Posts Tagged ‘Meenal Jain’

Manmarziyaan Music review

Posted: August 30, 2018 by moifightclub in cinema, Music review
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Anurag Kashyap is back, this time with a love story, teaming up with Aanand L Rai as producer. Manmarziyaan is going to premiere at the TIFF 18. While we keep wondering about the actual release date (21, 14, or 7th September?), why don’t you read the review from Rohwit below, while listening to the official playlist?
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Mast ali has a voice which sounds aptly familiar yet fresh, filmi punjabbbi songs wise. In Fyar he has been credited along with Vicky Kaushal and Sikandar Kahlon. I love the way song starts and credit to Amit Trivedi for smartly manipulating the pace of the song and even though the difference between ‘Pya’ and ‘Fya’ is not super easy to understand when you hear it, the song is just spot on. I didn’t care much about the rap part but it didn’t disturb my Foncentration.

Daryaa has ‘udaan types (Yes i am looking at you ‘hooo oo oo oo’) meeting Punjabi love’ sound which works like a charm. I have always been at pains to see Shahid Mallya not getting the kind of uptake that he deserves. He sounds madly in love and it sets the emotion of the song perfectly. Ammy Virk sounds powerful yet quite hurt and because of him, the song soars, pity his name doesn’t appear in the youtube song title credits till the time this was written. What a delight it is to hear Amit’s ‘hoo ooo oo’ template complimenting Virk’s passionate singing and spilling emotions like two glasses brimming with wine falling to the ground. There is also an unplugged version of this song sung by Deveshi Sahgal. It has a headstrong sound which I absolutely loved along with the super Guitar play of the always dependable Sanjoy Das. Deveshi’s singing is fearless and it would be silly to compare her version with the other version because, well the other version is not unplugged to begin with. In fact, with the ‘Udaan type hoo ooo oo’ missing from the song, this version sounds rather fresh! Super like!

Jazim Sharma and Harshdeep Kaur are heard in Grey wala shade, a song that revels in mischief. The tune is intimate and lyrics are delightfully naughty. Jazim‘s voice has a soothing effect and it is a pleasant change to hear Harshdeep in a simple song. Jazim and Harshdeep Kaur team up again in an Esraj rich Choch Ladhiyaan. I love what Amit has done with the tune of this song and to me, this could easily be the most layered composition of the album. The near classical arrangement is more essential than decorative. Being someone who understands ghazal gayaki closely, Jazim uses all the thehraav in his rendition and is a delight to the senses. Harshdeep Kaur is again in top form and sounds even more playful due to absolute crazy lyrics by the magician Shellee, Bande andar, paigambar…naache!

Dhayaanchand shines because of its lovely tune structure. Vijay Yamla, Nikhita Gandhi, Amit Trivedi & Suhas Sawant are pretty good in the song yet my favorite parts are those with Amit‘s voice. On a related dhinchak note – Tumbi, Tumba, Been, Dhadd & Bugdu by Vijay Yamla and Dhol by Kukki Jogi are composition’s heart and soul. A song that is definitely going in my dinchak 2018 playlist.

Omkar Dhumal has made several appearances in good and not so good songs this year so far. Here, his Shehnai is used brilliantly by Amit Trivedi. I was almost not looking forward to the song because of Jyoti Nooran’s name. Of late, her songs are one note, one character, unwelcoming and filled with unnecessary ‘See I can do so many alaaps’. I can confirm that she is super steady in this song. Along with Romy, she holds your attention in the serious Hallaa. Don’t miss the faint Shehnai and those lovely backup vocalists especially towards the end of the song…a brilliant touch by Amit Trivedi.

Shahid Mallya & Jonita Gandhi sing Sachchi Mohabbat very well, a song that bitterly regrets love that ‘could have been’, a love where they could have celebrated ‘Them being them?’. The wordplay in this song is deceptively simple and credit to Amit Trivedi for keeping the tune light in spite of two geniuses at play here. I am of course referring to Arshad Khan (On Israj) and Omkar Dhumal (On Shehnai).

