Hey Raavan!

I was in a meeting at work; yet another boring one. I was getting restless. Not because of the scale of boredom of the meeting. But a voice was running in my head and I had to listen to it again. I was getting impatient. It was almost like my brain had stopped understanding audio signals other than that tune running in my head.

I went to the music store on 24^th morning to buy the CD of Raavan. It was the fastest walk I had back to my home. And the music began. These were my thoughts (strictly not a review) as I heard the songs!

First Hearing:

OK… This does not sound like a Mani-ARR combo album. I know the movie is going to be earthy or non-urban. So I could understand where it came from. But still, I really couldn’t comprehend a couple of songs. Katta Katta has to be the best. The panjavadyam kind of feel towards the end got me hooked on to it! Yet another marriage song, I guess, from a Mani Ratnam movie. It swept me off the feet the first time I heard it. There is a whole list of singers in the song. I wouldn’t go into the details. Behne de could have been much better.

5 Hearings after:

I almost like every song in the album. Good to hear, I guess. I sure cannot expect an album like Dil Se. May be something like a Guru is in store. Beera Beera is nice. Much better than what I thought it was, when I heard the promo. Speculations over Rahman’s voice, Kailash Kher’s voice in the song all ended now. It is Keerthi Sagathia and backing vocals by Mustafa. New find is not anymore new for an AR album. I wish they had put up a photo of all these singers so that people can actually relate to them. The song is short and sweet. Or spicy I must say.

7 Hearings after:

Behne De is going to be the song of the season. Karthik is one hell of a singer. A love song with a difference, I dare say. I am sure once I see the movie; I am going to hear it non-stop.

10 Hearings after:

The best part about Mani- ARR hindi albums is that it is most likely to be penned by Gulzar. And I was as glad as ever when I heard Thok De Khilli. If it is a sukhwinder-ARR-Gulzar trio, I think it should be declared as a classic even before they venture into creating the song. The strains of the clarinet in panchavadyam style can be found in this song too. People who had complaints with Jai Ho not being as good a song can please listen to this!

13 Hearings after:

Khili Re Khili could have been better. Coming from the league of Chinna Chinna aasai to Na Na re(Guru) the female solo could desires a punch.

18^th Hearing(Listening after the meeting rushing back to my seat)

 I have to say I felt like a drug addict inhaling a pinch of cocaine, when I returned back to hear Ranjha Ranjha. This, ladies and gentlemen is yet another masterpiece by AR. Javed Ali’s lines in the second/third stanza, Rekha Bharadwaj’s voice and the sweet humming of Anuradha Sriram puts together a mesmerizing experience. Glad that I can experience the same for a while to come.

Jaa Re Udd ja: Heard Rahman rendering this song in the music launch. It completes the album and yes, it is a Mani-ARR combo, for sure!

And I am patiently waiting for the Tamil version too !

Farhan Actor Rocks KCK

It’s been a while since I reviewed a movie. Honestly, there wasn’t motivation enough. But now I do. I just came back from watching Karthik Calling Karthik and I felt I should review this. But like usual, I would not give the story line away.

Karthik the loser turns into the coolest guy around just because of a call that he receives. Well not exactly a call. It is a call a day. I thought the promo gives away too much. Because the movie goes in the expected lanes. But what you do not expect to see is the neatness with which the screenplay has been handled. The whole movie rides on one person, Farhan Akhtar, and rightly so. He is the hero, villain, comedian everything rolled into one. And then there are extra artists like Deepika padukone (Shonali), Shiffali chaaya etc !

Like I said, the promo gives away too much and the first half of the movie is very much predictable. The arrogant boss, the indecent lover boy (Shonali’s), the nagging owner and all are a bit of a cliché and do not impress you much. But again as you watch Farhan handle the scenes and makes himself the centre point, you do not complain much. The best part of the half is of course when he gets transformed into the cool dude. That is when the witty lines come out too. There are a couple of lines that ONLY Farhan could have come up with.

