I found Krrish and Fanaa entertaining enough to watch, though I instantly forgot the songs to both films, and haven’t had reason to go back for a second listen. I’ve also been sampling some of the other Hindi film music this summer via Raaga, and with a couple of exceptions the songs all sound like they were produced by robots who hate music. The Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna songs in particular are atrociously bad. (Kabhi Repeat Naa Karna.) 
One big exception from what I’ve heard are the songs to Omkara, the new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello by Vishal Bhardwaj. Bhardwaj directed another rendition of Shakespeare in Maqbool (Macbeth). Maqbool (Irfan Khan, Tabu, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri) was artfully done and well-acted, though I was a little confused about the obsessive focus on religion in the film. In Omkara, Bhardwaj is working as both director and music director, and the soundtrack benefits from the close attention to detail he evidently paid to it. The title track (“Omkara”), with Sukhwinder Singh’s vocals, is wonderful: it has that early A.R. Rahman happiness, the “Chaiya Chaiya” magic: Sukhwinder has a lot of power in his voice, and this tune celebrating the warrior “Omkara” allows it to come through. “Beedi” is also quite catchy — with a Qawwali sound — as is “Naina” (with vocals by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan). I’m a little less enthusiastic about the album’s slow songs, “Jag Ja,” and “O Saathi Re,” though they are still good — folksy and semi-classical rather than simply slow and pseudo-emotional (as in most Bollywood slow songs these days).
In short: sounds like A.R. Rahman, but much better than Rahman has been lately. But don’t just take my word for it: the reviews of Omkara‘s music in Rediff and Yahoo! India have also been raves.
One other exception to the general badness worth mentioning: the song “Ya Ali” from Gangster. It was surprising to hear a perfect dance anthem in the midst of a really quite terrible gangster-themed romantic melodrama, but sometimes you have to take little treasures where you can find them.
The film Omkara looks pretty promising as well: adapting a film about class relations and the undermining of a socially questionable, romantic bond (a transgressive “love match”) seems like a no-brainer for Bollywood. Maybe I’ll report back once I’ve seen it.
Do readers have recommendations for film music from Hindi (or other language) films this summer?
What? You don’t like Where’s The Party Tonight? 🙂
Omkaara, as you said, and Dil Diya Hai. The latter has some catchy numbers for all those Himesh Reshammiya fans.
A little off the topic, but I would like to hear different opinions on A.R. Rahman. Now, I am one of those rare species that does not like A.R., or as I would say in polite company, does not understand A.R. With a few exceptions – yes, Chaiya Chaiya is one of them, the music of Taal and Lagaan are others – I find his penchant for tacking on different genres on the same song a little jarring, not to mention amateurish. It sounds as if he is playing with the song. No, it is not a case of fusion. Indian film music is a result of global musical fusion dating back to the late Forties, and many great oldies we consider so purely Indian are based on Latin music of that era, then in the later decades on Rock n’Roll.
In fact, a typical A.R. composition is far less global. It is the patchwork quilting of the various Indian genres that are peculiar. A typical A.R. composition has the usual “sthayi,” the anchor of the song or the tune the song reassuringly keeps coming back to, but his “antra” is all over the board, and the different twists and turns they take are unnerving to me.
Ultimately, one cannot dissect and prove these things. I don’t enjoy his music, though I am a big fan of many of the current Indian composers. But I am willing to be enlightened on A.R. Rahman by my fellow music lovers. On the subject of music, I just did a web site on Indian Classical Music – totally non-commercial, just a labor of love. Check it out – http://www.classicalmusicofindia.com. We were lucky enough to get a pretty descriptive URL.
Oh no, more Himesh Reshammiya! He’s everywhere. Does he even sleep?
