You can listen to the soundtrack here.
Composer Debojyoti Mishra opens Memories In March with an unplugged track Bahu Manaratha that sees a fantastic interplay between piano and strings. And on the vocals is the wonderful-sounding Subhamita Bannerjee who resembles Asha Bhonsle in quite a few places. The mukhda sort of reminded me of a song from Mishra’s only Malayalam work (his only other soundtrack I’ve heard in full) Calcutta News. The singer returns later in the soundtrack to assert her classical prowess with Mere Lala Aaj Na Jaio. Subhamita renders the dolorous semiclassical melody in an improv manner, to a spare background highlighted by the chorus and the piano. The composer next gets the singer most known in Bollywood for his works for Mr. Bhansali, Shail Hada, to sing the male version of Ajeeb Dawat and quite amusingly the song sounds straight out of SLB repertory, ambient arrangement and all. The flute bits deserve a mention though, they are superb. So is Shail’s singing. The track gets a fresh twist in its female version sung by Shilpa Rao. The orchestral elements are replaced with a few acoustic instruments to good effect.
Mishra’s flawlessness in his vocalist selection continues on display with his splendid utilization of Rekha Bhardwaj’s voice in a minimally orchestrated folk song Kanah Sang. The song has the sort of rain-soaked feel Rahman’s Water soundtrack had, and Rekha simply aces the singing. The song gets a makeover in its male version and like with the previous male version song this too has orchestral elements brought in, dominated once again by the piano. Kailash Kher is another old timer with folk songs and pulls this off with élan. Mishra closes the soundtrack in the rock territory with Har Ghar Ke Kone May, Agnee’s Mohan delivering director Rituparno Ghosh (who has penned all the songs)’s philosophical lyrics in his earthy baritone.
After the critically acclaimed Raincoat, Debojyoti Mishra churns out another outstanding piece of work for Rituparno Ghosh, highlight of which, is the composer’s immaculate choice of vocalists. And the almost-ubiquitous piano.
Music Aloud Rating — 8.5/10
Recommended Tracks — Bahu Manaratha, Kanah Sang (F), Har Ghar Ke Kone May, Ajeeb Dawat (F)