The second half though picks up pace. And things get not-so-predictable which is how a thriller should always be. The flow of ebb and tide during the second half would give the feel of watching a classic Hollywood movie. At least, it did for me. People from the ad world somehow tend to come up with neat screenplays and Vijay Lalwani just proves that. And the climax of the movie too is pretty well handled. The only flaw that I could notice was the Kerala aunties and uncles speaking fluent hindi without the accent when Karthik reaches Cochin. I guess Vijay Lalwani hasn’t seen much of Kerala

Farhan changed the face of hindi movies with DCH. And he keeps coming up with gems like Luck by Chance and KCK, which brings out the talented actor in him. This time he has gone a step ahead and runs the show on his own. It is indeed Karthik vs Karthik in the whole movie. Having said that, I thought Deepika could have done a better job. For her performance barely gets noticed in the movie. Deepika’s character also could have been meatier. But on a whole, Karthik calling Karthik is a brave movie which might not work well with the masses. But still, movies like this needs to be made for Bollywood to reach anywhere near Hollywood.

Star of the movie: Farhan Akhtar
Point Table: 3.5/5
Reco: Should Watch if you are a drama lover.

Musings of a Rahmaniac

I don’t know where to start. And I am sure there would be no ending. People follow music religiously. And there are others who take up music as a profession and/or as a hobby. They learn music in different forms. Perform in various stages. Make a living out of it. And there are others who just listen to music. People have different tastes when it comes to music. Some like classical, some like rock, some like reggae and some like jazz. But there are a set of people who would listen to anything that comes their way. But when it comes to listening to a man’s composition, they would leave aside everything else. These people would dedicate their lives for one cause – being a Rahmaniac. There is only one religion that they follow – Rahman’s music. They call him “Boss”. And no points for guessing who their God is. I know, it is crazy calling a human being God. But craziness comes to them naturally.

The amount of pride these people take in being a Rahmaniac is bewildering. They would have first hand information of his compositions. What movies he has signed, what song is coming next, researching deep into each one of his compositions – they take all this up as their duty. Following Rahman in his concerts, buying original CDs on the first day of music release, posting their thoughts in various groups are all part of their duties. They do it blindly. Once you are a Rahmaniac, there is no looking back. You have to catch up with every composition of his’. And defending every composition of his too when people accuse that the songs are not up to Rahman’s standard. It is mighty hard for them to accept that any Rahman composition can be “ordinary”. Ask them what the one thing is that you want to do in life”. The answer would be simple –Meet the Boss!

One of the things you would notice about rahmaniacs is all of them would have their status message reflecting his song names/movie names etc. It is not to show off their craziness. They do not know any other way in which they can express the happiness, bliss, eternal piece they feel while listening to a his album. And the pleasure you get when you play the CD for the first time, is unmatched. The CD would be played in loop. And on each round of listening, the music grows on you. Slow nectar, they call it. There are other songs/compositions too which would be like cocaine – would shoot up to the brain straight. These people need no drugs to follow the music. His music in itself would take the effect.

So what is bringing out this huge outpour of emotions into words. The Oscars ? The Golden Globe? I guess not. Something better has happened in the year 2009. It started with a certain song called Arziyan. Life had a new meaning to it. People say you have to die to go to heaven. I tell them I have been their atleast a thousand times – each time I hear Arziyan. I thought that had to be the best composition of the year. But along came Passage. The moment I heard Tango, I was paralyzed. I could not understand the emotion that I was going through. From happiness to fear to anger to sorrow, I felt them all together at a single point. And by the time the harmonica, violin and the keyboard had stopped playing, I was transported. I did not want to open my eyes. I did not want to come back to the real world. But then I had to. Since I knew that more was coming my way. A (re)treat was coming my way. And today, the day on which “Couples Retreat” is unveiled, I thank God, the real one, for having had me live in this era – The era in which A.R.Rahman lived.

