Songs at the end of the review. Full credits (including those from the background score) at the very end.
Sur Niragas Ho, composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy (the movie soundtrack also has songs from the original play composed by Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki) is a devotional track addressing Lord Ganesha. Like the Ganesha odes that Shankar Mahadevan has sung in the past (there seem to be quite a lot those!) this one also comes off quite well. Sur Niragas is pleasant, rather simple in its arrangement and draws a lot of its charm from the singing – Shankar and a lovely chorus. Shankar’s voice incidentally features in almost half the songs; which isn’t really surprising given his command over classical songs, the fact that SEL are composing, and the man playing a pivotal character onscreen as well. While Sur Niragas is a light piece, the delightful desh raag based Man Mandira is a better display of the singer’s famed classical skills – from the alaap that kicks off the song to the sargam that gives it the heady finish – just wish the song were longer. His younger son Shivam Mahadevan sings a shorter version of the same track, not as nuanced but equally well executed and as endearing. Another key singer in the soundtrack is Rahul Deshpande, grandson of Vasantrao Deshpande who sang in the original play Katyar Kaljat Ghusli and has also acted in one of the versions, wiki says. Rahul himself has acted in one of the play adaptations. Don’t know about his acting skills but he is one hell of a singer, as he adequately proves here! His first song is Dil Ki Tapish which already came out as a song video (there’s a possibility Rahul is the voice of Sachin Pilgaonkar in the movie – most of his songs/portions seem to be in Hindi/Urdu), a beautifully composed Keeravani raga composition. Shadowing Rahul’s spotless delivery at every step is the equally brilliant sarangi.
Rahul’s second song Sur Se Saji is even more brilliant. The singing is once again top class, highlighted by a long alaap (the raga is puriya dhanashri/panthuvarali from the sound of it) while the arrangement rides on the multi-layered percussion – claps, jingles, tabla, pakhawaj and Shankar Mahadevan’s vocal percussion. Two tracks that feature Arijit Singh are the ones relatively “out of character” from the dominant sound of the soundtrack. Bhola Bhandari follows the Bhole Nath festival song format in its arrangement, while the song still carries a classical base that the singer carries off neatly, Shivam Mahadevan joining him at the title refrain. It is the other song that I like more though, the qawwali called Yaar Ilaahi that has Arshad Mohammad and Divya Kumar cruising along with a finely nuanced rendition in raag shivaranjani until they bump into the yaman-ish cameo from Arijit. And I love how the song seamlessly switches back to the original raga via the chorus, amidst Arijit’s wonderful solo act. The pacy, tarana-ish Aruni Kirani (sohini/hamsanandi-based, I am guessing) has a climactic feel about it, and features a spell-binding duel between another exceptional singer Mahesh Kale (disciple of the original composer Jitendra Abhisheki) and the sitar culminating a soaring recall of Sur Niragas Ho. The composer trio’s last original song, Katyar Kaljat Ghusli’s theme song is a simple instrumental piece, a serene track led by sitar (or is it veena?) and flute, the 7 beat cycle on tabla adding to the soothing feel.
The remaining eight songs are SEL’s adaptation of Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki’s compositions. Ghei Chhand comes in two versions – the one sung by Shankar Mahadevan seems to be the more famous one, set to a pensive raga called salag varali. Shankar is impeccable with his improvisations, and the pakhawaj goes well with the gravitas of the composition. It is the alternate version that works for me better though, lighter and upbeat (raag bhimplasi possibly) and Rahul Deshpande’s singing once again underlined by the sarangi. Shankar is at the helm of Tejonidhi Lohagol as well (lalit based apparently, though I am not sure if it is purely that raag here) and once again does a fine job. Best among the Jitendra Abhisheki songs is Surat Piya Ki that features an engaging contest between Rahul Deshpande and Mahesh Kale, both singers effortlessly flitting between ragas before ending on a brief reprise of Ghei Chhand. Lagi Kalejwa Katar, Din Gele and Muralidhar Shyam are presented like old recordings – in case of Lagi it clearly is a genuinely old rendition, one by Mr. Abhisheki himself. But the other two (both pretty short tracks) have Shankar’s vocals accompanied by vinyl crackles. Finally there is the chorus doing a commendable delivery of the yaman kalyan based Tarana.
Katyar Kaljat Ghusli. First time that Shankar Ehsaan Loy get to do an all-out classical album, and they produce one of their best ever works! A classy Marathi debut from the trio.
Music Aloud Rating: 9/10
Top Recos: All of them!
