Few gems of unconventional nature...

A couple of days back I watched one of the most critically acclaimed bollywood movie of this year ‘Aamir’. The movie was no doubt superb in terms of script, pace, cinematography and acting. But one thing that blew me away was the music which ably supported the movie in every frame. The lyrics of the songs are in perfect synchronization with the situations depicted in the film. I hadn’t heard the songs of this movie before, so when I was listening to them a thought came into my mind which has culminated into this post.

In the modern music world driven by the aggressive marketing strategies, where most of the songs have a very little shelf life, we often miss out small gems. There may be a no. of reasons behind it like the music not being promoted properly (it often happens with small budget films) or a song which has been overshadowed by the other chartbusters of the same film. One of the primary reasons though has been the ‘unconventional nature’ of these songs which limited their reach to a small no. of people. I have compiled a list of 10 such songs since 2005.

1. Aashayein(Iqbal) :- A gem of a song with a composition by Salim-Sulieman and voice of KK. The lyricist is Irfan Siddique. The song is about hope , determination and aspirations. Songs with such positive elements have been penned very few times before and this makes the song more special. KK has sung it marvellously.

2. Apni julfen(Tajmahal:An eternal love story) :-The movie was a crap, but that can’t be said about the music. This was the last film of legendary composer Naushad. The music is no way near to his old classics but it is better than many other films releasing now and then. This particular ghazal is the best composition of the film. I never liked Hariharan’s ghazals from his private albums but this time he has delievered. Naqsh layallpuri has written the lyrics of this ghazal.

3. Naam Ada Likhna( Yahaan) :- Yahaan was a small movie that went away without a whimper. The music had a similar reception. It was composed by shantanu moitra and consisted of some beautiful songs but this was the best. Shreya ghoshal is in full form and is ably supported by Shaan. The lyrics of Gulzar provide the finishing touches, capturing the essence of this movie set in Kashmir.

4. Yeh haunsla(Dor) :- Another Nagesh kukkunor film, another Salim Suleiman composition , another song with positive vibes and another winner. The lyrics this time though are by Mir ali hussain and the vocals have been provided by Shafaqat amanat ali, this song is in complete contrast to his earlier hit ‘mitwa’ but ali has done full justice with the song. Unfortunately, the song had similar fate as the songs mentioned above.

5. Neele neele( Holiday) :- This movie was one big flop but the music by Ranjit barot was a winner. I loved all the songs of the movie but this is my personal favourite. Shreya ghoshal produces magic yet again. The lyrics by Neelesh mishra are simple and beautiful.

6. Jaane kya chahe ( Pyaar ke side effects) :-This song was a pleasant surprise for me as rest of the songs of this multiplex movie are fast paced hip-hop and bhangra numbers. After a song with high notes‘ya ali’ Zubin makes a transition to semi-classical and comes out with flying colours. Mayur puri has written the lyrics and Pritam is the composer. Alas! The song was overshadowed by other big hits of this film.

7. Halke-halke( Honeymoon travels pvt. limited) :- Neeraj shridhar got a perfect song from Vishal-Shekhar to show his verstality and he doesn’t disappoints. And when you have lyricist like Javed akhtar, the final outcome is bound to be an absolute delight for the listeners.

8. Kasak( Chhodo na yaar) :-Music director Anand raj anand is the single creative force behind this song, penning lyrics as well as providing vocals. The song is a semi-classical and different from the beats-oriented songs for which anand is famous. It is an instant relief to the ears. If only the movie would have been as good.

9. Aaoge jab tum(Jab we met) :- This song was a minor hit but it deserved more. When you have such youth oriented tracks like 'mauja hi mauja' and 'yeh ishq hai', a song with classical touch was bound to be overshadowed. Ustad Rashid khan’s voice is mesmerizing. Irshad kamil’s lyrics provide the necessary feelings of longing for a loved one.

10. Ya rehem( Aamir):-Finally the song which prompted me to write this post. The whole creative bunch behind this qawalli is comparatively new to the film industry but they have done a superb job. Amit trivedi and Amitabh have performed a dual job of singing & composing and singing & writing respectively, but none of them disaapoint. The third singer is Murtja-qadir.

This list is my personal favourite. I might have missed out a few other songs, but would be very happy if the readers are able to mention few more. See u soon with my new post.