If the God does 42 takes, how many would mere mortals ?

Mohammad Rafi-sahab is to music what Sachin Tendulkar is to cricket, what Ratan Tata is to Indian industry, what Mother Teresa is to service. Unparalleled, non-replicable, peerless. 

The voice behind thousands of songs that can twist your cognizance at its will…a voice that can make you feel euphorically romantic one moment, and induce suicidal sadness in another. 

“Shola Aur Shabnam” a movie released in 1961 had in it the handsome Dharmendra emote (rather palely I must say) to a most beautiful melody by Rafi-sahab. 

The song “Jaane Kya Dhoonti Hai Yeh Aankhey Mujh Mein” penned by Kaifi Azmi (father of Shabana Azmi), composed by Khayyam was a ‘sad’ song that had immense melody in its pensiveness.

(Khayyam’s genius).

The lyrics are magical…”jaane kya dhoondti hai yeh aankhein mujh mein, raakh ke dher mein shola hai na chingari “ (what do your eyes search in me, I’m but a heap of burnt ash, without any fire or sparkle left anymore). 

Despair so barren could not have been expressed in better words.

Brian Silas, the talented pianist, rose to fame with his instrumental renditions of Hindi songs. “Jaane Kya Dhoondti Hai” was in one of his instrumental albums, to which I decided to vocal into. Silas’ piano runs at about 50% slower pace than the actual song from the movie. As a piano-only rendition, the song sounds alright, but try to put vocals on it at that (leisurely) pace and it becomes a bit of a challenge for someone like me who is already struggling with an impaired tank of skills :) Nonetheless, it was fun to do this one. 

Nothing in this song is as easy as Mohammad Rafi-sahab makes it sound, right from the soft opening to the raised third antara. 

It is said that Khayyam demanded 42 re-takes for this song before he stamped the final cut. I'd imagine it would probably take me 42 lifetimes to get anywhere close.

Since the world runs on imperfection, here’s my little contribution to it.

As always, take my imperfect vocals with a pinch of salt. Click HERE to listen.

Cheers!

Dehachi Tijori is mehfooz with reham from Khudaa....

Do successful TV stars become successful Movie stars? In Hollywood they may, but generally not so in Mumbai…with some notable exceptions like Smita Patil, Shah Rukh Khan etc. On the whole Indian TV stars haven’t really shattered the 70mm screen. 

In 2008 an interesting movie by the name of "Aamir" came out, starring Rajeev Khandelwal, a Television superstar then. The movie, devoid of any known big-screen stars didn’t do much on the box office, but it was a pretty slickly made one. I was engrossed for the entire 2 hours of it, watching the hero involuntarily get sucked deeper and deeper into the weave of the plot as it reached a nail biting crescendo. Definitely worth a watch. 

The film did not have any typical movie songs, but there was one – “Ha reham” (sounds very similar to ‘haarey hum’) that was used as a background score in one of the scenes that caught my fancy. The song, based on a soulful qawwal devotional tune composed by Amit Trivedi had a catchy beat concocted out of a ‘damaru’, a dholak, a harmonium and something that sounds like an ektara.

Sung by Amit Trivedi, Amitabh, Murtuza Qadir, this tune has a hymnical rhythm that gets into ones blood.

While listening to the original “Ha reham – mehfooz” song from Aamir, I got an idea to use the same beats for an immortal and beautifully penned Marathi bhaktigeet (devotional song) “Dehachi Tijori” composed and sung by Sudheer Phadke in the 1968 movie “Amhi jaato amchya gaava”. Both songs are not very different in their gist too, as it turns out. 

The result was an unusual fusion of a Khudaa from “Ha reham – mehfooz “ with a Vitthal in “Dehachi Tijori”.

As always, take my imperfect vocals with a pinch of salt. Click HERE to listen.

Cheers!

Aaoge Jab Tum..... happy or sad?