And to Boss – all I can say is
“Un isai mattum illayendral, naan endro endro irandiruppen”

Signed
A Rahmaniac

Angels and Demons – The Movie

Robert Langdon is back searching for more clues in Angels and Demons. The moment I heard the movie is releasing this month end, I took off to the nearest crossword store to pick a copy of the novel. After having seen The DaVinci Code, I presumed that I would not be able to grasp much out of this movie too unless I read the book beforehand. I was not completely wrong.

The first half of the movie would suggest that it is just another murder mystery, Robert Langdon trying to save the cardinals who have been kidnapped, and concentrating less on the Antimatter that has been planted in a secret location. And even lesser stress on how Langdon cracks each clue to find the path of illumination, in which the cardinals would be murdered. The cracking of the clues, I thought, was the most important and interesting part of the novel. But having said that, you just cannot have everything in the novel covered in detail, in a two and a half hour movie. I should say, the screenplay has been adapted pretty decently.

The highlight of the movie of course is Tom Hanks, who plays Robert Langdon, who carries out the role like eating a piece of cake. He surely has had more challenging roles in the past. Ewan McGregor plays the Camerlengo and does it brilliantly too. Ayelet Zurer playing Vittoria is unimpressive. The kind of chemistry between Langdon and Vittoria which was found in the book was completely missing in the movie. Ayelet Zurer for some reason kept smiling throughout the movie. The other roles were carried out the way they should be.

The movie picks up pace towards the second half. Again, I am not sure though, how much you could have grasped of the proceedings in the enclave, unless you had read the book before. They even axed off a couple of important characters present in the novel. The whole movie was like watching a one hour highlights show of an entire test match. But an exciting one at that. The cinematography was brilliant. And so was the background score of the movie.

All in all, the movie is worth a watch to see how your visualization of the characters and events has been picturised. Again, at least a couple of shots showing the beauty of the Vatican would have been a good idea. But this is definitely a better adaptation than the The DaVinci Code. It will be a while now before Robert Langdon comes on screen, if at all he does. But then I wouldn’t assume that anyone would be waiting anxiously for one too. I am not sure if I am inspired to see the movie again, but I am quite certain that I am inspired to read the book once again!

Star of the movie: Dan Brown

Point Table: 3/5

Reco: Read the novel and then watch

99 – The movie

I saw the promo of the movie and thought it might be worth a visit to the movie hall. 99 comes as a breather for all the movie buffs who have been deprived of hindi movies this summer. However, I did not have much expectation from the movie. The “Multiplex movies” can be either too good or too bad. When I saw the names of the producers & directors of the movie, Anupam Mittal & Krishna/Raj Nidimoru , I got excited. These guys had made a movie called Flavors earlier, which is still one of my all time favorites.

It’s tough making a thriller. And it is tougher making a comic thriller. 99 is just that. From the first scene to the last, the movie keeps you glued to it. I have never seen Kunal Khemu on screen before. And I was mighty impressed with his acting. An actor can be best judged with his comic timings and expressions. And Kunal has got the right blend of both. Paired along with Cyrus Brocha, these guys go the dumb and the dumber way. The directors could not have got a better cast to pull of the characters in the movie. Boman Irani playing the gambler -Rahul, Vinod Khanna playing the bookie, Mahesh Manjrekar playing the gangster – AGM and Soha Ali playing the hotel manager. And add to it the small little characters like that of the collection agent, Kuber played by Amit Mistry, who keeps trying to speak in English. The way cyrus has been made to look in the movie is amazing.

The movie revolves around the Match fixing scandal that happened in 1999. And the script keeps moving from one character to another smartly. Rahul owes money to Kuber and AGM. Sachin and Zaramud (Kunal and Cyrus) owe money to AGM. Sachin and Zaramud go for collecting AGM’s money from Rahul. And all of them together lose the money Rahul flips from his office. Confusing? Well, that is the whole crux of the movie and the whole confusions are handled awesomely well in the script. Add to it the amazing dialogues, which is the heart of any good comedy. Raj & Krishna has just got it perfect. Like for example the dialogue that Cyrus says. “Dilli mein sala march mein Tand padti hai. Aur Har koi ladkiyon ka naam Pooja ya Neha hota hai”. Soha Ali Khan plays the character of a hotel manager, Pooja! She strikes a chord with Sachin who stays in her hotel and helps them bail out of the fix.

