Zubeidaa by Shyam Benegal, is one of the most under-recognised movie for the effort put-in, for it is a eminently likeable movie. The cast was wonderfully herded by the director and the story was the critical element in the movie. Songs and BGM were simply out-of-the-world.
Presently, we shall get to the review of the songs.
Dheemi Dheemi - Kavita Krishnamurthy (Subramaniam)
A nice and pleasant chords section open the song along with bells and a flowing flute. Gun Gun is the life of the tune, how lilting the section is. Simple rhythm pattern sets in to back the vocals. Somehow, Kavitha's voice suits perfectly with Karishma. A long but enjoyable pallavi, almost 2 minutes.
The interlude, ARR returns to his favorite flute, sweet as a sugarcane ;)
Wonderful song !. Loses a bit of direction in the middle.
Rating 4.7 out of 5
Mehndi Hai - Alka Yagnik
Heavy bass guitar sets the tone for the song, with Alka yagnik opening Mehndi. A simple and easy pallavi nicely toeing the raga kalyani. The tune follows the traditional mehndi songs, with nice dholaks/tablas and beautiful harps flowing.
Alka yagnik, is sometimes so hard/shrill on one's ears :-(
The song ends abruptly, with not enough treatment, that IMHO had so much scope for nice alaap/extension.
Rating 4.3 out of 5
Mein Albeli - Kavita Krishnamurthy & Sukhvinder Singh
The song has a very heavy arabic inspiration. The rhythm/instruments all serve to impress upon the same. Sukhvinder enjoys his role and provides with some 'cool' moments in the song. The song itself has a very run-of-the-mill structure, but it can serve as a perfect case-study to how ARR has added 'layers' of music to it. His embellishments are typically many instruments each one clinging on to their respective theme in the background. On the one hand, there is the accordion accentuating the 'playful'ness and then the regular chords that serve to set the 'mood' of the lines. The bass guitar once again plays the very critical role of keeping the rhythm going. As noted often in my reviews, yet again, you see how the second stanza has been underplayed in terms of use of instruments and the low-key chords etc. This song resembles very much in theme to other ARR compositions like Rang De (Takshak), September Madham (Alai payuthe), Spirit of Rangeela (Rangeela) etc.
Rating 4.1 out of 5
Pyara Sa Gaon - Lata Mangeshkar
A sweet alaap on maand like notes greets us with this wonderful lullaby by ARR. And would it be complete without Naveen on flute ? :-) (00.30 - 00.53) I always keep talking about how chords serve to emphasise/heighten the mood of the melody. The intro music on this song is the perfect example. Between 00.38-00.42 and 00.47-00.51 are the same melody being played, only that the second time around, the chords progressively heighten the 'intense' melody of the song. After a long one minute long intro, ARR lets the song begin. The pallavi flirts with raga maand (actually quite a serious relationship one must add ;)) and a what soothing lullaby it is !. Did ARR's kids enjoy such wonderful put-to-bed songs :-) or are we the only beneficiaries ;) ? The rhythm is simple through the pallavi and almost when the stanza starts, the rhythm gets a bit more enterprising.
The flute finishes off the song....
Rating 4.99 out of 5
Hai Na - Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik
A brief piece of Santoor opens the song with a hearty rhythm and simple chords with bass guitars. The highlight of the pallavi is when AY hits 'hai na'. Udit opens his account in the album with the casual candy-floss ease. But, that exactly is what is attractive about the song. Santoor continues its way into the first interlude. ARR lets his imagination run wild. Moving from a simple emotion to complex and bring it back to the same light mood, his deft changes on the tune flirts with the mood swings quite easily.
It finishes off with a humming of the theme of the song.
This song is quite easy on the melody and flow and it merely impresses rather than leaving a deep mark. (Personally, however, I like this song very much, purely for its casualness )
Rating 4.3 out of 5
So Gaye - Lata Mangeshkar
This song forms the continuous theme of the music (bgm). Evoking melancholic emotions, using serious orchestration of instruments, this is a slow song. Horn, forms the base of the song, mild humming joins in later. The stanza is the best part of the whole song. With the chorus humming and chords it underscores the emotion. The second interlude is wonderful. It wanders & strays outside the main theme of the song. Starting at 3.05 - 3.54, especially at 3.15 is quite beautiful. It reminds you vaguely of the similar arrangement in 'Nadhiye Nadhiye' (Rhythm). Single layer of piano joins in for the second stanza to complement the tune. The emotions of the song is like complex mosaic. It takes lots of time for one to digest all of them. It is tough to bring them out in words, i'd rather leave it to you to listen. With the variations on the musical theme of song being so obvious, I would have dismissed this immediately as a song from ARR's stable. Well, we all know to expect the unexpected from him :-).
Rating 4.4 out of 5
Chhodo More - Richa Sharma
The review of this song is gonna be brief, but i'd rather detail Gowri Manohari ragam which this song is based on.
The song has beautiful tabla rhythm, with heavy sarangi sections, nice harps & some out of the world chord progressions. Richa Sharma has sung it quite well. The song itself is short but follows the raga to a 'T' with rare/exceptional anniya swaras to be found. Sections to enjoy the creativity in this song are
Gowri Manohari is made of s r2 g2 m1 p d2 n3 S. The raga is identified by the following progression g m p n, n n S d p. It is agmark identification of the raga. From time immemorial, this raga has been given red-carpet treatment in the movie industry, but not sure i've heard much in carnatic world that oozes melody as much. Be it, Paatum Naane or Malare Kurinji in earlier days or IR's Kanna Varuvaya (Manadhil Urudhi Vendum) or this song by ARR, the raga itself has stood out so beautifully. If you are upto it, sing/play Kanna Varuvaya and Choddo and the line 'thalai mudhal kaal varai'(Stanza from the song 'Aasai Aasai' - Dhool). They all are the perfect treatment of this raga. But no one would dare to call them copies of each other.
How wonderful is the world of 'creation' of light music based on melodious patterns in carnatic music !
Rating 4.9 out of 5
Overall, the album (as the movie) did not get the deserved credit for its non-mainstream, still amazingly cute and melodious numbers. The movie did not play out any song fully, but man, this album is a MUST HAVE for any melody lover.
Overall Rating 4.6 out of 5