Thanks to everyone in this thread for helping confirm the original compositions and @kitha_n for helping figure out some of the ragas.
Full Credits
Recording Studio
Purple Haze (Abhay Rumde)
Dawn Studios (Tushar Pandit)
Premier Digital Mastering Studio (Reena Gilbert)
Wow & Flutter Studios (Rupak Thakur)
Yashraj Studios ( Vijay Dayal, Dipesh Sharma)
Saloni Recording Studio, Sangli (Sharad Shah)
Mixed & Mastered by Vijay Dayal @ YRF Studios
* Sur Niragas Ho Lyrics Mangesh Kangane Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Shankar Mahadevan, Anandi Joshi & Chorus
* Tejonidhi Lohagol Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Pt.Jitendra Abhisheki
Sung by Shankar Mahadevan
* Shah E Tarannum Lyrics Sameer Samant Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Rahul Deshpande
* Ghei Chhand Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Pt.Jitendra Abhisheki
Sung by Shankar Mahadevan
* Dil Ki Tapish Lyrics Sameer Samant Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Rahul Deshpande
* Lagi Karejwa Katar Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Pt.Jitendra Abhisheki
Sung by Pt.Jitendra Abhisheki
* Ghei Chhand Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Pt.Jitendra Abhisheki
Sung by Rahul Deshpande
* Sur Se Saji Lyrics Prakash Kapadia & Samir Samant Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Shankar Mahadevan & Rahul Deshpande
* Ghei Chhand Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Pt.Jitendra Abhisheki
Sung by Mahesh Kale
* Man Mandira Lyrics Mandar Cholkar Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Shankar Mahadevan
* Man Mandira Lyrics Mandar Cholkar Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Shivam Mahadevan
* Sargam Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Mahesh Kale & Savani Shendye
* Jyotirmaya Murti Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Shankar Mahadevan
* Tarana Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Pt.Jitendra Abhisheki
Sung by Mahesh Kale, Savani Shendye & Chorus
* Din Gele Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Pt.Jitendra Abhishekhi
Sung by Shankar Mahadevan
* Muralidhar Shyam Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Pt.Jitendra Abhishekhi
Sung by Shankar Mahadevan, Mahesh Kale
* Bhola Bhandari Lyrics Mangesh Kangane Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Arijit Singh, Shivam Mahadevan, Chorus
* Yaar Illahi Qawwali Lyrics Sameer Samant Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Arshad Muhammad, Divya Kumar, Arijit Singh, Chorus
* Post Qawwali Tana Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Rahul Deshpande, Mahesh Kale
* Kavan Des Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Pt.Jitendra Abhisheki
Sung by Rahul Deshpande, Chorus
* Dil Ki Tapish Lyrics Sameer Samant Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Ankita Joshi, Mahesh Kale
* Surat Piya Ki Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Pt.Jitendra Abhisheki
Sung by Rahul Deshpande, Mahesh Kale
* Ghei Chhand Lyrics Purshottam Darwhekar Composer Pt.Jitendra Abhisheki
Sung by Mahesh Kale
* Sadashiv Showing Styles Composer Shankar Ehsaan Loy Sung by Mahesh Kale
* Aruni Kirani Lyrics Sameeer Samant Composer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Sung by Mahesh Kale
Singers
Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki
Shankar Mahadevan
Rahul Deshpande
Mahesh Kale
Savani Shende
Arijit Singh
Divya Kumar
Arshad Muhammad
Ankita Joshi
Aanandi Joshi
Shivam Mahadevan
Rhythm
Deepak Borkar
Madhav Pawar
Vijay Shivalkar
Vinayak Netke
Krishna Musale
Satyajit Talwalkar
Prasad Padhye
Prasad Joshi
Navin Sharma
Sharafat Khan
Bhimrao Mohite
Prabhakar Mosamkar
Mandar Gogate
Vijay Dayal
Aditya V. Oke
Vaibhav Chinchalkar
Mandar Kamlapurkar
Chorus
Shrirang Bhave
Jaydeep Bagwadkar
Dhananjay Mhaskar
Nachiket Desai
Umesh Joshi
Vijay Dhuri
Mani Iyer
Aanandi Joshi
Priyanka Barve
Savani Ravindra
Pragati Joshi
Aarohi Mhatre
Vibraphone Dnyanesh Deo
Organ/Harmonium Aditya V.Oke
Flute Varad Kathapurkar
Sitar Purbayan Chaterjee
Swar Mandal Deepak Borkar
Sarangi Dilshad Khan
Spanish Guitar Dhyanesh Deo
Manish Kulkarni
Electric Bass Guitar Manish Kulkarni
