Hindi Music Album Review - December 21

Gaja Gamini

A roadside painter turned celebrity artist turned filmmaker, M.F. Hussain's obsession with Madhuri Dixit and his dream project Gaja Gamini sees the light of day after a long wait. And the new director makes no bones about the fact that he has made the movie for his personal satisfaction rather than for the masses or the box office.

So is the case with the music of this thematic film with a woman at its centre, has scores by old-timer Bhupen Hazarika and not an Anu Malik or A.R. Rahman. An indication that the movie is for a niche audience and the music, for select listeners. Now as far as Bhupen Hazarika is concerned it's quite hard to find a bad film of his barring Darmiyaan, which was a luke-warm effort. Hussain's choice of Hazarika is supported by the fact that the composer specialises in hilly folk music, which is a prerequisite for the film's theme.

The very first title song, sung by Hazarika himself, is an indication in that direction as the various facets of a woman come forth through the lyrics written by woman writer Maya Govind.

Hazarika's voice suits the song pretty well. Kavita Krishnamurthy is called in to playback for Madhuri as the following Meri Payal Bole, which is a contemporary number and has a few classical and regional instruments mixed for the dance aficionado. This is perhaps the mass-appeal number of the album. Then the sentimental Bhojpuri folk song, Mera Hansa Gaya Videsh is a woman's wail of separation put across well by Kavita in her high-pitched voice.

There are two shlokas recited by Suman Devgan which are followed by M.F. Hussain's self-written poem, Yeah Gathri Taj Ki Tarah put across forcefully by the artist-director himself in a professional style. Yeh Gathri is tuned into a tambourine-based song on the flip side and is sung justifiably well by Kavita.

Side B starts with an impressive song of the new millennium, Do Sadiyon Ke Sangam by Kavita and Udit Narayan who sounds very close to Shah Rukh Khan vocally. Here Udit is out to give Sonu Nigam a run for his money as he too adapts the Rafi style of singing. Javed Akhtar's lines make this the best song on the millennium theme.

Finally, we have Shankar Mahadevan doing the Deepak Raag in his usual style and an aggressive music piece, Protest March, perhaps led by a woman (Madhuri) – thus the musical journey, starting and finishing with Madhuri. Well, M.F. Hussain's obsession will appeal to all Hazarika fans who like offbeat music.



Pardesiya

Sapna Awasathi, the Chaiya Chaiya girl, is out for an image change. Having released a number of private folk numbers, this "queen" of folk now releases a self-acclaimed romantic album. But that doesn't mean she is discarding her pop image totally. The uniqueness of this album is that it has more of romantic numbers than the usual folk songs that one would expect Sapna to come up with, though the earthy feel here is in place.

She has P.K. Mishra writing and composing the songs for her. The 10-song album has a variety of seven solos and three duets where some Mohan Kumar teams up with Sapna for her fun and teaser numbers like Chehra Hai Langoor Ka, Tanke Paad Dhile and Devariya Maar Mat Pichkari, which is a Holi song and is full of the vibrancy associated with the colourful festival.

Mohan Kumar lends her good support and keeps up with her bold voice. The folk flavour in Sapna's voice is highlighted in her title song, Pardesiya, a love anthem, where Sapna conveys the emotions well. No wonder the song's video is enjoying repeated airplays on satellite channels.

Her Tum Jo Aao To, a soft and romantic number gives Sapna enough scope to prove her versatility while the sad songs, Sanz Dhaale Deep and Tere Naam Ki Do Chudi see her reaching the highest octaves. Her songs here, are no doubt, quite okay but are no match to her Chaiya Chaiya and Pardesi Pardesi numbers.

Cassettes courtesy: Vanilla Music