But on your recommendation I’ll go check out Dil Diya Hai…
good luck, ‘Deep… I’m clinging to “Dil Na Liya” from Krrish like it’s my preeeeciousssssssss, in the face of crappy soundtracks galore, as I wait for Dhoom2 or MunnaBhai music to release. I hope KANK doesn’t suck, but a snore of a soundtrack doesn’t do much to get my hopes up…
Floridian, the A.R. Rahman question is not off-topic at all.
As an ex-Bhangra DJ with little knowledge of Indian classical music, I have a slightly different perspective. In my experience, Rahman falls a little short in that his dance songs just don’t quite cut it: with the exception of “Chaiya Chaiya,” people don’t like to dance to them. Both “Rang de Basanti” and “Yuva” had hard-hitting dance songs that were flops the times I tried to play them in dance/party settings. (“Bluffmaster,” “Dhoom,” and “Dus” songs work much better, as do the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy anthems.)
But as you say, he did give us “Lagaan,” “Dil Se” and “Taal” (though I only like a couple of the songs on “Taal”). That’s something!
“Om” is the original sound of the Universe which is supposed to be behind the origin of all things. Little wonder than that Omkara would have good music.
Yeah, and most of the time, he is just OK. But recently, I can’t stop humming many of his songs (Jhoom Jhoom from Tom, Dick and Harry, Dil Nashin Dil Nashin from Aashiq Banaya Aapne, Aashiqui Mein Teri from 36 China Town).
KANK, Fanaa music was mindblowing this year. Almost all the songs of both these movies were real good. Looking forward to munna bhai lage raho and dhoom-2 as well
Thanks for the recommendations, Amardeep.
This isn’t strictly Bollywood, but I can hardly wait to hear Nitin Sawhney’s soundtrack for Mira Nair’s “The Namesake.” It should be out this Fall.
As for Rahman, I do like him when he’s good, but I actually think Ismail Darbar’s better. Of course, the shine’s taken off a bit by the fact that Darbar’s said, in an interview no less, “I think my work is better than Rahman’s.” Uh, not a classy move.
In spite of all the duds (inevitable given the volume), it seems like something of a golden age for Indian film music.
furr. real. I can’t get that one off the iPod’s top recently played list 🙂 Jhalak Dikhlaja, too.
As far as Indian music is concerned, I’ve only really listened to carnatic music and never really got into the Bollywood thing. I just started playing with an Indian wedding band that primarily plays Bollywood music. I have to say it’s not very satisfying. There is very little rhythmic or harmonic variation between songs and the melodies all start to sound the same after a while. I guess that’s a desirable thing if you’re dancing, but it gets kind of boring if you are a real person trying to breath life into songs that were written on a computer. I’d like indian composers to widen their horizons a bit. I know Rahman studied classical composition, but I think latin music has shown the world that it’s possible to make music that is danceable while holding the interest of the musicians playing it. I wish composers of indian popular music would start thinking the same way.
all you whiney purists with your “classical” styles think you’re so much better than contemporary artists. Bollywood music doesn’t satisfy you because you have no groove. Find the 2 and the 4 and get back to me. Maybe SpoorLam would like to start a band with you?
oh this thread should have happened two days ago! i was in the indian video stores on gerrard street in toronto yesterday trying to decide on which DVD’s were worth buying… i left so confused and empty-handed! 🙁 at least now i will know more before my next trip…
I don’t like most Bollywood music for the same reason I don’t like the Pussy Cat Dolls or Briney Spears. It’s trite and lacks soul. I’ve got no problem with playing music that people can dance to. I do have a problem with playing music that strives for the lowest common denominator. And H1Biyatch, I found 2 and 4 a long time ago. I’ve gotten to know them really well and invite them to my house on a regular basis. But, also recognize that you can dance to music that doesn’t just rely on 2 and 4 on the snare and four-on-the-floor with the bass drum.
Omkara’s music has earthy feel to it but i prefer Vishal’s debut MAACHIS. Fanaa as a movie was really bad but the music did well and i loved the song “tere haath mein”. This year so far the only album that stands out for me is Rang De basanti. I think AR Rehman is a genius and you have to watch that movie and see the song placements to really understand and get the right impact of his tunes.
