First Impression on bollywood Music. Review on Ten Best Hindi Songs of 2001

To me the year 2001 is a great year during which many blockbuster movies and its music dragged me more towards bollywood. The music of the moviesLagaan, Dil chatha hai, Asoka, Pyar tune kya kiya, Aks, K3G all increased my interest in Hindi film music. Some of the all time best albums and movies came out in this year. These songs always have some special place in my heart, as they are the first impressions about the bollywood music. When bollywood was struggling too much to make it some of the movies of this year created box office records. And when I was thinking about some of the highly expected movies this year, Ashutosh’s “Swades” and Farhan Akthar’s “Lakshya” suddenly struck my mind and accidentally I recall those days in 2001 when I was dying to watch these movies and hear their songs. “Lagaan” was the first Hindi music album that I bought from my own money. Okay let me stop with this and here is the list.

Best Experimental Song  : Oh re chori:

Lagaan - A.R.Rahman - Javed Akthar

Udit Narayanan, Alka yagnik, Vasundra Das

Isn’t that experimental? It is not a fusion of western and folk music instead it just replicates the nativity of each character in its purest form. The three dimensional love is never better portrayed before like this in a song. The transition from folk to western part is gradual with beats common to both kind of music. The simple beats, nice tune and great singing adds strength to the folk part. Vasundra Das lifts the song with her right English accent in pronouncing the words and English lyrics by Ashutosh gowariker is great and one line “I am in love” is nicely blended with folk music. True masterpiece from ARR. It is a tough job to convince the listeners in this type of songs but ARR does it with ease on his experience.

Best Male Solo: Dil ko tumse pyar hua:

Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein - Harris Jayaraj -? - Roop Kumar Rathod

This is a very melodious number by Harris Jayaraj, a popular music director from south in his debut Hindi film. This is the only song that is not there in the original version in Tamil. The guitar is well used in this song. The song is sung by Roop kumar rathod and he has done a fabulous job especially when each stanza ends with a peculiar note followed by the same tune played in guitar. The violin interlude and chorus are used mildly at the back at right places in the song and elevates the feel.

Best Duet Song *:Jaane kyon:

Dil chatha hai - Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy - Javed Akthar

Udit Narayanan, Alka Yagnik

Isn’t that a duet? Definitely it is the best duet but not a usual one. Both of the leads have love on each other inside but pretend to be friends and their lyric in a conversational format is great. The crystal clear soothing voice of the singers elevates the song further. The song is packed some of best usage of instruments at right places like strings in the prelude, flute at the end of each line, chorus and some strange electronic sounds, pulling beats all through the song, and above all a nice tune makes this song an unforgettable one.

Best Dance Number *: Kambaqt ishq(Remix):

Pyar Tune Kya Kiya - Sandeep Chowtha - Nitin Raikwar

Asha bhonsle, Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder singh

Obviously the whole country danced for this tune in 2K1. Excellent usage of synthesisers and percussions and the most importantly the violins. A unique blend of various sounds and all are layered well. Ashaji has done a great job proving her versatality again and equally well sung by male singers too. Featuring Fardeen khan and Urmila, the song and a different choreography is outstanding to watch.

Best Female Solo *: Zara Zara:

Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein - Harris Jayaraj -? - Bombay Jayashree

This is a true masterpiece that mesmerized the whole south India with its slow and seductive melody tune. I don’t know how far it clicked in Hindi. A classic music lover will notice the freshness and the greatness in the song irrespective of the fate of the movie. The song with lazy beats with a scintillating and adulating flute piece haunts you on first listening itself. The unique voice of Bombay Jayshree and her rendition is the biggest strength of the song. The lyrics being the word to word translation of Tamil lyrics the credit goes to “Thamarai” lyric writer of Tamil version. However I was disappointed by the bad picturisation in Hindi version.

Best picturised Song *: Woh ladki hai kahan:

Dil chatha hai - Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy - Javed Akthar *

Shaan, Kavitha Krishnamoorthy

I like this song very much because of its catchy tune and the way it is picturised and choreography with hands waving often. The usage of instruments and the tune has a Russian flavor. The main tune of the song that is often played in the song by some wind instrument is catchy. The singers have done their job to T. The instruments used are different that is hard to find for common man like me in the interludes. But I could recognize the sound of Bass Guitar well used at some places in the song. The song is a visual treat with a new innovative concept of covering the three eras of bollywood cinema. This is how some of the best directors differ and stands out in making even a usual duet song different. The waving hand step is so catchy at times involuntarily my hands goes up to wave.

Best Choreographed Song*  : Radha kaise na jale:

Lagaan - A.R.Rahman - Javed Akthar *

Udit Narayanan, Asha bhonsle, Vaishali

The song is a good fusion of folk and classical music very close to the nativity. Yes it is obvious that Javed akthar got national award for this movie as best lyricist for the fifth time. Asha scores again and you can hear jealousy in her voice and a usual Udit again. Vaishali sings the final bit of the song well with fast twists in voice. The best-used instrument is flute yet again by Naveen and also the percussion by Sivamani. The best thing is the choreography blending the folk and classical style like the music and especially the Gowri’s part is well choreographed and she has danced gracefully.

Best? Song *: San sa nanana:

Asoka - Anu Malik – Anand Bakshi - Alka Yagnik, Hema Sardesai

The song is extremely inspires from ARR style of composition but even though Anumalik quite often comes with such pleasant surprising tunes. The soul of the song is the voice of Alka Yagnik. The overall composition is good. The song is well moving and catchy. A Nice blend of classical and western music with ARR feels. Cinematography of Santosh sivan is extraordinary in this song. Anand’s lyrics about a girl searching for her mate gives a fresh feel to the song.

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