We hereby start off the Music Aloud Playlist For The Month series. At the start of every month we shall be bringing out a list of recommended 15 songs picked up from the previous month’s releases or from earlier releases if we do not find the previous month’s songs fit enough. If available, we shall also be embedding the audio/video links here so that you can try our recommendations here itself. The playlist would primarily feature Hindi music, but there would also be songs from English or from the World music arena if we strongly feel the need of making people aware of some such song. This month though, the list is entirely composed of Hindi songs, if you exempt the Pussycat Doll remix of Jai Ho. Listen on then..

1.  Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire) – Singers: Nicole Scherzinger, Sukhwinder Singh, Vijay Prakash, Tanvi, Mahalaxmi Iyer

What better song to start with than the one that got India its first Best Song Oscar. The one I recommend for the playlist this month is however the remix version of Jai Ho by Pussycat Dolls. The remix has been done very well, leaving Rahman’s original instrumentation untouched, and Nicole’s vocals have blended in well with the song. Barring Nicole’s pronounciation of Jai Ho as “J” Ho, Pussycat Dolls have done total justice to ARR.

2.  Bade Se Shehar Mein (13B) – Singer: Karthik

Karthik’s voice and SEL’s mellow instrumentation wash over you in this soothing melody. The chorus do a splendid job as well, with the occasional high pitched intervention by Shankar. If you are feeling down or something, this is the song you should be listening to.

3.  Aasma Odh Kar (13B) – Singers: Shankar Mahadevan, Chitra

Another song from 13B, having a heavy South influence. Sung by Chitra and Shankar Mahadevan, this romantic song has a slight haunting effect about it.

4.  Aisi Sazaa (Gulaal) – Singer: Shilpa Rao

Shilpa Rao’s soulful rendition is bound to touch your heart in this song which has been brilliantly arranged by debutant (in music direction) Piyush Mishra. With sounds of rain and the sparse instrumental backing, one would surely get reminded of the songs from Water.

5.  Beedo (Gulaal) – Singer: Rekha Bharadwaj

Rekha Bharadwaj rules the roost in this folk song, a composition that could give Vishal Bharadwaj a run for his money.

6.  Yaara Maula (Gulaal) – Singers: Rahul Ram, Aushim

With the vocals by Indian Ocean’s Rahul Ram and Aushim (according to my assumption Asheem Chakravarthy) and the rock instrumentation that comes between a philosophical song having dark overtones, this song could as well have been an Indian Ocean song. No credits taken away from Piyush Mishra though for his superb composition.

7.  Duniya (Gulaal) – Singer: Piyush Mishra

If you are into the good old Hindi songs, this song will be a trip down the memory lane for you. Piyush Mishra does a decent job on lending vocals to this tribute to the legendary Rafi song from Pyaasa. The use of harmonium, tabla etc. give a bhajan feel to the song, at least for the first half.

8.  Dhoop Ke Sikke (Sikandar) – Singers: Anusha Mani, Shankar Mahadevan

Another feel good song to add to your playlist, again from the SEL trio. The nursery rhyme-like motif that goes “Tee-ree-ree” is especially cute!

9.  Gulon Mein, Serene version (Sikandar) – Singer: Mohit Chauhan

The composer duo Justin-Uday have splendidly retuned the classic Faiz Ahmed Faiz poem to give another soothing song for our playlist. And this sort of song is bread and butter for the singer Mohit Chauhan as he has proven many times.

10.Gulon Mein, Upbeat version (Sikandar) – Singer: KK

Sandesh Shandilya composes this faster version of the same poem, and with KK’s rendition this song is in no way behind the other version.

11. Mohabbat Aapse (Aa Dekhen Zara) – Singer: Akriti Kakkar

The flute bit that launches the song makes you sit up and notice, and Akriti Kakkar doesn’t disappoint you with the vocals either. The result, a nice romantic melody from Pritam.

12. Aloo Chaat (Aloo Chaat) – Singer: Kailash Kher

Don’t let the initial electronic loop going Aloo Chaat discourage you, as what follows is a good folk fusion from Vipin Mishra, ex-Parikrama guitarist. And he aptly chooses Kailash Kher to deliver the folk part who pulls it off in style.

13. Aloo Chaat (Aloo Chaat) – Singers: RDB, Nindy Kaur

To cover the deficiency of a disco song in the playlist, I include this song which I feel is the best disco song of the season. I haven’t heard any other work from RDB, but this song of theirs is impressive. The Arabic loop running in the background has sounded really good with the Bhangra and rap.

Couldn’t help but include a couple of songs from the two biggest hits of the previous month, Dilli 6 and Dev D, given that I am still hooked on to those two albums in spite of so many releases this month. So here are two songs, one song apiece from each of the albums.