One of Krrish’s song “aao sunao pyar ki..” remind of this song from Koyla (same production house), with SRK “hosh na khode kahin josh mein dekhne waala..” or something like that
All of Karan Johar’s movie follow the same route one big love ballad, one ‘house-party’ number, one disco track and ofcourse the title track.
Reshammiya is everywhere and some of his tracks are actually good. I just wish he would use other singers (I can only take so much of his nasal-fusion). Ahista-Ahista has some good ones
Can anyone post their top tracks??? DesiDancer, i like the songs you listed, and am looking for more to play with. Also does anyone know of remixes which are good, or not blatantly taking a hip hop beat which is overlayed and beat matched… tha bhangra versions seem better….any insights…anyone???
Recommendations: 36 China town Ahista Ahista The Killer Golmaal (may be just a couple of songs) PhirHerapheri, Zohrajabeen and yaad sataye teri Pyaar kar ke from Love ke side-effects
Jeet, thanks bro, however which songs, they can’t all be good, i was in india in the beginning of july and a decent number of songs on channel v and mtv india were horrible, specifically some of the songs from “the killer” with the girl gyrating all over the place near the water…
Amardeep: The greatest injustice that you can give Vishal Bharadwaj is to invoke AR Rahman’s name to describe him. They are giants in their own right. Vishal is an incomparable and yet unassuming talent, a rarity among the pompous asses that Bollywood has in droves.
But it is perhaps his penchant of staying off the limelight that has left a lot of people with no idea about what he has done in the 10 odd years as a composer. If you haven’t so far, please do check out Machchis, Satya, Maqbool and hell, even Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega. His strong points, IMHO, are the light feel good “come on laugh with me” numbers and the slow lilting melodies. And of late, I think his work is a lot better because with him directing the movies as well, the directorÂ’s vision is shared with the composer without in loss or compromise due to translation!
And since this discussion has veered Rahman’s way at some point, I have to say it is also sad that some of his work never have gotten their due since they were in Tamil (Check out the song called “Hello Mister” here. But having said that, I have to agree with your take that Rahman does not hit the mark with dance numbers. Then, desi “dance numbers” seem to be mostly Bhangra oriented and anything else seems to be frowned upon. Both Vishal Bharadwaj and Rahman haven’t done many of those.
Coming from south of the Vindhyas, I feel that south Indian numbers are ignored solely because of the language barrier. I have to blame DJs too sometimes, because even with a sizable non Punjabi / non native Hindi speaking populace on the floor, I have had DJs “lose” CDs and miraculously find them after the whole session is complete.
In my opinion, cinema as a visual medium is generally not going to throw up too many dance numbers that we can move to, on the floor. The numbers are always going to concentrate on appealing to our visual senses. Of course, as with any generalization, there are going to be exceptions.
Jeet: DonÂ’t you think Himesh ReshmaiyyaÂ’s songs come straight out of a template, at least the ones where you see him gyrate to his own nasal twang?
A.R. Rehman’s stuff takes a few listens I think. The songs sound very disjointed at first, but it gets better. I didn’t like Rang De Basanti or Lagaan the first time I heard them but they kinda grow on you, I love them now. Maybe I’m strange but I got a little tired of chaiyya chaiyya after the first (hundred) listens. It was kinda nice to hear the remix in Inside Man though.
I thought Gangster was also a pretty good soundtrack; tu hi meri shab hai and ya ali were very repeatable.
Thanks for this review – havent’ had time to check out Omkara yet, but now i WILL.
My list of “music worth listening to this year” starts out with the Gangster soundtrack. Sure, almost every song is ‘inspired’ from somewhere else, as Pritam is wont to do, but it doesn’t change the fact that the songs are excellent. They’re not covers, they are something else different entirely. And all the singers are at the top of their game. We can discuss the ethical implications of the massive amounts of uncleared inspirations on this album later. What has happened here, is amazing. I listened to this album nonstop from February to May.
