Music to the ears? . Review on Devdas - New

Everything about Devdas is big --- the star cast, the lavish sets, the designer costumes, the music.

Naturally, for India's biggest film, ever, the soundtrack has a vital role to play. Which is why Devdas' music scored by Ismail Durbar, featuring Kavita Subramaniam, Shreya Ghoshal, Udit Narayan, Jaspinder Narula, KK, Vinod Rathod and Birju Maharaj, was reportedly bought by Universal Music at a whopping Rs 120 million.

The film itself, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali --- starring Indian cinema's hottest stars Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai, and produced by diamond merchant Bharat Shah --- cost Rs 500 million. Released April, the soundtrack received fairly good reviews.

Devdas, has meant good business for Mehmood Cormally, director, Rhythm House, a music outlet in Mumbai who says the album has been one of their highest sellers. Though Ismail Durbar's compositions are good, it does not have the mass appeal of, say, a Dil Toh Pagal Hai or Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

On the other more recent releases like Mujhe Dosti Karoge, Sur and Viva, three or four concurrent hits at the same time come as good news to the industry. Though the sales now have been steady, once the film releases, sales could rise, dependent of course on the success of the film and more importantly the picturisation of its songs. Devdas has slipped to number two after almost seven weeks at top spot. It was dethroned by Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, which climbed up to Number 1 only after its release.

So far the music of Devdas has sold on the strength of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, just as Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai banked on the Yash Chopra banner before its release.

Devdas fits into the semi-classical genre of music and though it does not have mass appeal, it has been lapped up by a number of NRIs.

The holiday season of May-June saw a number of foreigners frequent the store and as CDs were priced at a very reasonable Rs 99, there were times when people bought dozens of copies of the soundtrack to gift colleagues and friends. On online radio portal raaga.com's Top 10, Maar dala featuring K K and Kavita Subramaniam makes it to top three. It also occupies third position on the musicindiaonline.com Bollywood Top 10 chart.

Devdas has been Number 1 on the MTV India charts for the last 14 weeks, and continues to do well. It is as someone aptly put it, 'like slow poison', which grows on you gradually. Once the film is released, the music sales will have another spike of activity, we are sure. The music is outstanding, with a huge classical influence. Shreya Ghoshal's rendition Bairi piya is brilliant. Another visual treat is the jugalbandi between Aishwarya and Madhuri in the song Dola re, which is very popular.

MTV has supported the film in India through music airplay and exclusive special programming all through June and July. As part of a special tie-up with the film producer and music label, there is an unusually high proportion of the music time devoted to Devdas music on MTV (on an average 10-12 times a day). In addition to specially created vignettes on the 'behind the scenes' of this magnum opus, there is a special program on the director, contests on MTV shows and meet and greet with Shah Rukh Khan.