Jaisi teri Marzee is a little ‘Tujhe yaad na meri aayi‘ in its character and it is not a bad thing. I liked the fact that rather than presenting a track as ‘title song’, they have used the said phrase to name it. Did I like the song? Yes. Would i listen to it again? No. Harshdip Kaur is pitch perfect and Bhanu Pratap Singh sounds fresh and promising. Still, I found this to be a ‘credit rolling’ song and not very ‘playlist durable’

Bijlee giregi has Devenderpal Singh, Babu Haabi, Sikander Kahlon & Vaishali Sardana in top form. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I absolutely love Shellee and what he has done here. There is not a comma (let alone a word) that feels force inserted. Bhasudi, durachari, cutie pie nahi kutti pie hai, Vayusena ka vimaan, missile waali…I can go on and on. The tune structure flirts with my other favorite song from the year – Teri pappi le lu from ‘Veere di wedding’. That said, I am already conflicted whether this song should go in the dinchak 2018 playlist from this album instead of Dhayanchand?* Anyway, I love the song and extra points for NOT using Badshaah for the rap portion in this (or any song for that matter). Fun fact – If you have a heart rate monitor, you will see your heartbeats take off like a rocket in this song. Trust me, I checked.

Meenal Jain, Yashita Sharma, Yashika Sikka, Rani Kaur, Anita Gandharva, Meghna Mishra & Vaishnavi Mishra are heard in Kundali. Predictably, the song is high tempo with a good thump. Yet again, Shellee’s lyrics shine (Sunnn pyari simran, jaa ji le apna jeevan!). I didn’t dislike the song but I would not go looking for this one in the playlist.

I don’t want to jinx it but this year has been relatively better than last couple of years in terms of film music. Still, I was yet to come across a devilishly delicious album. Last week I came across one that was truly 5 star stuff yet it didn’t ‘bite’ enough. May be because that is a pretty straight forward love story and because Mannmarziyaan is ‘complicated’ and handled by Anurag Kahsyap, the search ended with Manmarziyaan. I am confident that the album will outlast the film for years to come.

Of course it is Anurag Kashyap‘s collaboration with Amit Trivedi. Of course they have delivered, big time. Still, I think the most critical factor of this blockbuster album is Shellee. His lyrics truly walk in beauty. Not once do you feel the lyrics are dumbed down so that junta doesn’t dismiss the album as being ‘too punjabi’. I just hope the film is worthy of the lyrics and music it has got. Actually, I don’t care about the film at all. I am just happy Anurag and Amit have got back to their winning ways and given us an album that we can listen to in our little cocoons and forget the world.

How’s the album?

Filmi Hindustaan jaise…Chhaye Gurdass maan jaise

– Rohwit

*Of course I will use Bijlee Giregi in the playlist. Hashtag Girl power.

ARRaanjhanaa hua main tera…

Posted: June 3, 2013 by moifightclub in bollywood, cinema, music, Music review, News
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raanjhanaa_rahman360_Arrahman

After a long wait, it’s finally out – the music of Raanjhanaa. But seems the wait was worth it. Do check out the music of Raanjhanaa. Rahman is back and how. Over to @Rohwit for its music review.

  • Raanjhanaa hua – The ever so melodious (yet not as popular as I would like him to be) Jaswinder Singh starts the song and vanishes too quickly. Anyway, the song belongs to ‘at times out of sync Shiraz Uppal’ and that’s what you will love the song for. It just doesn’t try to ‘fit in with calculated singing’. The percussion arrangement – top class, the use of Sitar – exemplary. In fact, when the song ends, the sitar doesn’t leave your mind. Go ahead, try it! A racy tune marked with excellent violins (which literally take the song to it’s peak every time they appear), the song is top class! Watch out for the faint guitar riffs throughout!

  • Banarasiya – Like the name indicates, a song that ought to remind us of Benaras. Starts quite rightly with Sarangi and flute (aided with the mandatory manjiras). Tune wise crisp, singing wise excellent, Shreya Ghoshal’s vocals! Sitar, Tabla and flute do their bit to raise the level of the song. The playful backup vocals by the hugely talented Meenal Jain and Anwesha add the right amount of playfulness and mischief to the song and you can picture the dancers in a group, exchanging glances and moving the neck and eyes in sync.The atmosphere is very ‘evening’ and the setting reminds us of the ‘Kotha’ culture.