Other than that, I haven’t found a whole album really worth listening to, although I must admit I haven’t been listening to new music that much. I did enjoy a few songs off Rang De Basanti, but as a whole I couldn’t get into it. In fact, I couldn’t listen to ANY song off that album until I saw the film and put them in context. I’m happy to hear that AR Rahman has gotten his groove back. I’m still not ready to forgive him for hair-band-worthy “Paathshala”
Fanaa had some good songs. The slow songs don’t really stick with me, but Chand Sifarish is one of my favorite tracks of the year, and the dancey “Fanaa For You,” a cross between a remix of CS and a medley of a few of the other songs, isn’t bad on the dance floor.
Another album worth noting is Pyar ke side effects. Unlike Bluffmaster, the hindi-hip hop fusion doesn’t feel as forced. Rap melds nicely with bhangra in “Pyar karke,” and a trance intro leads you into the industrial-techno-qawwali “Dil tod ke na ja” …. who thinks this stuff up? “Baby doll/Allah bachaye” is a guilty pleasure of mine, and I prefer the fast remix to either of the slower versions – and yes, there’s three versions on the CD. Pritam strikes again, with “Is This Love,” a song inspired (and credited!!!) from a Julio Iglesias song, which is in turn a Spanish-language remake of Sinatra’s “My Way.” Unfortunately, it all gets lost in the English-Spanish-Hindi-English translation and the song really doesn’t work at all.
Thank you so much for this review ! I will be checking this out as soon as I have a free second… but right now listening to old songs from the 50s to 70s… my next gig is for a senior citizens party 😀
isnt that a scene in every hindi movie nowadays? neway If you are looking for dance numbers
Pyar karke and Dil Tod Ke Na Ja’ from Pyaar ke side effects Yaad Sataye Teri and Ae Meri Zohrajabeen from Phir Hera Pheri Fanaa for you remix
Gangster has some nice songs with Ya ali and Lamha Lamha
Dj sanj Laila Laila Shamur Let the music play
i’ll give some more later Enjoy!
I loved all the songs in RDB
aNTi,
Himesh has a audience he is catering to and selling well. He has had a record of 31 singles in the last three or four months. I personally cant stand him and his nasal twang but you gotta give him credit for churning out hits like these. His latest Ahista-Ahista has this sufi feel to it which i crave for since M.M Kreem is nowhere to be found.
Why isnt he lettin others sing for him? someone like Sonu Nigam or Shaan would do justice to his tunes
“since M.M Kreem is nowhere to be found”
I hardly ever listen to albums in the order they come out so I’m not sure, but isn’t Rog newish? I like the maine dil se kaha song. And Paheli was a good soundtrack too.
You seem to be putting yourself through considerable pain in an attempt to find enjoyable & quality S.Asian music (ie. having to troll Bollywood films). I suggest trying to find other means!
Rog is from 2004, Paheli is from summer of 2005 His songs in Jism were the best
I don’t know why people forget the soundtrack for Yahaan…
The movie came out late last year/early this year, and has some amazingly well composed tracks. Even the remix version of one song is one of the smoothest remix I’ve heard attached on an official film album.
Muqesh, Not sure if you’re talking to me, but let me just say: we harp on it because we love it. I’ve also got Caetano Veloso and Gnarls Barkley in my CD player right now.
Andrea, On Gangster, I must confess I couldn’t place the origins for the songs. Admittedly, I only saw the movie on VHS once and I haven’t bought the soundtrack or anything, but the songs sounded more or less “original.” Whenever you get a chance, it would be interesting to know where Pritam is lifting things from.
But thanks for the recommendation on “Pyar ka Side Effects.” I’ve been listening to it and “Fight Club” (also Pritam) this afternoon on Raaga, and enjoying it. Though I do think that Bluffmaster did the hip hop/dancehall reggae thing pretty well too (esp. Sabse Bada Rupaiyya).
