Aaoge Jab Tum O Saajana: Jab We Met

Amidst the roaring success of the foot-tapping Mauja Hi Mauja and the melodious Tum Se Hi, another gem from the movie Jab We Met has gone unnoticed.

Aaoge Jab Tum O Sajana is melodious and has a classical touch to it. Sung beautifully by Ustad Rashid Khan, this song is four and a half minutes of sheer pleasure.

Aaoge Jab Tum O Saajana,
Angana phool khilenge
Barasega saawan, barasega saawan, jhoom jhoomake
Do dil aise milenge

This song is composed by the guest composer, Sandesh Shandilya, who has given us songs like Suraj Hua Maddham from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam, Bhaage Re Man from Chameli, Laree Chootee from Ek Chalis Ki Last Local.

The song is slow and melodious. Irhsad Kamil's words are simple and sweet. The best thing about the song is certainly singing. Ustad's voice has a folky touch and works well with the song. The song opens with his powerful alaap. Ustad sings with ease. The way he ends the 'phool khilenge' and 'do dil aise milenge' is as if he is lazy to complete the lines, and that adds a special effect to the song. His expressions are so genuine, one can feel the longing for the beloved. The song ends with a flute piece and Ustad's sargam. A perfect end to a great song.

Song: Aaoge Jab Tum O Saajana
Movie: Jab We Met
Composer: Sandesh Shandilya
Singer: Ustad Rashid Khan
Lyrics: Irhsad Kamil

You can listen to this song on Dhingana.

Music Review: Khoya Khoya Chand

Album: Khoya Khoya Chand
Music Composer: Shantanu Moitra
Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire
Album Rating

Khoya Khoya Chand reminds one of the 70's Hindi film music, when melody was of the essence. With some new singers and some established ones, this album is a treat to the ears. The music composer being the same, this album has resemblance to Parineeta.

Chale Aao Saiyan
Singer: Shreya Goshal

A classical based song, beautifully sung by Shreya Goshal. The presense of sarod, ghungroo, tabla make it a thumree. A beautiful number which changes paces in between. Shreya sounds different - her voice is more shrill than nasal. It reminded me of Chalte Chalte from Pakeezah.

Khushboo Sa
Singer: Hamsika Iyer

A new singer on the block who has worked wonders in this song. This has a vague resemblance to 'Kaise Paheli' from Parineeta. The mellow tune, the piano and the singer's sensual's voice make this song worth listening to.

O Re Paakhi
Singers: Sonu Nigam

I can't help it, this song reminds me Parineeta's Soona man ka aangan. Sonu Nigam is brilliant as ever. The opening is beautiful - only piano is playing intermittently in the background and Sonu's voice is even more enjoyable. Mid-way, the background music stops and Sonu is just singing. A song which you should enjoy with closed eyes and with lights off.

Sakhi Piya
Singers: Shreya Goshal, Pranav Biswas

A beautiful, melodious number. Pranav Biswas has a base voice which sounds great with Shreya's melodious voice. Background music is minimal with intermittent piano and santoor (is it santoor?) and violin. A slow, relaxed song which is thoroughly enjoyable.

Thirak Thirak
Singers: Shreya Goshal, Sonu Nigam

Relatively fast paced, this song is full of masti. Just like in Piya bole from Parineeta, Sonu outshines Shreya. His voice is so expressive, Shreya sounds weaker. This song borrows a stanza from the mukhda of the next song, but you don't realize it until you listen to the next song.

Khoya Khoya Chand
Singer: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Swanand Kirkire

The best song of the album. Khan saab is wonderful and his voice is charming. Swanand adds some reciting in between. A very passionate and energetic song.

Yeh Nigahen
Singer: Antara Choudhary and Sonu Nigam

This song sounds so much like a 70's Rafi song. Sonu even tries to bring in the harkatein, which were Rafi's trademarks. Antara is good too, but she is pitted against Sonu and she will sound weaker.

A very beautiful album, with melody at its core. An album definitely worth listening to.

Music Review: Saawariya

Album: Saawariya
Music Director: Monty Sharma
Lyrics: Sameer
Album Rating:

With musical hits like Khamoshi and Devdas behind him, Sanjay Leela Bhansali can be trusted to give us a movie with good music. He doesn't disappoint us with his new movie, Saawariya. The much hyped launch pad of kids of industry's two big names, Rishi Kapoor and Anil Kapoor, has a good collection of songs. Romance, love, passion is oozing out of the songs. With songs being so hypnotic, I am waiting to see how they are taken to a new level by Bhansali's cinematic skills. I am sure it will be a feast for the eyes and ears.

Instead of giving us soft, monotonous songs, the relatively new director, Monty Sharma gives us songs with varying rhythms and notes. He has also given us two new noticeable voices, Shail Hada and Parthiv Gohil. Hada's Saawariya and Gohil's Yun Shabnami prove the singers' skills. In all, an album that deserves to be in your kitty.

Saawariya
Singer: Shail Hada

This song is doing the rounds on TV and is already a hit. We have a new singer, Shail Hada, who has an unusual voice. The song is a romantic, passionate number. Shail pumps energy and passion into the song. He carries off some yodeling too. An apt title song for the movie. Lyrics are nothing exceptional, but the simple tune of the song takes your heart away.

