Feb 24, 2012 at 11:32am IST

Music Review: 'Kahaani' focuses on nostalgia

New Delhi: The association of music directors Vishal-Shekhar with the director Sujoy Ghosh is not new. They are complementing each other's work since 2003 when Sujoy turned storyteller for the first time in 'Jhankar Beats'. The collaboration continued in 'Aladin' and 'Home Delivery' but no song made any impact on the audiences. 'Jhankar Beats' was received well but a major part of the album's success went to RD Burman's style of music.

The team has again come up with a new album 'Kahaani'. The film has six songs with the title song 'Kahaan' featuring twice. KK and Vishal Dadlani have sung the male version while Shreya Ghosal has given voice to the female version.

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Simple lyrics and soothing voice of Shreya Ghosal form the backbone of the title song. Vishal Dadlani has used the guitar as the base and that is where the trick lies. It seems that the motive of this song is to provide the nostalgic feel. Dadlani's 'aalap' superimposes Shreya's voice and he has also not tried to explore Ghosal's range. She is good at such slow tracks but this one is nowhere close to 'Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai'.

Music Review: 'Kahaani' focuses on nostalgia

'Kahaani' may not be a collector's item but it features right voices as per the overall mood of the album.

The male version is certainly better with Dadlani giving the additional vocal. KK is one singer whose strength lies in taking the air out at high pitch and still taking the voice to a higher pitch, and Vishal-Shekhar have focussed on it. Your lips may like humming it in the moments of solitude.

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'Aami Shotti Bolchi' not only has interesting lyrics but also conveys the feel of Kolkata. The song is successful even if it expresses about only 20 percent of the local feel of Kolkata. Wordings such as 'Kolkata armaano ka achar hai' and 'Strong hai powerful hai fir bhi lachar hai' actually communicate the mood of the city. The impression of RD's style is quite evident on the song. Good lyrics and apt music give a retro feel. Nobody could have been better than Usha Uthup to sing this song. It's the highlight of the album, aami shotti bolchi.

Can anything be better for an album than Amitabh Bachchan singing for it? His 'Ekla chalo re' brings star value to the album. His quite apparent and intentional regional accent wins the heart. The song continues the string of melodies. Big B has sung a really good song which suits his style and poetic sensibilities.

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Next in the list is 'Tore Bina' by Sukhwinder Singh. Normally, we expect 'Chak de' kind of song from Sukhwinder but this time he has switched to a song with classical touch. This also follows the basic mood of the film, nothing exceptional about it.

Javed Bashir's 'Piya tu kahe rootha re' is the last song of the film. Again a raga based song. The fusion is noticeable but somehow it doesn't evoke the emotions 'Shotti bolchi' generates. Javed's husky voice compliments the music but it seems like an overdose of heavy strings.

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'Kahaani' may not be a collector's item but it features right voices as per the overall mood of the album. 'Shotti bolchi' and 'Ekla chalo re' have the potential to fetch your attention.


Did you like the music of 'Kahaani'?



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