This is what a Pakistani site have to say of Ghajini's music and
ofcourse of ARR !
"Year 2008 will indeed go down as one of the most historic one for
the lovers of quality film music as it will be remembered as the
year when Bollywood's most revered and
talented and extremely choosy music director, of this era, A. R.
Rahman bestowed upon his fans four superlative albums. Starting with
Ashutosh Gowariker's magnum-opus JODHAA AKBAR followed by ADA - A
WAY OF LIFE, Aamir Khan's JAANE TU... YA JAANE NA and the most
recent one, Subhash Ghai's YUVVRAAJ. Needless to add that all these
albums were classy and a hit with the patrons of good quality music,
barring ADA- A WAY OF LIFE (commercially). His long term association
with perfectionist actor, Aamir Khan has always brought out the best
in Rahman (RANGEELA, LAGAAN, MANGAL PANDEY and RANG DE BASANTI) and
naturally expectations assume humungous proportions as his last
album, GHAJINI, makes it to the stands this year itself. The Tamil
version of GHAJINI had some rocking music by the top music director
of South India, Harris Jayaraj. And with music maestro, A.R.Rahman
at the helm this time around, with help in the lyrical department
from the new age lyricist, the intellectually brilliant Prasoon
Joshi (their RDB was path breaking), things can only get better. So,
without wasting time let us check out the GHAJINI audio.
Sonu Nigam's cupid struck humming and mandolin strums
commence 'Guzarish' as he serenades the listeners, transporting them
into a beautiful make belief romantic world, through this stunningly
striking love ballad. Much like the signature tune of Rahman's last
romantic track from the album, YUVVRAAJ ('Tu Meri Dost Hai') this
love ballad too relies heavily on Sonu's haunting background
hummings to create the subtle love effect. Here though, Sonu Nigam
is the guest vocalist and is present only for the humming part,
which is incorporated in the beginning, in between and also in the
end. But don't be disappointed as Rahman's new favourite, Javed Ali
('Jashn-E-Bahara') holds fort quite strongly with his crackling
strong vocals. Javed Ali is a revelation here, as in 'Jashn-E-
Bahara' his vocals were quite base and deep to match Hrithik while
here Javed's superb voice modulations are in sync with Aamir's
perfect and smooth ones. Only his diction presents a minor problem
which needs to be corrected. This propositioning number becomes
super special because of Prasoon Joshi's lovely lyrics which are
simple yet they are awesome, as there cannot be a better word than
the urdu word, 'guzarish', meaning request to appear polite and
polished . 'Bas ek haan ki guzarish, Phir hogi khushiyon ki barish,
Tu meri adhuri pyaas pyaas, Tu aa gayi man ko raas raas, Ab to tu aa
ja paas paas, Hai guzarish.' A proposal which cannot be turned down
at any cost, such is the effect of the number. So all you guys in
love go ahead, it's our 'guzarish' to propose to your beloved with
this number this Valentine day and you sure will succeed. An
excellent, in fact, a gem of a track from the maestro.
Suzanne is the female vocalist who has been entrusted with the next
number, 'Aye Bachchu' . And the number is just right for Suzanne, as
she has become a sort of an icon for the songs that require full of
attitude, westernized singing. But we are forced to say that if this
number was by Pritam, one would have rated it as passable but this
comes from Rahman, the musical genius and so, it disappoints.
Nothing, but the best is expected of the maestro. May be in his
defense we can say that the song is a situational one but it is a
let down nevertheless, specially after a cracker of a start in form
of 'Guzarish'. Prasoon Joshi's lyrics though situational and apt
still disappoint. Once again it's Prasoon, the lyricist of RANG DE
BASANTI and TAARE ZAMEEN PAR, so obviously the level of expectancy
is much higher. The recent number on this line that we heard
was 'Oop Oop Cha' (DRONA) and 'Soniya'(KIDNAP).