14. Dil Gira Dafatan (Dilli 6) – Singers: Ash King, Chinmayi

Awesome is the word that describes the instrumentation of this song! Quite, yet subtle. The guitar loop that starts immediately after the initial vocals has been simply mindblowing! Ash King has been spot-on with the various intricacies in the rendition. And Chinmayi provides excellent backing. Too bad Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra didn’t give the song its full due in its picturisation. He rather tried to use the song as a mean to advertise the producers and other stakeholders of the film, like Marriott Hotels and ROMP (People might have noticed Abhishek Bachchan flying an aeroplane named ROMP06!!).

15. Dhol Yaara Dhol (Dev D) – Singers: Kshitij, Shilpa Rao

Ideally the song from Dev D should be Emotional Atyachaar, but since a lot has been heard of that song already, I recommend a different song. A second song from Shilpa Rao for the playlist. The folk song has been superbly sung by Shilpa Rao and Kshitij, Shilpa’s voice quite matching the folk style. The instrumentation by Amit Trivedi has been such that you close your eyes while listening to the song and you could very well be travelling over the North Indian countryside!

There seems to be a marked increase in Punjabi-orientation in Bollywood filmdom lately. And as a result most of the albums inevitably include a couple or more of Punjabi songs. Aloo Chaat also follows suit, roping in British-Punjabi band RDB alongside a couple of other music directors to create the music. The result? Lets see.

Aloo Chaat

The Arab-Punjabi-Rap mix has been well arranged by the British Bhangra group RDB. Sung by RDB themselves with Nindy Kaur, wife of Manjeet Ral of RDB, this song is surely going to rule the discotheques over days to come. RDB had previously collaborated with Snoop Dogg and Akshay Kumar for the rap version of Singh is Kinng, and also did a song Rafta Rafta for Akshay Kumar in Namastey London.
Equally impressive is a second version of the song done by ex-Parikrama guitarist Vipin Mishra and sung by Kailash Kher. The song sees a fusion between electronic orchestration and Kailash’s folksy singing. Vipin shows his adeptness at employing the right instruments, especially catchy being the use of Sarangi. The only turn-off, however, is the synthesized loop of Aloo Aloo Chaat which keeps appearing intermittently, which could have been avoided. Having created a lasting impression with his debut Bollywood venture, the title track of Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar, Vipin follows up by adding another engaging track to his kitty. I shall be closely tracking the release of his first full-fledged Bollywood OST, Lets Dance, expected to come out in a couple of months.

Dhadke Jiya

Next up is a romantic number from Xulfi, the singer of Pakistani band, Call – The Band. Though Xulfi’s rendition is not what you would call flawless, it does work to convey the mood, and the instrumentation has been really good to make up for whatever imperfections the singing might have. Though I didn’t quite like Call’s debut album Jilawatan, they have continued to impress hence, first with Laree Choottee from Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local and now this. The remix however doesn’t quite match up with the original, the synthesizing spoiling the effect.

Boliyaan

RDB and Nindy Kaur return with a full-fledged Punjabi song this time, marked by its lavish instrumentation and occasional shifts in tempo. This song falls in the league of songs like Nagada from Jab We Met, akin to a wedding song. If I may be allowed a digression, I somehow can’t quite associate the voice of Nindy Kaur with her appearance!! The second version of the song, sung again by Nindy, impressed me more. That version has a sequence in between that sounds remarkably similar to Le Jaayenge from the 1974 movie Chor Machaaye Shor.

Life Is A Sizzling Aloo Chaat

Kunal Ganjawala hasn’t been having a great time in Bollywood of late, with the last worthwhile song he sang probably being in Saawariya. This Punjabi/English song unfortunately again falls into the category of the less impressive songs. Though Kunal and debutant music director Mehfuz Mahruf try their best to put life into the song, the tune falls flat, helped on its way down by the lyrics. The instrumentation reminds one of older songs though I can’t specifically place the songs. The emotional segment in between doesn’t quite gel in either. Looks like Kunal will have to wait longer for his next big song in Bollywood. Until then its back to Kannada I suppose, where he seems to be having a better time.

For a comedy film, the soundtrack of Aloo Chaat definitely exceeds expectations. The only slight disappointment has been Mehfuz Mahruf, but the other songs more than make up for it.

A R Rahman’s good run this year extended a step further yesterday night when he won two (again!!) Filmfare awards, one for his peppy soundtracks of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, and the other for his heroic background score of Jodhaa Akbar. With the award for Jaane Tu, Rahman scored a hat-trick of filmfare awards, having won the Best Music Director award the previous two years for Guru in 2008 and Rang De Basanti in 2007 respectively. Yesterday also marked the 25th Filmfare award for Rahman, taking into account his regional Filmfare Awards as well. Other awards in the music section were as follows.

Best Playback Singer (Male):  Sukhwinder Singh – Haule Haule (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
Best Playback Singer (Female):  Shreya Ghoshal – Teri Ore (Singh is Kinng)
Best Lyricist:  Javed Akhtar – Jashn-e-Bahara (Jodhaa Akbar)
RD Burman Upcoming Musical Talent:  Benny Dayal – Kaise Mujhe (Ghajini)

Rahman speaking to press before the function