Amazing dialogues, intelligent script and perfect portrayals of the characters makes 99 a must watch movie. I would even recommend buying a DVD for a second time watch of the movie. A special mention on the songs that run on the background throughout the movie – I am sure they are worth listening to again. I hope the director/producer combo comes up with more movies like this in the future too.

Star of the movie: Krishna/Raj Nidimoru & Sita Menon

Point Table: 3.5/5

Reco: Must Watch

A.R.RAHMAN LIVE IN CALICUT – The concert experience

The whole of Calicut was filled with hoardings of “JAI HO”. It was the talk of the town. The media was both happy and sad. Happy that they could get everyone to read their news/articles featuring Rahman in depth. Sad that they were not allowed to shoot anything happening inside the stadium. By 5 P.M the stadium was almost full and people were waiting eagerly. A bunch of fanatics, including me, were in the stands singing out Rahman songs and gathering quite a bit of attention from the local crowd as well.

The show started with DJ Medley playing shano shano and sayonara warming up the crowd to chant a few Jai Hos. And in a minutes time the sitar would start playing mausam and escape. It was exciting as well as disappointing. The sound system to be specific was disappointing. It was like the sound system was designed for a local “Ganamela”. But nevertheless, the show was on! The crowd was on their feet. I am sure the Appu Kuttan nairs of the crowd clad in their dhotis did not understand what was being played. But even they coming in to see Boss, speaks the volume of love and admiration that a billion people have for Rahman.

Before even the Mausam & escape ended, the track for O saya was on. And there he was – the man of the moment. No stylish entries, no fireworks in the background. Just walking into the stage singing O Saya. The noise in the stadium was deafening. O saya was lost amongst the cheers and screams. Rahman went on to sing Athiradi along with Sayonara. It was clear that he was getting warmed up and was concerned about the sound system. After the song, Rahman addressed the crowd. Again, not much could be heard. The next song was meant to excite the local public and it did. Padakali Chandi from the mallu movie Yodha. Not many would know that it is a Rahman score – Benny dayal and George Peter not only singing but enacting a bit of the song as well. The song indeed is a masterpiece by Rahman.

Sadna Sargam followed with Tu Muskura. The tempo of the song was just perfect. Soothing, I should say. And towards the middle she would switch to the beginning aalap of Roja Janeman. Enter hariharan, who took the stage to a higher level. Hariharan is one of the best on stage performers India has and he did not disappoint this time either. He would have sung the song a zillion times and each time it creates magic. Raja Hassan of the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa fame was next with Massakali. He did a decent job. Still the problems with the sound persisted. Rahman’s Jiya se jiya rocked. It was a visual treat too. I would have had all the singers coming in at the end and giving him a Free Hug[:)]

Blaaze’s Style got the crowd dancing and so did Liquid dance which was tracked. In fact most of the songs were tracked and sung like in a Karaoke. May be Rahman should conduct a full fledged instrumental concert. Javed ali, the new guy in the block sang Guzarish. But the best of the concert was around the corner. Chitra started with Netru illada matram and she couldn’t have sounded more perfect. And as she moved on to Malargale along with Naveen’s flute and Hariharan’s voice – it felt like I am in heaven! Raashid Ali’s with Kabhi Kabhi aditi was cool. Rahman continued with Rehna Tu. The chorus could hardly be heard in this song. The sound was that bad.

