Songs and musician credits at the end.
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
The lines of Bharat at one point say “raag bharat mujhpe chhedo” – it is perhaps for that reason that composers Shankar Ehsaan Loy base the song partly on desh raag, the raga that has been the foundation for some of the best odes to our nation. This one too is a moving piece, delivered by Shankar Mahadevan. The spoken version of the song delivered by lyricist Prasoon Joshi, set to a minimal version of the same arrangement isn’t half as appealing though, mainly since the man’s rendition isn’t particularly impactful – I would much rather listen to the musical version. Continuing on the patriotic vein but in a more belligerent manner are the two calls to arms – Vijayi Bhava and Bolo Kab Pratikaar Karoge. The increased creativity in display makes me prefer the former among the two, for the classical-tinged segues the song makes in the second and third verses, and the fine use of live percussion (Dipesh Varma, Shikhar Naad Qureshi, Satyajit Jamsandekar) especially backing the rousing title phrase. Bolo Kab Pratikaar Karoge on the other hand is a lot more hackneyed in its fervour, and even with Sukhwinder Singh and the chorus’s energy levels, generates only limited interest.
Ricky & Siva handle the arrangement for SEL’s take on the traditional Shiv Tandav Stotra – nothing drastically different from the usual adaptations of the composition, and as a result it is as effective as the devotional piece generally tends to be, helped on its way by the heavy percussions et al. Dankila’s familiar sounding melody is bolstered big time by the chirpy folksy arrangement and a matchingly exuberant rendition from Prajukta Shukre, Shrinidhi Ghatate, Siddharth Mahadevan and Arunaja. The soundtrack’s best songs both go to the relatively lesser known name in the soundtrack’s lineup, Pratibha Singh Baghel. Tak Taki apparently means waiting, and the song’s gentle melody perfectly complements the longing and apprehensions in Joshi’s lines. The romantic Rajaji does even better, the delightful melody and rich arrangement (splendid use of Naveen Kumar’s flute in particular) a pleasant throwback to the soundscape of such albums as Lagaan. While Pratibha Singh sounds fabulous in both songs, she is briefly joined by another competent singer, Ravi Mishra, in Rajaji.
Manikarnika. Shankar Ehsaan Loy start their year in style, giving Rani Laxmibai’s story a fittingly grand soundtrack. Hope the movie has made good use of it.
Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5
Top Recos: Rajaji, Tak Taki, Bharat
Musician Credits
Song – Bharat
Vocals – Shankar Mahadevan
Chorus – Mani Mahadevan, Ravi Mishra, Binaya Mohanty, Latesh Poojary & Mohammed Arshad
Arranged by Indrajit ‘Tubby’ Sharma
Flute – Naveen Kumar
Strings Performed by Bombay String Orchestra
Song – Vijayi Bhava
Vocals – Shankar Mahadevan
Chorus – Prajakta Shukre, Shrinidhi Ghatate, Ravi Mishra, Mani Mahadevan, Mohammed Arshad
Live Rhythm & Percussion arranged & conducted by Dipesh Varma
Percussion performed by Dipesh Varma, Shikhar Naad Qureshi &
Satyajit Jamsandekar
Strings Performed by Bombay String Orchestra
Song – Bolo Kab Pratikar Karoge
Vocals – Sukhwinder Singh
Chorus – Mani Mahadevan, Arun Kamath, Nihal Shetty, Vikas Joshi, Varun Uday & Rituraj Sen
Arranged by Indrajit ‘Tubby’ Sharma & Ricky
Song – Rajaji
Vocals – Pratibha Singh Baghel & Ravi Mishra
Chorus – Shivam Mahadevan & Ravi Mishra
Flute – Naveen Kumar
Live Rhythm & Percussion arranged & conducted by Dipesh Varma
Percussion performed by Dipesh Varma & Omkar Salunkhe
Strings Performed by Bombay String Orchestra
Song – Shiv Tandav
Vocals – Shankar Mahadevan
Chorus – Mani Mahadevan, Ravi Mishra, Binaya Mohanty, Latesh Poojary & Mohammed Arshad
Arranged by Ricky & Siva
Song – Tak Taki
Vocals – Pratibha Singh Baghel
Arranged by Soumil Shringarpure
Song – Dankila
Vocals – Prajakta Shukre, Shrinidhi Ghatate & Siddharth Mahadevan & Arunaja
Arranged by Ricky & Siva
Chorus – Mani Mahadevan, Ankita Joshi, Ravi Mishra, Prajakta Shukre, Shrinidhi Ghatate & Mohammed Arshad
Song – Bharat Feat. Prasoon Joshi
Vocals – Prasoon Joshi
Arranged by Indrajit ‘Tubby’ Sharma
Flute – Naveen Kumar
Strings Performed by Bombay String Orchestra
Bombay String Orchestra Conducted by Yogesh Pradhan
Bombay String Orchestra recorded at YRF Studios by Manasi Tare, Abhishek
Khandelwal & Shantanu Hudlikar
Lyrics – Prasoon Joshi
All songs recorded at Purple Haze Studios by Abhay Rumde assisted by Sreejith Padmakumar
All songs mixed by Vijay Dayal at YRF Studios
Mastered by Gethin John at Hafod Mastering, Masteringworld, UK