Jab Se Tere Naina
Singer: Shaan

Another romantic song, sung by Shaan. It wavers between mellifluous notes and passionate beats. Shaan modulates his voice well - going soft at times and oozing energy where required. Lyricist has not done anything extra-ordinary. One can find quite a few cliché phrases. A nice song to listen to, especially if you are in love. You would want to switch off the lights, sit back, close your eyes and relish the song.

Mash-Allah
Singer: Kunal Ganjawala
Lyrics: Nusrat Badr

Kunal is back with his enchanting voice. When you listen to this song, you go into a trance. The soft background music, Kunal's hypnotizing voice, the magical lyrics - the song is so romantic, you will fall in love, if you haven't already. No other singer could have carried it off so well as Kunal. Not even Sonu Nigam. This is an out and out Kunal Ganjawala song.

Thode Badmash
Singer: Shreya Goshal

It's the girl's turn to express her love through this song. Shreya Goshal tries hard to bundle enough naughtiness and love in this song, but she fails at certain points. When the song reaches high notes, her voice sounds strained. Lyrics are very ordinary.

Yoon Shabnami
Singer: Parthiv Gohil
Lyrics: Sandeep Nath

Yet another romantic number. What's with Bollywood and moon? From ages, the girl's beauty is being compared to the moon and the tradition continues in this song. Parthiv Gohil is a brilliant singer - his voice is literally dancing when he modulates.

Daras bina nahin chain
Singer: Richa Sharma, Shail Hada & Parthiv Gohil

The song starts with Richa Sharm'a alaap. Has she become famous as an alaap provider rather than as a singer? The music director's attempt at including a classical based song in the album. With Richa's commanding voice, the chorus, the male voice (Is it Hada and Gohil or both?), this song is very powerful. There is a haunting tune in the background. I couldn't identify the instrument used. Does anyone have an idea what instrument that is? It's a beautiful number which will make you get up and dance. It reminds me of the dance numbers in Devdas.

Sawar Gayi
Singer: Shreya Goshal

A Shreya solo. Another classical based song. A soft, slow number. Shreya sings this really well. Don't pay attention to the wordings, because they are nothing new.

Jaan-e-jaan
Singers: Kunal Ganjawala and Shreya Goshal

Probably the weakest song in the album. A judaai number, sung by Kunal and Shreya. Kunal sings well, but this is not his forte. Lyrics are very very ordinary. This song reminds me of the old song 'Tum mere ho, mere hi mere ho'.

Pari
Singer: Kunal Ganjawala

The hero is fantasizing about his loved one. He compares her to an angel. Lyrics become a little interesting here. 'Uski khamosh aahat ko sunta hoon mein'. Nothing new, but still makes your ears stand. This is a Kunal song and he makes complete justice. It doesn't have a catchy tune and it is difficult to sing. I don't see this song becoming a hit with the public.

Chabeela
Singer: Alka Yagnik

A change from the soft, slow songs. This is a fast, dance number sung by Alka Yagnik. Alka tries hard at modulating her voice, but sounds strained. Has she already lost the strength in her voice? It has a catchy tune, this is going to be a hit with the dance troupes.

Saawariya (Reprise)
Singer: Shail Hada

Shail is back with the title song and his magic. A perfect end to this great album.

A tribute to Rafi

An article on Rafi's death anniversary.

Fell in the well... again

After burying my Shuffle with tears in my eyes, I dared to buy another Apple product. Even after burning my fingers, I still went ahead and bought an Apple iPod. It's black, it has 80GB of memory and it can play videos! You guys think I should be stupid to buy this! Yeah, I think so too, but hey I can't act intellectual all the time. A little stupidity won't hurt.

The mouse wheel is as good as it was claimed to be. Just slide your finger over the glossy surface and iPod is at your service. It’s heavier than I thought. It’s black skin shines and it’s steel body is cold to the touch. It can play movies, it can store photographs… more than what I asked for. I was happy with just the music part.

I can access songs based on playlists, album, composer etc. Shuffle option is of course there. It comes pre-loaded with a few games. One of them is this cool game where a random song is picked and a part of it (not necessarily from the start) is played. You need to guess the song from the four options given. Probably boring for some, but for me, it sure is engaging. I could play this for ever.

What I really hate about this product is that it doesn’t have a stop button. Nope, I can’t stop playing a song. I can pause or start some other song, but I can’t stop. It’s official, it’s there on the site: iPod doesn’t have a stop button. I guess Apple wants to keep the music flowing. Don’t stop… let the music play.

There are two ways to pause the song. Hit the pause button or just the plug out the earphones. Neat design or what?

It has gapless playback feature, which means the iPod will play music back to back with no gap in between. When switching from one song to the other, you will have absolutely no lapse. This does support the previous ‘Let the music flow’ philosphy, doesn’t it?

All in all, my satisfaction meter shows thumbs up for this new addition in my kitty. Bring on the music.

Disclaimer: This is not intended to be a review of iPod. This is just me drooling over my new found joy (or toy?).