Thankfully, Rahman and Prasoon are back to their best with the next
track, 'Kaise Mujhe', a classy romantic composition that has a
mesmerizing effect on the listeners. The beauty of the number lies
in its very smooth, slow paced melody and the lovely musical
arrangements in the background. The superb use of 'sitar', piano'
lend an air of romance, a number that can be effectively be used in
a candlelight dinner by a couple in love or even in ballroom
dancing. This is true blue Rahman, the Rahman we all love and
revere. And his counterpart, Prasoon Joshi who has always been a
superb support too is in full flow. His poetic prowess is diligently
brought to the fore through this lovely love ballad. 'Kaise mujhe
tum mil gayee, Kismat pe aaye na yakeen' No 'tukbandi' (rhyming
words), here. Of course the two singers Benny Dayal (after a
splendid JAANE TU... and YUVVRAAJ) and Shreya Ghoshal need to be
mentioned, as it is their combined superlative effort that makes
this one an outstanding track, though it may not be universally
appealing . Next up is the hip hop 'Behka'. Rahman follows the path
that so many others have successfully transgressed but he does not
add the usual rap and reggae and synthesized musical addendums, like
is the usual norm. Instead, he goes in for a flowing smooth melody.
Karthik, the singer has been a permanent presence in many a previous
Rahman number and here he is entrusted with this number and he fully
justifies the faith shown in him. His vocals sound melodious, fresh
and youngish and voice modulations are great. He has a superb
control over his vocals and is quite comfortable in high pitches.
The song acquires a slightly soft rock hue in between and the use of
saxophone, trumpet and drums are great. The organ piece of
the 'Guzarish' humming which is interwoven in between is absolutely
mind-blowing. However the 'talking antara' is a bit of a letdown, as
it comes like an anti climax, thankfully it is curtailed and the
smooth melody takes over. The number has been picturised well with
the six different looks of a young and good looking Aamir, though
one wished he had danced more as the rhythm did allow it. After
listening to the whole number one comes to a conclusion that there
is a definite hook of 'Main Aisa Kyun Hoon' (LAKSHYA) but wonder
whether this is intentional or just incidental.
Next up is the new nightingale of India, Shreya Ghoshal, and it
appears that her wish for singing hip hop happening numbers has come
true in the form of 'Latoo'. Shreya is a surprising choice indeed
and she does a very fine job. In fact at times it?s difficult to
even recognize her voice as she shows her versatility and capability
to sing even these types of numbers and carries it well. However
Rahman could have gone in for Sunidhi, who is more adept at
rendering such songs. The Afro-Asian beats gel well with the Western
hip hop ones and this racy, pulsating dance track will look good on
screen especially with the beautiful Jiah or Asin dancing to its
rhythmic beats. Although the song on the whole is not truly
befitting of the great Rahman and Prasoon combo.
Some haunting and mysterious sounding music and superb relaxed piano
beats commence the 'Kaise Mujhe-Instrumental'. The paino beats are
followed by some nice flute pieces of the 'antara' and so the
instrumental does not get monotonous. Shreya Ghoshal's melodious
croonings as well as the soft soothing chorus is delightful and one
does not need words to enjoy this beautiful soothing piece which
does have a calming effect on the listeners. The instrumental ends
with the same mysterious synthesized piece.
When we had seen and heard the promo of 'Guzarish', the first song
from GHAJINI, our expectations had soared sky high. Right from the
romance oozing composition to the still youngish Aamir, romancing
the beautiful south sensation Asin, everything looked just perfect.
Even 'Behka' and its cute naughtiness caught on quite early.
Unfortunately, the follow up numbers, barring to an extent 'Kaise
Mujhey' are a huge letdown. Any of the leading present composers and
GHAJINI audio would have been called good. But since it?s a Rahman-
Prasoon album and for Aamir, we are pained to say that it?s a let
down. And sadly, that is the kind of feedback we are getting from
most of the Rahmaniacs, more so after the magnificent YUVVRAAJ!"
http://www.tafreeh.com/music-reviews.php?id=565883
Wonder who the author is (or if its been lifted from elsewhere)
Divya