Neeti Mohan is born to be a star. The way she performed Taal se Taal and Ringa ringa was magical. The stadium was filled with drool by the time she ended the track. Kaala Bandhar, Gansta Blues and New were performed as a medley by Benny, Blaaze and Tanvi. Kaala Bandhar could have been performed better or dropped! And then the next medley with Rahman leading it, comprised of Azeem-O-Shaan, Rukmani Chorus and Veera Pandi Kottayile. Suzanne stunned the crowd with the range of her voice in dreams on fire./Latika’s theme.

There are moments which you would cherish all your life. And one of them, for me, was the qawali performed by AR, Javed Ali and Hassan Raza. It was Khwaja mere and Ariziyan back to back. I really can’t find words to describe how I felt at that moment.

Oru cheriya idavela – A short break! Not in the review, but in the show. It tested everyone’s patience in the stadium. The charity would have had more meaning if they just did it without showing it off.

The sound got better after the break. Chitra resumed the concert with a Malayalam song, manasu manasinte, composed by R.K.Shekar(Rahman’s father) and followed it up with Malayalam version of Kannalane! I really wish the language barrier in music goes away, at least in Rahman concerts, so that he does not have to perform specific songs for the local crowd, bending his original scores. Jiya Jale made a good visual with the lights and fires flying around. Sadna joined Hariharan for Aye hairetein Aashiqui with hariharan trying to make the crowd sing a bit of aalaps as well. The pair then sand Vaaji Vaaji

Kabuli entered the stage from a crane while playing his electric guitar. It was the build up for Mustafa Mustafa. And the crowd was looking stunning with everyone waving their mobile phones and singing along. Rahman ended it up with a bit of Dhakka Laga Bukha which I thought was quite unnecessary. It was dancing time for the crowd as Benny and co started Pappu can’t dance saala and Suzanne followed with Aye Bachu. She was simply awesome. I never have loved the song so much as I did on that day. It felt like the climax was around the corner with tempo going up. Rahman’s Urvasi and Benny/Blaaze’s Taxi Taxi got the crowd going crazy. Hariharan entered the stage and did some alaap’s making the crowd wonder what is up next. The way hariharan blended the alaap into the beginning of Humma Humma was terrific.

After the song, Rahman stopped before the next track. He made the crowd sing Ooo oo in various styles before he made them scream JAI HO. Jai ho it was and all the singers joined Rahman on stage with Tanvi leading the song along with AR. The crowd had their money worth. And Rahman ended it with Vandemataram. Again only a piece of it was played which was bemusing. But then Boss is always right!

Rahman is no more just a music composer. He is a wave that is sweeping across the world. And for the bunch of people whom I sat with, music is our religion and Rahman, the almighty. The concert had it’s glitches – like the poor sounds, the lack of star singers. Not to take away anything from the newbies who did exceedingly well. But it would have been nice to listen to the likes of SPB & Shankar mahadevan. However, I have no complaints. I had a whale of a time. Watch out for the Jai Ho tour coming to your part of the world soon, if you want to experience the same.

Playlist – (H)Indi Rock

“I feel ashamed to take this award, when there has been some great music given by people like Amit, Salim Sulaiman”, said Rahman when he was receiving the filmfare award for the Best Music composer. He was being modest alright, but the fact that the guys like Amit Trivedi are (literally) rocking the Indian music industry. If you haven’t heard the soundtrack of Aamir, you might not realize the talent that Amit Trivedi has. But surely you couldn’t have missed his “Emotional Atyachar”! Check out the rock version of the song. It’s mind blowing.

Rock music hasn’t been too significant in India until lately. Although every guitarist would have been a part of a so called “Rock Band”, not many could achieve popularity. Even if their music is good, they seldom get noticed. For instance the Tandav track by a band called Agni, is a classic. For me, this song signifies Indi rock. There has been the odd bands like Indian Ocean who were noticed for a couple of songs. Like the song, Bandeh was pretty popular one. But again, not to the scale that everyone took to them. I have heard some amazing rock bands emerging out of the western part of the country and also from the south. But no one could make their mark in the industry. Check out this amazing song called Nada Nada in the playlist. This is by a mallu rock band called Aviyal. The paki bands as usual were able to get noticed here. But the songs which got popular would have to be in the pop genre rather than the rock. Not many would have noticed this cool track called Shayad by a paki band called CALL.

