Devdas is the highest paid for soundtrack ever. Its rights were bought at an unheard of 12 crores by Universal.
Well, is it really worth all that cash? Well that’s for Universal to decide.
However, all I know is, Devdas is the best soundtrack to come out this year, and maybe the best OF the year.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Ismail Darbar
join hands once again to give us another awesome soundtrack. Though Devdas may not hold the mass appeal that HDDCS had,
it’s still a great album nevertheless. Devdas is a period film, and taking that into consideration, Darbar had to really work hard on creating an
ambiance for the songs. He’s very successful at that, with the help of newcomer lyricist Nusrat Badr. Badr has
pulled off something that’s very hard for ANY lyricist to do. He’s remained simple, yet poetic, and also come up with songs that will fit
like a glove to the situations. It’s true that I haven’t yet seen the film, but listening to the songs you feel like you are there, and you know
what’s going on the film. Not many lyricists are able to combine all those aspects and come up with brilliant results. Mr. Badr, take a bow!
Shreya Ghosal marks her debut with “Silsila Yeh Chaahat Ka.” The song is about a girl waiting for her lover, sounds
familar na? But thanks to Darbar the songs turns out to be one of the best on the album. The tabla and the chorus wonderfully
compliment Ghosal’s flawless rendition; notice the way she easily carries off the part where she has to stretch the “piya” refrain.
Shreya Ghosal’s voice is very similar to Chitra's (a fellow staff member pointed that out), and she’s done some amazing work for a newcomer in this album.
“Maar Daala” sung by Kavita K. Subramanium and K.K. is a mujra. When I first heard this song on the
television promos being aired, I quite didn’t like it. Even on the CD, it took a few listens before I began to like it. Now, it’s one of the best
tracks on the soundtrack in my opinion. The singing by Kavita is flawless. The slight harmonium touch by Darbar really adds to the flavor of the
song. K.K. is held to the background, and only appears near the end of the song.
If you liked “Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyan” from HDDCS, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll like
“Bairi Piya”. The song falls in the same genre as the
previously mentioned song from HDDCS, a chhed chhad song, but done
with a lot of grace and maturity. Yes, that’s quite hard to put together.
Shreya Ghosal and Udit Narayan render this number. The singing,
like all of the songs in the album is just mind-blowing. The unique part
of the song is the “ish” that Darbar has put in at certain points in the
song, very unique!
Next up we have a pure classical number “Kaahe Chhed
Mohe” written by Pandit Birju
Maharaj, who also sings the song along with Kavita K.
Subramanium and Madhuri Dixit. The song will probably hold appeal
only to hardcore classical music lovers. The highlight of the song is
definitely Madhuri Dixit. Madhuri doesn’t sing here, she’s there just to
recite some verses. It’s amazing how elegant she sounds when she’s
rendering her lines. I don’t think this one will find many listeners on
the CD, but on the screen this song will sizzle for Madhuri’s dancing I
bet.
Next up is “Hamesha Tumko Chaha” sung by Kavita and Udit
Narayan. This song is my favorite of the album, simply for the
“preetam” refrains. That’ s one of the highlights of the song,
along with Udit’s and Kavita’s rendition. The way the emotions are
expressed through this song is just beautiful. Lyrics by Nusrat Badr are
again, simple yet wonderful.
“Chhalak Chhalak” is a song that will probably be
picturised on Shah Rukh Khan and Jackie Shroff at a “kotha”. Udit
Narayan and Vinod Rathod lend their voices here. I don’t think
everyone will like this song, but I like it for it’s playfulness and
simplicity. A song fitting this situation could’ve turned out horrible,
but Darbar and Bhansali’s execution is pretty nice. Nice to hear Vinod
Rathod in a good song after such a long time...
The album is dominated by females, alas we have a male solo in the form
of "Woh Chaand Jaisi Ladki" sung by Udit Narayan. The song
will probably be picturised on a drunk Devdas who is remembering Paro. The
composition is very simple, and wonderfully sung by Udit Narayan, he's
emoted really well in his singing. The lyrics also deserve a special
mention.
“Morey Piya” is sung by Shreya Ghosal and Jaspinder
Narula. Those who think that Jaspinder Narula can only sing
Bhangra/Punjabi songs need to get their ears checked. This song is
semi-classical and again may not find many takers, however, I personally
liked it. I hate to keep repeating my self, but the singing is just great
here. Jaspinder really surprised me, she easily carries this number even
though she’s never sung songs such as this before.
Next we have “Devdas - The Theme.” This is the same music
piece that was heard in the first promo. This is not something that you’d
wanna play over and over. Nonetheless, it’s up there with other themes
from other Hindi films such as Moksha, Asoka, etc.
Finally we have “Dola Re Dola” sung by Kavita K.
Subramanium, Shreya Ghosal, and K.K. This song will go down really well
with the masses. It reminds me a lot of “Nimbooda” from HDDCS.
However, the song still holds its own. The singing is very good again,
Shreya tries very hard to keep up with Kavita, and succeeds most of the
time. The opening tabla beats are just remarkable. This song will
definitely be a highlight on screen. Namely because Madhuri and Aishwarya are supposed to be dancing together
during this song, is that reason good enough for you to await this song
during the film?
Devdas could have been a tough assignment for any music director.
However Ismail Darbar has really put a lot of effort into his work, and it
shows. Credit must also be given to the singers, who just bring out the
best of themselves. Rarely have we an album where ALL the songs are
perfectly sung, Devdas is such an album. Bhansali deserves a pat on the
back for taking the risk of bringing in two newcomers (Badr and Ghosal) on
such a huge project. All in all, Devdas is without a doubt, a MUST buy.
Recommend this movie to your friend