I really liked the movie Jab We Met for its songs. I thought Pritam (the composer) was an absolute genius, until the hour that I was told practically every song in the movie was plagiarized. In any case, there is this one song in the movie which is original, and which also happens to be my favorite from the album – “Aaoge Jab Tum”.

Sung by Ustad Rashid Khan, a classical singer with a distinctively heavy voice, this song comes off as melancholy to a listener who may not have seen the movie. However, upon watching the movie one realizes that this song is actually shot in a happy context...or at least so I thought looking at the bashful grin on Kareena Kapoor's grape-shaped face in the song. 

This contrast between the perception of what one imagines a song would be and how it turns out to be shot in reality, is a common occurrence in our Hindi films. However, in this case it does not take anything away from the song. It is one of those songs that doesn’t appeal in the first listen but steadily grows upon you as you listen again, and again. I love it.

As for Pritam, yes he lifts tunes, but he does have a knack of rejuvenating nondescript tunes from Korean TV serials and Lebanese folk songs into super-hit Hindi songs..you’ve got to give him that…..

Click HERE to listen to my (obviously inferior and amateur) version of this one.

Iktara....

Shankar Ehsaan Loy are my favorite music composers. Their sound has a fresh, likable, easy to connect attribute to it. The variety of their compositions, the experimentation that they do makes me an ardent fan of their work. I secretly wish I could work with them as a sound technician one day.

Wake Up Sid was a very nice movie to which SEL gave some fantastic music. There is something in the album for everyone. My 7 year old twins love a few songs from it, as do I - now almost 40.

Kavita Seth, a singer with sufi inclination, was picked by SEL to sing a song that, unlike a lot of current day songs, has a long life. "Iktara" is a song whose appeal will last several years, at least in my catalog. I'll probably be playing this song in my car even the year 2020.There is something simple yet real about this rendition. It keeps going at a slow but steady pace in a rhythm that puts you in a trance. A certified procrastinator like me will identify with the lyrics in this beautiful song penned by Javed Akhtar.

Shruti Bose, a singer from my circle who prefers to underplay her singing, was coaxed to take this one up by me. Despite all apprehension about her own self, she did this sample in one take, without much practice or preparation. I personally think it has come out very well. The only snag is that the base track is not up-to the mark, which is basically bad workmanship on my part. 

Stay tuned for some more songs from my other friends on this blog. There is a surprisingly high number of people around me with good singing voices.

Enjoy Shruti's rendition by clicking HERE.

Suniyo Soniyo...

Raaz, The Mystery Continues from 2009 was a slick paranormal horror-thriller from the Mahesh Bhatt factory.

The movie had decent songs, among whom was a catchy number called “Soniyo” that was presented in two flavors by composer Raju Singh.

Sonu Nigam sang the foot-tapping version with Neeraj Shreedhar giving the assistant vocals. The other one was sober and devoid of percussion, which was sung by Krishna who is a classically inclined singer with a distinctly ‘high’ and heavy voice.

Sonu Nigam’s Soniyo had pacy drum beats and a peppy soundtrack compared to Krishna’s sedate and serious rendition. One would tend to think of these two songs as ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ siblings. But funny thing is that both the songs have the exact same timing and pace.

I decided to compile something that was in the middle. Neither fast and peppy nor sedate and sober. (Of course, it turned out to be about as insipid as a 5 year old can of Pepsi, but I have a mic so I am King :)).

Click HERE to listen to my version of this one.

Cheers!

Dil toh bachcha hai ji....

In case you haven't seen a come-and-go movie  called "Ishqiya" that was released earlier this year, I’d recommend you get a DVD and give it a watch.

Vishal Bhardwaj directs this thoroughly enjoyable fare with Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan in the web of double-crosses and cons that is Ishqiya. 

The movie also contains an infectious song written by Gulzar-sahab, composed by Vishal Bhardwaj and sung by the one and only Rahat Fateh Ali Khan – who in my opinion has the cleanest playback voice among all contemporaries.

