Ishqiya – Music Review

ishqiyaWith its Sufi elements, the mellow retro-styled Dil to Bachcha Hai will have you hooked right from the start, Vishal doing a magnificent job with the instruments, the claps, the accordion (or harmonium, I am not quite sure!) et al. And Rahat Fateh Ali sounds so beautifully at home rendering this track as compared to the songs he sang last year. The remix also has an alluring arrangement, but doesn’t quite capture the magic of the original. The English part sung by Clinton Cerejo doesn’t gel in with the actual lyrics. Ibn-E-Batuta starts off exuding a heady feel akin to Raat Ke Dhai Baje, Dil Haara and the likes. But somewhere along the course of the song the effect starts wearing off, in spite of the high energy vocals by Mika and Sukhwinder. The two remixes can be steered clear of, totally lacking the class or the charm that was there in the Dil To Bachcha Hai remix. The first remix in fact sounds more of a travesty with its annoying chipmunkish processing of Ibn-E-Batuta.
Rekha Bharadwaj gets behind the microphone to deliver Ab Mujhe Koi, a conventional ghazal set to a rather unconventional background consisting of guitars, keyboard and drums. Needless to say Rekha does a wonderful job of rendering the song. She returns to sing the last track of the album, Badi Dheere Jali, a track set to raag Miya Ki Todi I think. The arrangement sees a wonderful fusion of western and eastern instruments.
After giving a very massy soundtrack in Kaminey, Vishal this time opts for a mix of the massy and the esoteric. For that reason Ishqiya‘s soundtrack is not going to enjoy the widespread acceptance that Kaminey’s did, barring the first two songs. Nevertheless Ishqiya once again demonstrates the class act that Vishal Bharadwaj is. And in Dil To Bachcha Hai I already have my first entry for the top 15 tracks of 2010!

Music Aloud rating: 7.5/10

Recommended tracks: Dil To Bachcha Hai, Badi Dheere Jali, Ibn-E-Batuta

vicky bajwa says:

i really loves this album,Dil to bacha hai is going to rock the charts.

VIP says:

when i called kaminey a massy track, what i was referring to was the fact that almost every song in kaminey was something a lay person would instantly attach with, something that he could hum along. that was something vishal didnt quite do in the albums before that, with a few exceptions perhaps. again in ishqiya the last two tracks are something only the classical music enthusiasts would find to their great taste, in spite of their quality. nevertheless, a brilliant album. 🙂 its jst coz of that esoteric element to the last two songs that i reduced the rating to 7.5. we also consider the mass appeal in our ratings you see. 🙂

Rohit says:

Dont agree that Kaminey was a massy track but somewhat agree with your judgement of the album here. (I rate it 8.5 on 10 though)

All the songs are just superb and the way techno-rural lyrics are is mixed with ‘hep’ instruments and presented to us has genius written all over it. The remixes arent up to the mark I agree with you on that! do check out

Rohit

Peace and equanimity