  • Piya Milengey – The song that begins with KMMC sufi ensemble going at it along with Sukhwinder is endowed with definitive bass and faint piano notes towards the beginning part of the song. The ensemble does an excellent job without getting loud at all. A song that is likely to appear in the background as the film paces up. Thankfully a bollywood – sufi offering that leaves an impact and not screaming singers in the mind as it ends.

  • Aye Sakhi – A song that has the most delightful and talented singers around. Madhushree, Chinmayi, Vaishali and Aanchal sethi come up with a song that’s treated with sheer brilliance and arranged classically (and gives out a feel that the singers are practising kathak). In fact, the music and the feel around the ‘aye sakhi uljhan’ reminded us of ‘Jao rey jogi tum jao rey’ (from Amrapali). The ‘Tyun tyun tyun’ bit in between reminded us of the Tain tain tain song from Gangs Of Wasseypur. Still so enjoyable! The song has an element of ‘Kya dekh rahey ho tum’ from Taal in terms of feel but is vastly different tune wise. Thumbs up!

  • Nazar Laaye – With lazy guitars, simple beats and Rashid Ali who is almost sleep-singing along with Neeti Mohan, the first impression of the song is ‘JTYJN-hangover!’ A typical song that gets skipped most of the times but stays in the playlist nevertheless.

  • Tu Mun Shudi – A lot has been written and propagated about Hazrat Amir Khusro’s Persian words around which the song is created, so we won’t go there. (By the way, Tu = you, mun = mine, shudi = became, Muntu = me yours, shudam = have become). The techno start to the song with superlative A R Rahman setting the tone of the song welcomes Rabbi (No no, not the Rabbi who sang Challa, this one sings better!). The use of shehnai in the song is top class. The way it flirts with the beats, we never thought it can, and all this with a constant hip-hop like beat. There is always that song in an ARR album that evokes extreme reaction (apart from other songs which are tagged in ‘Give it time and they will grow’ category). This one belongs to the ‘extreme reaction’ category. People will either like it or completely dislike it. We? LOVED it! ARR at his innovative best (with his characteristic giggle!)

  • Aise na Dekho – A bonfire song. Starts with a frolicky mouth organ up and about with guitars. Yet another ‘JTYJN-hangover’ infected song, one might argue. Sung by ARR himself, the song scores low on words and the way they are pronounced (May be intentional?). Still the music arrangement is soothing. The whistling in between is simple and adds charm to the tune. Will I hear it again? Not now.

  • The land of shiva – Heavy chants with heavier music setting and bells marks this piece and before you realise what is happening, it gets over. With a little over 1 minute running time, the tune is clearly added to compliment the overall feel of the album and is surely going to appear in the film.

  • Tum Tak – May be it is Javed Ali who melts with the musical arrangement (The other way of looking it could be – his voice doesn’t stand out), the song is likeable only because of it’s music arrangement. The construct is too confusing, singing wise. Too many ‘Tum taks’ are irritating to say the least. The sudden change in the song on the other side of 3 minutes is bearable vocally. Kirthi and Pooja are efficient in the song. What lessens the impact of average singing is the excellent use of Manjeera and shehnai.

AR Rahman somewhere mentioned that the use of shehnai in this album is a tribute to Ustad Bismillah khan.

What we liked the most about the album is that it gives out sense of the film without being vague. The lyrics by Irshad Kamil are largely effective.

The variation that we hear in terms of tune selection and treatment is vast, the music arrangement as usual top drawer! The album exudes a lot of confidence and the feeling of ‘durability’ oozes in good measure.

Just when the promos were looking an ordinary, it is unbelievable what a brilliant music album can change it all. Now only if the film is good enough to hold it all together.

Correction for Tu man shudi explanation – Tu man shodi” means You became me and “Man tu shodam” means “I became you” not “yours”. “Man” means “I” not “mine”. “I became yours” is “Man maal-e-to shodam”. Thank you for correcting it everyone