Anti, I wouldn’t compare Bhardwaj to AR Rahman overall. They have had very different careers (I know the songs to Maachis and Satya quite well actually), but I do think “Omkara” has Rahmanish overtones, including the production style, the emphasis on folk melodies, and the use of the choral vocal effects. The “Omkara” track itself also sounds Rahmanish because of the interesting way Sukhwinder is using his voice and breath (but that may just be Sukhwinder’s technique, not Rahman’s…).
All in all, Omkara is a little more heavy on the Qawwali sound than most Rahman (in that sense it has some overlap with the also excellent songs to Maqbool).
Jeet: I usually try not to be judgemental, but I can’t help feeling for that audience that Himesh has. The music is definitely mindnumbing! 😀
And oh btw, M.M. Kreem is not really prolific in Bollywood. In fact me thinks he is not even half as prolific as he is in Telugu. But he is known by other names in Tamil (Maragadhamani) and Telugu (Keeravani). So if you have three different names that you go by and if most people dont know that part, the work attributed to you is reduced by that factor too.
(P.S: This is the same guy who posted as aNTi earlier.)
After watching Himesh every Monday night on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa for six months, I got to like the man. His humility and gentlemanliness on a show that ignited many arguments among the judges were quite endearing. I even liked his first few sufiana songs sung with that fabricated twang which cannot possibly be his natural voice. But soon enough he got old. He is a one-tune pony. He should go back to his day job as a music director.
What if you don’t watch the movie for the songs? I usually end up fast forwarding through them… Sometimes this means I hear a song and think – I should get THAT movie – but actually I had already seen it. However, usually that does not happen.
That being said, I probably only see about a dozen or less Hindi films a year. That is my attempt at QC. Any of the movies mentioned so far worth seeing from my “not interested in the songs” perspective?
Amardeep, check out the soundtrack for Banaras. Terrible movie, but it has some good songs by none other than Himesh bhai. As far as A R Rahman goes, I have been enjoying his music these days. Maybe the music is nothing compared to Dil Se soundtrack, but he has been trying different stuff lately. Earlier, most of his music (although good) sounded similar (Roja, Bombay, Rangeela etc). But now, with Saathiya, Yuva, RDB etc there is a little more variety. And I thought the Yuva songs were good with the techno-indian bollywoodish music.
Ek Aurat, it depends on what you like. If you’re looking for “serious” cinema, “Omkara” (not yet released) will probably be better than most of what we’ve seen from Bollywood this year. But if you’re looking more for entertainment, “Krrish” seems to do the job for people who like bollywood.
If you’ve been sampling hindi music, then you have to listen to Kailasha from Kailash Kher, probably the best hindi ALBUM to come out in a VERY long time. Very good music and brilliant singing by Kailash.
Amardeep —
Funny, haven’t seen Krrish but had the opposite reaction to Fanaa — thought the film was unbelievably bad (almost bad enough to be an entertaining spectacle), but enjoyed the music. Especially “Fanaa for You” — though perhaps that’s because the film itself kept programming and reprogramming that song into my head over and over and over…. I definitely enjoyed Rang De Basanti more than anything else this year — though I agree that those songs would flop in dance-y settings.
Excellent. 🙂 Could there by a more hyped film this year?
Can’t let that one just slip by. 😉 Enquiring minds want to know more — what was your DJ name???
AK, I didn’t really have one. (Well, I had one early on, but it’s too embarrassing to admit to now!)
Anyway, here are some DJ notes after a nightclub event in New Haven; and here are some more. And oh, one more, from a wedding.
You have to see this guy in concert – he is amazing!!! I have not had that much fun since I saw Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. We saw him last year. The main act, Jatin-Lalit, had nothing on this guy.
Thanks for the movie tips Amardeep. I will check them out. I have Being Cyrus at home now so that is first on the list…
Amardeep: I dig that recommendation to Ek Aurat! I was wondering how to put it gently, but that last line did the trick!
