Delhi 6

I cannot think of a more apt way to start this blog than with a soundtrack composed by A. R. Rahman. The lyrics are by Prasoon Joshi. The movie is Delhi 6, directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.

Here's my take:

Rehna Tu: A. R. Rahman, Benny Dayal and Tanvi Shah

Great song! Lovely beginning, nice lyrics. A very calming song. The instrumentation is wonderful. A beautiful mix of old-world feel with modernistic background music. The interlude is beautiful after the first stanza. But the highest point of the song for me is the end of the song where they take off in a complete Carnatic way! It's abso-freaking-lutely brilliant!

Noor: Amitabh Bachchan

Just a couple of lines - very well written. Nicely rendered. Nothing else to really comment on it.

Dil Gira Dafatan: Ash King and Chinmayee

The beginning is purely English. I don't know any other way to describe it. Another very calming song. Ash King has sung it very well. It's a pretty unstructured song - you keep expecting one thing to happen and something else happens! Again the interludes are pure magic and totally unexpected. Just listen to this one quietly to get the whole feel of the song.

Delhi 6: Benny Dayal, Blaaze, Claire, Tanvi Shah, Vivinenne Pocha

Appeals to the ears immediately. I love the guitar thing going in the background. There is a complete techno feel to the song also, which I really like. The chorus in the background is also really well done.

Hey Kaala Bandar: Bonnie Chakraborty, Karthik, Naresh Iyer

The instrumentation again - really good. The lyrics are really weird the first time you listen to them. (I mean, come on, it's called Kaala Bandar!) But I read this blog on how there's a deeper meaning to the song - about finding the inner 'bandar' in you. Listen to it again keeping that in mind. Again I found it really unexpected in terms of what happens in the song.

Arziyan: Javed Ali and Kailash Kher

If you like "Khwaja Mere Khwaja" from Jodhaa Akbar, you'd probably like this. A typical Qawwali song. Lyrics are also really good. Both singers take it to a different level altogether.

Aarti: Kishori Gowariker, Rekha Bharadwaj, Shraddha Pandit, Sujata Mazumdar

A small bhajan type song. A quiet song which doesn't really stick around in your mind, but I loved the tambura playing in the background - it's the most beautiful sound in the world.

Masakalli - Mohit Chauhan

AWESOME song. You keep humming it after listening to it. Highly imaginative lyrics (it's about a dove I believe!). The stanzas are lovely and listen to the background beats - great work! And Mohit Chauhan sounds fab. The interludes are superb too. I am running out of superlatives for this song!

Genda Phool: Rekha Bharadwaj, Shraddha Pandit, Sujata Mazumdar

It sounds like a sangeet song. I fell in love with the beat that starts around 47 seconds into the song. The main singer is very good - Rekha Bharadwaj. That beat brings it to a different level and makes it into a funky fusion piece. And listen to the part that starts around 2 minutes 10 seconds into the song. Again I think that makes the song tick.

Bhor Bhaye: Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan & Shreya Ghoshal

One of those songs I want to sing at some point. I am no one to comment on Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan so I won't even try. But a word for Shreya Ghoshal. She's so marvellous in this song, I can't write it here. She's the best singer of this generation for sure. Her voice sounds so pure in this. I am amazed anew at her versatility and this song just proves why she's in so much demand.

All in all - this is an album which captures the essence of various kinds of music. One of those albums you will love and keep playing on and on.