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Reviews
JORU
KA GHULAM
Venus, Rs. 50
When it’s a Govinda film, music directors automatically come
up with compositions which convey the very essence of the comic actor.
Here Aadesh Srivastava does just that, composing songs which are typical
Govinda ishtyle, meaning songs purely for the masses. And since Aadesh
tends to use more of folksy music, it gels well with the comic theme of
the film.
The title song Main joru ka ghulam ban ke rahoonga is high on beats and
already popular. The lyrics of this song should please the feminists,
and Sameer does raise some very important issues here. Abhijeet renders
the song well, improvising on it with his punches, but Sunidhi Chauhan’s
singing is flat. The next number Neeche phoolon ki dukan oopar gori ka
makaan sounds like an extension of the title song, since it has a similar
tune. Sonu Nigam makes it enjoyable, singing it with the much needed masti.
A sensuous duet by Sonu and Hema Sardesai which goes Tumhare bina kuch
comes next, in which both the singers are in their elements, with Hema
going oh oh oh and Sonu going yeah yeah yeah. The instrumental version
of the title song sounds terrible.
On the flipside is a weird song Meri nazar, which sounds like a little
bit of of koli song, a little bit of dandiya number, a little bit of Chaalbaaz
number Raste mein woh khada tha kabse meer peeche pada tha and a little
bit of A. R. Rahman too. Rajesh Mishra sings it in an unappealing voice,
while Jaspinder Narula sings it with verve. The raunchy Khula hai mera
pinjra aa meri maina has crass lyrics. Woh aaye, a qawwali-like number
is unimpressive. Sameer lyrics have the puns and double-entendres typical
of a Govinda comedy flick. An album with mass-appeal.
JAANAM
T-Series, Rs. 50
After Sonu Nigam, T-Series comes up with a private album with Udit
Narayan. It’s great to have private albums from such established,
versatile singers, whose singing is pleasing to the ears. This album has
the same composer team of Sonu’s Jaan, namely Nikhil-Vinay, and the
same lyricist Faiz Anwaar. And like Jaan this album too has eight romantic
numbers. But this album doesn’t make half as much an impact as Jaan.
The same composer-lyricist team fail to come up with the easy-on-the-ears,
haunting compositions here. The songs here are either very slow (like
Is tarah pyar se); or very difficult to remember (like Aawara aawara,
Teri in adaon ne is dil ko and Yeh jeevan pyar se bhar do tum); or convey
a sense of deja vu (like Main jise pyar samajh baitha or Mujhe pyar hai
sirf tumse jaanam or the prosaic Dil ka awarapan). The bottomline being
that the songs just don’t register. Hats off to Udit Narayan for
singing the songs with his usual zest. He puts in all his efforts, all
his emotions, and the songs do get some lift in his endearing voice, but
sadly they just don’t click. The composers seem to have forgotten
to infuse melody. Faiz Anwaar, who came up with evocative lyrics in Jaan,
is at a loss of words here. One never expected him to come up with something
like Tumhara kya gaya, hamara dil gaya. It would be unfair to expect the
composers and the lyricist to repeat the success of Jaan, but after treating
us to something as exotic as Jaan, this album sure is a letdown.
HUMMM
BMG Crescendo, Rs. 65
This unique self-titled album by a multi-lingual Indi-pop group needs
to be praised for the efforts the band has put into making it. The songs
are meaningful and exhibit maturity of the band. The first side starts
with Ladke aaye sung by the girls. The number Dil is more of a romantic
song, wherein the girl expresses her feelings in a way which generally
men prefer. There is a Tamil number too. But the Hindi number Masti bhara
is the best. It has a folk flavour with energetic lyrics. The second side
has the Tamil version of Masti bhara. There is this number Pyaar karenge
which carries the social message that even the girl child is as precious
as the boy. On the whole the album is vibrant and a treat for music lovers.
HASUN HASUN MELO BUWA (MARATHI)
Venus, Rs. 30
An audio of humourous anecdotes and stories, most of them in prose,
but interspersed with musical interludes, with Mahendra Gokhale as arranger.