To clarify: gently = not offend the hardcore Bollywood fans among the faithful mutineers!
anantha,
Himesh is mindnumbing and now he is doing concerts all over US. I cant even begin to feel the pain of his audience, good luck to them.
Maqbool was brilliant and the character I am looking forward to in Omkara is “Langda Tyagi” played by Saif, he looks so different.
Naseeruddin Shah has directed his first movie “Yun Hota to kya hota” and it looks promising
is on repeat right now..thanks Jaspreet
hmm where do i start? DON, Umrao Jaan, Dhoom 2. They are all so hyped and they are either copies (fast and furious) or remakes. I mean SRK doing a Amitabh, doesnt seem exciting however with Farhan as a director may be worth a dekho.
and Abhishek and Aish in Umrao Jaan with JP directing….sheesh
Rahman’s “Alay Payuthey” (the Tamil version starring Madhavan and Shalini, not the Hindi remake as “Saathiya” with Rani and Vivek Oberoi) is exquiste. A Tamil jazz album, beautifully textured. Rahman’s brilliance is as an arranger.
D. Tank, I agree, Yahaan had some memorable songs. I still get a thrill when they turn up on my iPod unexpectedly.
Amardeep, I really like O Sikander from Corporate, the rest of the soundtrack, not so much.
Papaji, I agree with you. Himesh did a wonderful job in Banaras. But this sufiana Rock gig is probably more profitable for him.
To discuss Rahman without referring to his Tamil compositions is sacrilege. Any true Rahman fan would agree that his works in Hindi are customized for Bollywood. Even the dubbed albums lose flavor in the hands of imbeciles like Mehboob. Like Preston says, it’s his brilliance as an arranger that stands out in his compositions, something better exemplified by his Tamil compositions.
Manoj “To discuss Rahman without referring to his Tamil compositions is sacrilege. Any true Rahman fan would agree that his works in Hindi are customized for Bollywood.”
You refer to Bollywood as if it were a handicap of sorts for the composer. It is Bollywood that has been the mainstream medium and the gold standard for Hindi music since the 1950’s. Now with “albums” becoming an alternative outlet for Indian music, it is somewhat possible to listen to major composers off-Bollywood, but Indian music is still predominantly “filmi” music. Perhaps Rahman’s Tamil compositions are better. I would like to find some, but I have the typical North Indian problem of ignoring a language I don’t understand and just focusing on the music. I will give Rahman’s Tamil stuff a try.
ARR’s tamil stuff is quite good. I don’t speak Tamil…but I enjoyed most of the tracks. Some of his hindi compositions (esp Saathiya and Roja) sound much better in Tamil.
This is not Bollywood related but you guy’s HAVE to check out the following link and be treated to the sight of an ABD Gujarati singing hard-core PUNJABI songs with remarkable fluency and accuracy. Amardeep you’ll get a kick out of this. Sorry for the hijack.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YmnOYvSuN1A&search=boliyan
The following website has an exhaustive discussion/listing of insipirations in Indian Film Songs :
http://www.itwofs.com/
Floridian “In fact, a typical A.R. composition is far less global. It is the patchwork quilting of the various Indian genres that are peculiar. A typical A.R. composition has the usual “sthayi,” the anchor of the song or the tune the song reassuringly keeps coming back to, but his “antra” is all over the board, and the different twists and turns they take are unnerving to me.”
As someone who grew up listening to Rahman, I’d have to say his prime was the early-mid ninties Tamil film songs he composed. ‘Kadhalan’, ‘Gentleman’, ‘Roja’, ‘Thiruda Thiruda’, etc.
i’m surprised nobody’s brought this up yet – but great music is defined by great lyricists. i’m not a 100% sure on this but i believe gulzar penned lyrics to maachis, dil se and omkaar. a lyricist i first heard about through rang de basanti is prasoon joshi. later i was quite delighted to see his name in the credits to maati (view video at this link )