The song “Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji” is about a loafer con artist (Naseeruddin Shah) who knows he has fallen for a young and beautiful woman (Vidya Balan), who is way out of his league. He knows that it may not work out...will be completely “one way traffic”, but still he can't resist the spurt in his heart. A human heart has the spirit of an uncontrollable immature kid...."dil to bachcha hai ji". This song is about guilt, futility, apprehension.

“Saari jawaani kataraa ke kaati, peeri mein takaraa gaye hai” ..... Gulzar-sahab arranges words as exquisitely as delicate mithai in a Diwali gift box. Only he can come up with 'kataraa' and 'takaraa' in the same sentence and make them fit so perfectly.

Click HERE to listen to my (obviously inferior and amateur) version of this one.

Cheers!

And then it so happened....aur phir yoon huva

Another song of note  in the movie Striker was “Aur phir Yoon Huva” composed and sung by the extremely talented Vishal Bhardwaj - one the best movie makers in Mumbai currently.

Gulzar sahab’s subtle but rich lyrics make this a unique number.“Raat ek khwab ne jagaa diya” – a dream woke me up - Typically unique of Gulzar’s creativity with a pen. 

The whole song is set up beautifully around not being able to sleep (or not being able to come out a dream, whichever way you interpret Gulzar-sahab's wily play of words). Listen in a loop, and at each hearing the words seem to evolve one step further until the song slowly consumes you fully.

This too turned out to be shot completely unlike what I had imagined…..

Click HERE to listen to my version of this one.

Cheers!

Struck by Striker

Some songs leave you perplexed. You hear the tune, love it, and then watch the movie with a preset idea of its portrayal. It turns out to be nothing like you pictured.

The movie Striker, released earlier in 2010, was a neat one. A storyline based on something as flimsy as the board game of carrom that eventually delved into something much deeper, was compiled and presented with an unexpected punch. Despite no real stars, the movie was thoroughly watchable. Ankur Vikal as "Zyed", the hero’s best friend, and Aditya Pancholi as "Jaleel" the local don, absolutely stood out in their roles .

Striker, incidentally, was also the first Indian movie to premier on Youtube.

I took an instant liking to a couple of songs from this movie right at the first listen.

In “Cham cham”, Sonu Nigam weaves the tune into lyrics as only he can. In this qawwali style courtship song, Sonu Nigam raises not just his notes but also the spirits of the listeners. It is a thoroughly haunting rendition…one that makes you listen repeatedly in a loop.  I had imagined this to be a more ‘formal’ love song wherein the lover wooed the lady indirectly a praying session at a masjid, or in a staged "mohalle ki mehfil" under the crescent moon of eid. After I watched the movie, it turned out to be shot so differently than what I had imagined :)

Click HERE to listen to my obviously amateur version of this one.

Cheers!

Gaata Rahe Mera Dil

For as long as I can remember, I have had an inclination to Hindi film music. I'm fine with the hundreds of other forms and genres of music, their exponents and their followers, but the best food for my ears has always been Hindi filmy music.

The variety, quality and talent in Hindi movie music is astounding. While musicals have long vanished from Hollywood and all other prominent movie industries, the Hindi movie industry still thrives on heroes and heroines who sing and dance on mountaintops and riversides at the drop of the hat....songs are a vital ingredient in our movies even now and there are no signs that this recipe might change.

I inadvertently mumble songs to myself all the time, and sometimes they haunt me so much that I have to get them out of my head...which is where my micro-projects come in. 

I have a hobby of creating tracks, mixing songs and gelling them with vocals. For the most part I do not get any volunteers to do the vocals for my projects, so I end up embarrassing myself in front of my not very expensive microphone. 

Music has been a life long hobby and reproducing it seems to be a natural next step, which may be why this blog is here. 

I am always looking for singers and volunteers to work with me on micro-projects like these. Shoot a sur or a taan at me if you guys are interested :)