Hindi movies have been averse to rock music. A few songs did pop up here and there like Maut by Lucky Ali in Kaante, Gandha hai by Sandeep Chowta, Garaj Baras in Paap to name a few. A movie called Paanch, which didn’t see the theatres had an amazing song by KK called Khuda hun main. The movie was supposed to be centered on a rock band. But a similar sort of movie did see the movie screens and was hugely successful as well. It was called “Rock On!”. Well the movie shows SEL’s versatility. My favorite song of the album – Zehreeley! I can’t seem to have enough of it. And every time I listen to it, I end up having a sprained neck!

Whenever I listen to this playlist I make sure I have my Bose headphones on. Make sure you have a good one too. Here is the playlist.

Playlist – Classic Collection

Till the early 80s, it would have been pretty hard to listen to a Hindi film song which was not based on a hindustani raaga. The disco dancer and the nonsense collection of Govinda songs, somehow almost drove away the influence of hindustani music from hindi film music. Except for Boss, not many music composers ventured into bringing true melody to the film music.

Music has changed in hindi movies these days. With so many fresh talents evolving there is a sigh of relief for all genres of music lovers. And the influence of Hindustani music is also back. People like Rahet Fateh Ali Khan are starting to get the kind of recognition that they might not have got a decade back. And when Ajay Pohankar came up with Piya Bawari, it was like a fresh breath of air. Apparently most of the songs in Piya Bawari 2 album went unnoticed. I personally loved 3 of the songs in the album.

Suddenly there were a flurry of songs that could fit into this genre. You can almost term a few of them as Fusion. Call it what you want, these songs are just the ones which would set a soothing calm inside you and leave you wanting for more. Try going on a morning ride with a CD playing these songs. You will see the horizon, as I once did.

Here is the playlist.

There is another set of songs that would fit into this category. But they are on a different plane. Simply because they are composed by Rahman. The divinity associated with each track is phenomenal. Surpassing the boundaries of religion, you tend to surrender yourself to the almighty. Here are a few of the awesome tracks(Couldn’t get them all). Click here to play.

Delhi 6 is Disappointing!

The problem with making amazing movie like RDB is that the expectation from the makers of the movie goes sky high. And when with that expectation you g o in for watching , you get nothing but disappointed. Add to that 9 amazing soundtracks by Boss. I wish they were not wasted.

If you hear the song kala bandhar and one could easily guess the story line of the movie. And in the first half there are nothing but references to the Kala bandhar and you would want to believe that there is something amazing coming up at least in the second half. Abhishek Bachan with his fake accent, which he does pull off well by the way, would be the title for the first half of the movie. Sonam Kapoor is far from being impressive. I thought the home coming scenes were pictured much better in Swades. And the movie lacked the “punch” which is required for a movie of this kind. When you are trying to convey a message through a movie, you better do it strongly. Like in the scene in RDB where Soha says “maar dalo use”. That is the kind of feeling you are looking for. But even in the second half, we can see nothing of that sort in D6.

RDB had so many characters to movie the movie forward. Keep the audience gripped to the movie. And there were so many good dialogues. D6 has neither. I know it is a different movie, and the comparisons are unfair, but when you are making a movie in similar lines, the comparisons are inevitable. Even the way Rakyesh Mehra handled the songs – I thought golden pieces like Rehna Tu were wasted. I heard somewhere that Rahman did not complete the BGM of the movie on time. But I wonder where he would have fitted those, even if he did. It looked like an attempt to fit in all the songs in the first half, since they are there.

