NAVRATRI FARE

AAGHAAZ
Tips, Rs. 45
Anu Malik isn’t at his best here, still the composer makes music which appeals to your senses. One finds Anu a bit repetitive here, like in the opening number Man tera mera mann, which though melodious, reminds you of his past numbers, especially the ones composed for Mahesh Bhatt films like Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee. But Anu has is also different as in the high-pitched Dosti ho gayee ray, in which both Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan go a bit overboard, stretching their vocal chords to irritating heights. Both the singers are being paired up by Anu these days for such kind of numbers, requiring them to imitate Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston’s singing style. Nevertheless it is an enjoyable song. These two are the only songs worth writing about. Dil ko pathar is drab and heavy like a pathar, followed by an equally lacklustre Dil dil dil.

Side B has the title song which is tuned to an international soundtrack. Sonu renders it feelingly. Nav nav lakha is a Punjabi folk song, following which comes Sonu’s version of Dil dil dil. An instrumental version of Man tera mera man concludes the album. A couple of okay songs wouldn’t interest the buyer.

NAVARATRICHE
NAVAROOP (MARATHI)
Krunal, Rs. 40 (two cassettes)
The album offers 10 typical gondhal geets or songs with typical folk touch, which will go well with listeners during the ongoing Navaratri festival. These devotional numbers which have been characterised as Aaicha gondhal, have been rendered by Vijay Sartape, Vinayak Hivale, Vaishali Samant, Shakuntala Jadhav, Madhuri, Devayani and Meenal Rao. The title piece Navaraatriche navaroop is the last on Side A and has been liltingly rendered by Madhuri. Another number derseving special mention is the Shakuntala Jadhav-rendered Aaicha jogava jogava.

DEVICHYA AARTYA (MARATHI)
Krunal, Rs. 40
(two cassettes)
nAn audio which presents traditional aartis or prayers addressed to Goddesses Durga, Amba, Tuljabhavani, Saptashringi, Ekveera, Mumbadevi, Roopine, Renuka, Jeevdaani, Kalubai and Mahalaxmi. Variety is a plus point of the musical compositions as an attempt has been made to present each aarti in a differeent way. In all there are 13 aartis, all of them feelingly rendered by Madhuri (three), Vaishali Samant (five), Priya Mayekar (three) and Meenal Rao (two). A must album for the devotees of the Goddesses.


CHALO BULAWA AAYA HAI
Krunal, Rs. 40 (two cassettes)
This is a version album offering 10 popular devotional songs from various films. These numbers include Tune mujhe bulaya, Madat karo Santoshi Mata, Main to aarti utaaru, Sherawali ye and Chalo bulawa aaya hai. The singers who have lent their voice to these songs include Mahendra Kapoor, Vashi Raza, Sanjay Sawant, Mangesh Dutt, Vaishali Samant, Nitin Diskalkar and Aparna Mayekar.

SHRI DURGA KAWACH
Sangeet, Rs. 35
The original stanzas in Sanskrit of Shri Durga Kawach, the reading of which ensure protection, peace and well-being to a human being, are presented in this album in the voice of Ravindra Sathe. It may be mentioned that the singer’s voice is admirably suited for this type of renderings. The lyrical rendering of the Sanskrit verses is followed by the translation in Hindi (done by Dr Shrimati Prakash) and narrated by Sanjay Choudhary, who is also credited with the concept of the audio, which opens with the Om namah Chandikayai chant and concludes with the Om shanti shanti chant. Kishan Roy, who has been credited with the music score, has effectively interspersed the rendering of the Sanskrit verses with the Om Shri Durge namo namah chant by chorus voices.

JAGADAMBE MAA
BHAVANI
Sangeet, Rs. 35
This devotional audio presents prayers offered to Goddess Jagadamba. The lyrics and music are credited to Madan Verma. Side A of the cassette is in the nature of praise of the Goddess Jagadambe Maa Bhavani and has been exquisitely rendered by Sadhana Sargam, while the whole of Side B is a prayer offered to the Goddess (Maiyya teri charano mein) in the inimitable voice of Anup Jalota. The lyrics and the musical score are credited to Madan Verma with Mangesh Sawant as the arranger. With the names of two well-known singers associated with it, this album is bound to find favour with the listeners.

MAIYYA SHERAWALI
Sangeet, Rs. 35
Two popular singers, Mahendra Kapoor and Sapna Awasthi, are associated with this album containing six devotional numbers. The renderings have enough of feeling and fervour to keep the listeners involved. Deserving special mention are two numbers Maiya naiyya paar laga do and Karati hai bhakton ka kalyaan maiyya, both on the flipside. The lyrics have been penned by Harish Jounpuri and set to music by Babu Kishan-Shekhar, the latter’s name also appearing as a singer along with Pradeep.

AMBABAICHA ALANKAR (MARATHI)
Venus, Rs. 30
Eight devotional numbers offering prayers to Goddess Ambabai are presented in this album. Some of these numbers are traditional while some are written by Manwel Gaikwad, who has also contributed as a singer and rendered the title piece Ambabaicha alankar with which the flipside opens. The other singers are Chandrakala Dasari, Uttam Inkar, Godavari Bidkar and Chandramani More. The music has been scored by Prathama-Pratik.

