Songs and complete credits at the end.
Given the setting of Anaarkali of Aarah, it isn’t surprising that songs from the soundtrack largely carry a rustic and raunchy tone. The songs are also mostly in Bhojpuri, in keeping with the movie’s locale. First of the songs is Lahanga Jhaanke sung by Bhojpuri playback singer Indu Sonali. The abrupt pacy start of the track can be a bit of a turn off, but the song picks up well after that. Indu is good, and Ravindra Jadhav’s bulbul tarang is very nicely employed (in fact the bulbul tarang is one of the prominent features throughout the soundtrack). The song appears in the soundtrack once again, in the first half of Sa Ra Ra. And it works much better there – partly because of a prelude introducing the movie’s leading lady, which takes away the abruptness, and partly due to the inclusion of a chorus segment. It is in the second half that the song assumes a darker form in tune with its alternate title, Anaarkali’s Revenge. Singer Pawni Pandey is in fine form on vocals, confidently negotiating the mode shifts. Pandey gets two more songs, both of which she delivers with equal finesse – the short but sprightly Mera Balam Bambaiya and the incredibly engaging keh mukri called Aye Sakhi Ooh. The latter has a wonderful melody (possibly raag patdeep based) and Jadhav’s bulbul tarang once again stands out in the backdrop, and matching his efforts is Deepak Marathe on the harmonium.
The lady who made her debut two years back with Banno (Tanu Weds Manu Returns), Swati Sharma, handles the vocals in Dunaliya Mein Jung, the song whose video is already creating ripples on the internet. Yet another track that conforms very much to the earthiness and bawdiness of the soundtrack. It is only the singing that is found wanting in the whole affair. Sharma fares better in her second song though, Mora Piya Matlab Ka Yaar. Composer Rohit Sharma gets two Bollywood veterans to sing the two songs that deviate from the dominant theme. Rekha Bhardwaj rules the wonderfully constructed thumri (carrying shades of raags patdeep, pilu and khamaj) Badnaam Jiya De Gaari. Instead of the two instruments that dominate the soundscape of the other songs, the composer opts for sarangi (Sangeet Mishra) and sitar (Juber Sheikh) both of which sound fabulous. And the album’s most “filmy” sounding melodic piece is given to Sonu Nigam. The tune has a pretty heard-before feel, but is pleasantly engaging. Largely owing to Sonu’s practised rendition, unsurprisingly. The two bonus tracks at the end – Hamre Jobna Pe and Laal Laal Cheekwa are short and sound a bit improv-ish, but I attribute that to them being rehearsal songs. The singing is good in both cases – Indu Sonali and Rohit Sharma respectively.
Anaarkali of Aarah. Composer Rohit Sharma’s music is very thematic, and quite effective. Good to see the man slowly inching closer to the mainstream.
Music Aloud Rating: 3/5
Top Recos: Badnaam Jiya De Gaari, Sa Ra Ra, Aye Sakhi Ooh
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
Music Credits
1) Lahanga Jhaanke – Accidental Firing
Composer – Rohit Sharma
Lyrics – Ravinder Randhawa
Singer – Indu Sonali
Backing Vocals – Ashish Chakrabarty and Rohit Sharma
Programming – Ashish Chakrabarty
Rhythm – Sachin Sawant
Banjo /Bulbul Tarang – Ravindra Jadhav
Guitars – Indrajit Chetia
2) Aye Sakhi Ooh – Keh Mukri
Composer – Rohit Sharma
Lyrics – Ram Kumar Singh
Singer – Pawani Pandey
Backing Vocals – Ashish Chakrabarty and Rohit Sharma
Programming – Ashish Chakrabarty
Rhythm – Sachin Sawant
Banjo /Bulbul Tarang – Ravindra Jadhav
Harmonium – Deepak Marathe
Guitars – Indrajit Chetia
3) Dunaliya Mein Jung – Anarkali’s Umph
Composer – Rohit Sharma
Lyrics – Ram Kumar Singh
Singer – Swati Sharma
Backing Vocals – Ashish Chakrabarty and Rohit Sharma
Programming – Ashish Chakrabarty
Rhythm – Sachin Sawant
Banjo /Bulbul Tarang – Ravindra Jadhav
Harmonium – Deepak Marathe
Guitars – Indrajit Chetia
4) Badnaam Jiya De Gaari – Thumri
Composer – Rohit Sharma
Lyrics – Ravinder Randhawa
Singer – Rekha Bhardwaj
Programming – Ashish Chakrabarty
Rhythm – Sachin Sawant
Sitar – Juber Sheikh
Sarangi – Sangeet Mishra
Guitars – Abhilash Phukan
5) Mora Piya Matlab Ka Yaar – Anarkali in Studio
Composer – Rohit Sharma
Lyrics – Dr Sagar JNU
Singer – Swati Sharma
Programming – Tapan Jyoti Dutta
Rhythm – Sachin Sawant
Banjo /Bulbul Tarang – Ravindra Jadhav
Harmonium – Deepak Marathe
Guitars – Kandarp Kalita
6) Sa Ra Ra Ra – Anarkali’s Revenge
Composer – Rohit Sharma
Lyrics – Ravinder Randhawa
Singer – Pawani Pandey
Backing Vocals – Ashish Chakrabarty and Rohit Sharma
Programming – Ashish Chakrabarty
Rhythm – Sachin Sawant
Banjo /Bulbul Tarang – Ravindra Jadhav
Guitars – Indrajit Chetia
7) Mann Beqaid Huva – Anarkali’s Adieu
Composer – Rohit Sharma
Lyrics – Prashant Ingole
Singer – Sonu Nigam
Programming – Ashish Chakrabarty and Madhab Deka
Flute – Kiran Vinkar
Violin – Sanchit Chaudhary
Guitars – Indrajit Chetia
8) Hamre Jobna Pe – Anarkali’s Swag
Composer – Rohit Sharma
Lyrics – Avinash Das
Singer – Indu Sonali
Programming – Tapan Jyoti Dutta
Guitars – Tapan Jyoti Dutta
Bass – Tapan Jyoti Dutta
9) Mera Balam Bambaiya – Rehearsal Song
Composer – Traditional
Lyrics – Avinash Das
Singer – Pawani Pandey and Rohit Sharma
Programming – Ashish Chakrabarty
Rhythm – Sachin Sawant
Banjo /Bulbul Tarang – Ravindra Jadhav
10) Laal Laal Cheekwa – Anwar’s Intro
Composer – Rohit Sharma
Lyrics – Avinash Das
Singer – Rohit Sharma
Programming – Tapan Jyoti Dutta
Guitars – Tapan Jyoti Dutta
Bass – Tapan Jyoti Dutta
Background Score
Rohit Sharma
Programming and Arrangement
Tapan Jyoti Dutta
Ashish Chakrabarty
Madhab Deka
Sandeep Mitra
Musicians
Guitars – Abhilash Phukan
Flute – Kiran Vinkar
Sitar – Umashankar Shukla
Shehnai – Gajanan Salunke
Recording Engineer – Abani Tanti and Pankaj P Kaushik
Mixing and Mastering – Abani Tanti
Recording Studio – Geet Audiocraft, Andheri (W), Mumbai
