poetic form, [...]
May 1, 2009
Poochho Na Kaise
Today is the 90th birthday of the legendary singer Manna Dey. I wish him a very happy birthday and a healthy life, and I’m going to spend this week listening to his wonderful songs.
Mohammed Rafi once said (to the reporters) that “You listen to my songs. But I listen to Manna Dey’s songs only.” His [...]
January 17, 2009
Delhi-6 Music Review
The vintage Rahman is back! And he’s back with a gusto. The album is a melange of soul-stirring awe-inspiring melodies, feet tapping rhythms, wonderful poetry and some impressive singing that you just can’t get enough of. Every song in this album is a gem.
Like Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s last outing with ARR, Rang De Basanti, this [...]
July 11, 2008
Bhule Bisre Geet
There are few first-rate singers who sang beautiful song(s) just in one or two movies and then vanished. (Note: We’re only talking about Hindi movies here.) I don’t know the reasons for their disappearance, but I wish they had sung more songs because these singers (details below) had quite unique (and unconventional) voices.
The first song is [...]
May 22, 2008
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Ada – Initial Reaction
I have been listening to Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Ada since last two days, and here’re some of my initial thoughts:
Kabhi Kabhi Aditi is a catchy, light and peppy number. I loved it in the very first listen (on the promos). Although Rashid Ali did a commendable job and his voice suits well [...]
January 23, 2008
Jodha Akbar Music Review
After a long wait and unexpected delays, here comes the latest offering from A. R. Rahman (aka arr).
The album opens with Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah which will virtually take you right to the battlefield! Bugles, heavy drums and percussion, chorus that sounds much like a war-cry, all together create such an environment that makes your feet tapping and [...]