All is not bad with D6. The first half in fact flies off in a jiffy. The “funny dialogues” of AB is not that funny. But ya it can keep your hopes alive. Dil Gira Dafatan song, I thought, was pretty well visualized. The kids in the movie were awesome. And so was Atul Kulkarni. The rest of the characters were boring, the least to say. The hindu-muslim divide is an old subject to dwell upon, especially when it has been dealt with so well in so many other movies, starting with Bombay in 1995!

Most importantly, the message in the movie fails to reach the audience. It usually requires a “hero” of sorts to convey the messages. But honestly the character of Abhishek was far from being a hero. There are good morals involved in the movie. But they have been presented so boringly that you don’t buy them. And could anyone please explain to me what the hell was Amitabh Bachan doing in the movie towards the end?!

Star of the movie: A.R.Rahman
Point Table: 2.5/5
Reco: Watch if you have nothing better to do.

Drop dead – Delhi 6 is here !

Not often does it occur that you stand still hearing a song. And when that happens 7-8 times on a trot, you have to be listening to an album called Delhi 6. Reggae, rap, raaga you have everything in it. The man just completed a year with 6 amazing albums. And add to It a Golden globe award. As the world listens and India starts adoring him, he comes up with this album called Delhi 6. Some people once said Rahman is getting repetitive and there is no variety in his music. I would like to gift each one of them a CD of Delhi 6. I have been visiting the music stores daily since last week, to check if the album has come out. And strangely, it was out in the net first before even it hit the stores. And fighting the slow internet download speed was some effort. The speed was teasing me with every song taking ages to download. But then it was worth the wait. Like I always say, I just cannot review AR’s album. I would not do justice(if at all it sounded not so good to others). Just jotting down what I felt while listening to it.

Masakalli: Never knew that Mohit Chauhan could sound ‘unromantic’. He always has been singing the love songs of this era. Suddenly Rahman surprises everyone by making him sing something like Masakalli. Can a song sound naughtier? I doubt. From the glimpses seen, I am sure the song has got it’s full justice when it comes to the video.

Arziyan: Tumse kya mangun mein…Tum khud hi samajh lo MAULA! What a line and a half by Prasoon Joshi. I was litterally stunned when I heard this line. So true isn’t it. And the song would just push you into another level. In the league of Piya haji ali, khwaja and noor un alla. Javed ali and Kailash Kher almost compete with each other. I have come across Rahmaniacs who refer to him as GOD. I guess they have their reasons. I think he is GOD sent.

Dil Gira Dafatan: It’s been only a day now since I have been hearing the album. But believe me, in 3 days, I will be hooked to this song. It will drive you crazy. Will make you want to listen to it a thousand times a day. The three days would be for understanding the tune!

Noor: Big B renders his recital of a nice little poetry. More of a OST it is.

Aarti: A traditional aarti track. I am sure this song would have been different if it were to be in Tamil. Just a hunch.

Genda Phool: I am sorry. I cannot describe this song. You have to listen to it to believe it.

Hey Kala Bandhar: He has started where he left RDB patshala. Kala Bandhar is in the same genre. The songs such variety to the album. Karthik, Naresh and Srinivas in one song. It better be good. The rap sounds just about alright.

Delhi 6: Blazee and Vivinenne Pocha, Tanvi and Clarie – all have just jammed together to give an amazing title track. And of course Benny dayal too is there. As he is in every rahman album these days.

Bhor Bhaye: Shreya Ghosal for me is the next Lata Mangeshkar of the Indian music industry. Listen to her following the footsteps of Ustad Bade Gulam Ali Khan. For Indian classical music lovers, this is a treat. I am glad that Rahman is doing such amazing tracks too.

Rehna Tu: From Humma Humma to Rehna Tu rahman has come a long way as a singer. He never is given credit for the same. He usually ends up singing the best song in the album. This t ime too I guess he has done it. And watch out for the instrument being used towards the end of the song.

I couldn’t resist writing this. I know not how else to express the pure bliss that I am experiencing while listening to the tracks. HE gives yet another reason for us to live on.