SHRI VAISHNODEVI MALA
Venus, Rs. 30
The whole of Side A of this audio is devoted to Shri Vaishnodevi Mala 108 Vachan rendered by Sadhana Sargam, with Shank-Neel as the music composers and Balbir Nirdosh as the lyricist. The flipside offers four other devotional numbers, the singers being Shiva, Vaishali Samant, Ashwin Giri, Shailendra Bharati and Pamela Jain. The main attraction of the album is undoubtedly singer Sadhana Sargam.

MERI MAMATAWALI MAA
Venus, Rs. 30
Sonu Nigam, who is creating waves in the music world ever since he took to professional singing, has rendered all the 12 devotional numbers in this album. Embellished in popular tunes, they have been feelingly rendered and are bound to appeal to the listeners, particularly the title piece with which flipside opens. The songs have been written by Pt Kiran Mishra and taped under the music supervision of Shank-Neel.

MAIYYA KE GUN GAAO
Venus, Rs. 30
Described as a special devotional gift to the devotees of Goddess Durga on the occasion of Navaratri, the album offers eight numbers in the voice of well-known singer Mahendra Kapoor. Written by Pt Kiran Mishra and set to music by Triveni Bhavani, the songs are embedded in traditional tunes used in devotional music. Of the eight numbers, Jai Ambe maa jai Durge maa, Jai bolo Jagadamba maa and Charano mein maiyyake sheesh zukaao are noteworthy.

NOU DIN BAHAR KE
Venus, Rs. 28
Eight traditional devotional numbers are offered in this audio. Set to music by Ajit Sharma, the songs have been rendered by Govardhan Udasi and Dilip Udasi. From among the eight songs, Zil mil-zil mil, Hey maa Ambe and Jalati rahe are appealing.

DEVI KA PYARA DARBAR
Venus, Rs. 30
Side A of this devotional album containing eight songs opens with the title piece Vaishno Devi ka pyara ye darbar. The songs have been written by Balbir Nirdosh and taped under the supervision of Vasant More. The singers are Ram Shankar, Shailendra Bharti, Mohd. Salamat, Shiva, Krishna, Vaishali Samant, Nisha Upadhyaya and Pamela Jain.

MATA KE ROOP
Venus, Rs. 30
Of the eight devotional numbers in this album, three have been rendered by Nitin Mukesh, two each by Anup Jalota and Anupama Deshpande and one by Irfan. It opens with Tu hi Durga tu hi Kali sung by Nitin Mukesh and ends with Aaj jaagaran maiyya ka by Anupama Deshpande on the flipside. The two songs rendered by Anup Jalota are Har haal mein karna muzko tera darshan hai and Jap jap maa ka naam jap jap. The songs have been written by Priya Singh and set to music by Ajay Singh.

Best Choice
INDIA UNLIMITED
THE UNITED WORLD OF ARTISTES
BMG Crescendo, Rs. 75
Some of the best musical talents of India join hands and come together for this album, which is a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, and is a timely release to coincide with his birth anniversary on October 2. Produced by Susmit Bose and Savita Raj, the album “endorses the dream of a true individual living for a just society.” It blends the sounds of classical, folk, jazz, rock and pop, to project the new, young India.

The album opens aptly with Gandhiji’s favourite bhajan, Vaishnava jana to composed with some variations by Shaarang Dev, and sung by Pt. Jasraj, Chitra, Shankar Mahadevan, Alka Yagnik, Jaspinder Narula, Sonu Nigam and Eshwari. Shubha Mudgal sings the next Jab chahe mil lo, composed by Kartik Raja, with beautiful lyrics by Jaideep Sahni. This land is your land (Unche Himalay se), an ode to India sung by Susmit Bose, Mahalaxmi and Springdales School Choir, has arrangement by Shantanu Moitra. Vishal composes Mujhe mitti bulati hai in his typical style of Maachis and Satya, which is sung by Suresh Wadkar. Vishal incorporates the sweet strains of sarangi, played by maestro Ustad Sultan Khan, to advantage in the song.
On the flipside, there’s the classical Charishnu sung by Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Choir, followed by a hopeful Woh din aayega composed by Vanraj Bhatia, with very inspiring lyrics by Javed Akhtar. I want to believe composed by Louis Banks, sounding like a mix of jingle and a Western number, is no great shakes. The instrumental version of Vaishnava jana to comes last, and is a treat to the ears, as it brings together Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, Niladri, Rakesh Chourasia and Rahul Sharma, the progeny of classical music legends, as they play the bhajan tune on the musical instruments they specilaise in, namely sarod, sitar, flute and santoor. This is the best piece of the lot, as Shaarang Dev blends the sound of different instruments harmoniously.

An album giving a true feel of India and Indian music. We definitely need more classy music products like these. Good buy.

Reviewed By Salma Khatib And Pandit Shimpi