The main narrator is Hasya Samrat Johny Rawat, with Sunil Chavan and Vrushali
Patwardhan as supporting speakers. Written by Abhinay Borkar, the tales,
26 in all (12 on Side A and 14 on Side B), are supposed to tickle the
listeners and make them laugh. In some of the episodes, there are references
to popular names like Aishwarya Rai, Madhu Sapre and Amitabh Bachchan.
Listed as special attraction are two items: Vishwasundarichi Mulakhat
and Hijack. In addition to these two, the ones deserving mention are Baikocha
swaagat, Mangalashtake, Malavani gaana, Gas cha traas and Swataachya paayaawar.
RADHA KRUSHNAWARI BHALALI (MARATHI)
Venus, Rs. 30
A version album of traditional Goulani revolving round the evergreen
anecdotes about Radha and Krishna. There are 11 songs in all (six on Side
A and five on Side B), the singers being Ajit Kadkade, Shivanand Patil,
Asha Khadilkar, Anupama Deshpande, Chandrashekhar Gadil, Uday Upadhye,
Shyama Chittar, Pralhad Shinde and Sulochana. Included in the audio are
such popular numbers as Keshava Madhava, Radha Krushnawari bhalali, Bai
mee vikat ghetala Shyam, Saanga Mukund kuni haa paahila, Ghanashyam sundara
and Tumhi saanga khachit tumhi saanga.
SAI SAI BOL
T-Series, Rs. 34
An audio containing eight devotional Sai bhajans (four on each side),
sung by Lakhbir Singh Lakkha with music scored by Mani Shankar. The album
opens with the title piece Sai Sai bol and is followed by Meri laaj rakhana,
Hai anek tere naam and Mela Sai ka. The four numbers on the flipside are
Sai ke dar aaja, Darbar mein Shirdi wale, Maala Sai naam ki and Mein Sai
tera. The title piece as well as the last two bhajans with which the audio
ends deserve special mention, and will be appreciated by the listeners.
Rendered with devotional fervour, all the bhajans are meaningful, five
of which have been written by Aseer Burhanpuri and one each by Guruji
Ram Lal Sharma (Meri laaj rakhana, Saral Kavi (Sai ke dar aaja) and Kaisar
Bharati (Darbar mein Shirdi wale). Sai devotees would certainly like to
have this album in their collection.
LAUT KE PHIR KAB AAOGE
Musicraft, Rs. 40
Described as a romantic journey, this album marks a departure for
Bhajan Samrat Anup Jalota, who has rendered six lyrics set to music, somewhat
in qawwali style, by Harshad-Vijay Batalvi. Interspersed with sher-o-shairi,
the lyrics have been penned by Anjaan Saagri. The audio opens with the
title number Laut ke phir kab aaoge, followed by Mera dil kisiko pyara
and Khuda humko tumse juda. The flipside includes salaam-e-sanam, Nazar
hi nazar mein and Husnwalon zara niklo ghar se. The last two numbers,
as well as the title piece deserve special mention. The album will come
as a pleasant surprise for Anup Jalota fans. A collector’s item not
only for the singer’s fans but all music lovers.
AAJA AAJA NI PADOSNE (PUNJABI)
Catrack, Rs. 45
The audio of 10 tracks in Punjabi is a test of sorts for upcoming
singer Harbhajan Shera. He has done a good job and listeners will appreciate
his rendering of the title number, as well as Ishq de tarhke and Haye!
Ni majajne. The musical score by Tejwant Kittu is reflective of the contents
of each lyric, rendered with appropriate nuances by the singer. Side A
begins with the title track Aaja aaja ni padosne, followed by Kehnde ne
nainan (traditional), Mukh chaudvin da chand penned by Gil Surjit, Bin
sajna ki jeena written by Devinder Khannewala and Aina Billo ni tenun
written by Sunny Mann. The flipside has two lyrics penned by Raj Kakra,
Kammo ne tere nakhre and Husnande paarkhu, Tu sadha nahin has been written
by Pappi, Ishq de tarke penned by Devinder Singh while Haye! Ni majajne
is written by Jeet Chandigarh.
Reviewed By Salma Khatib, Lopamudra Bhattacharya
And Pandit Shimpi