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Dilli 6
A.R. Rahman

Buy? Of course!

With this album, Rahman has proven he is worth his weight in Golden Globes.  “Masakalli” (Mohit Chauhan): Originality and freshness, in instrumentation and tune, and vocals. Mohit Chauhan is the newest talent on the block to be unveiled by Rahman. Watch out for him as this song climbs up the charts and stays up there for a good while from now. Instantly likeable, and on repeated listening you tend to notice the background instruments and vocals — this man has got the metallic tinge to his voice… the likes we saw in Kailash Kher and Javed Ali- he is somewhere in between the two. I absolutely went fida over this song.

“Maula Arziyaan” (Javed Ali, Kailash Kher): Astounding, brilliant, devout, goosebumpy, powerful — Five words to describe this song. The twosome I referred to before, come together to give this splendid number, (I reckon its a Sufi style devotional song on the lines of Khwaja from Jodha Akbar ). This song is going to be played ages down the line for the definition of a devotional composition. Eight and a half minutes of bliss, and beautifully rendered verses. May generate tears of happiness, in my case it did.

“Rehna Tu” (A.R. Rahman, Benny Dayal, Tanvi): Sung by Rahman himself, the first impression is ‘one of those forgettable numbers’. But it isn’t. The last two minutes define the difference between Rahman and other composers. I cannot think of anyone else who would thrust in an instrumental in such a song! Modern music to start off with, Arabic in between, and classical to end it! 

“Delhi 6” (Blaaze, Benny Dayal, Vivinenne Pocha, Tanvi, Claire): It’s a good title song for a movie; this one delivers, big time. For the partying-multiplexing generation, the familiar grooving and mixing associated with DJ-ing make it a good peppy one to listen to. Nice rhyme scheme for the lyrics. 

“Hey Kaala Bandar” (Karthik, Naresh, Srinivas, Bony Chakravarthy): Reminds me of Kama Kama from “Enakku 20 Unakku 18”, and more recently Behka from “Ghajini” in the way the lyrics are tinkered with to set in the tune. Nevertheless, this one is also a party track, but Rahman would not leave it at that would he? Glaring similarity to Dil ka rishta from “Yuvvraaj” (in the humming) notwithstanding, repeated listening makes things clearer; this one is the “in” thing for ringtones. 

“Genda Phool” (Rekha Bharadwaj, Shraddha Pandit, Sujata Majumdar): Newbies at it again. A Ila Arun-type lusty numbers. Effortless on the singing, and not a huge effort for the ears to take, this one meanders on. Not the best one, but is passable.

“Noor” (Amitabh Bachchan): This one’s poetry, rendered by Amitabh Bachchan. Do not know why it’s been included in the album, but the verses are nice.

“Bhor Bhayi” (Shreya Ghoshal, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Gujri Todi): One of the best numbers in the album; brilliant singing by Shreya Goshal with good backing by the Ustad. If you are a classical music person, this one will entice you to no end. 

“Aarti” (Rekha Bharadwaj, Kishori Gowariker, Shraddha Pandit, Sujata Majumdar): A mangal aarti song; makes for good listening, but not a mainstream composition. Good vocal-instrument synchronisation.

“Dil Gira Dafatan” (Ash King, Backing: Chinmayee): Reminds me of an old Hindi song, but I liked it. It’s different; a beautiful guitar accompaniment throughout, thrums in the ears and grows into a joyful symphony. Ash has sung very well, Chinmayee impresses in the little given to her (I just wish she had a song for herself). I hope this does not go into the background score in the movie. It somehow feels like the type of song played when parting with home and sundry.

Bottomline: A.R. Rahman has hit all other composers for a clean six with the Dilli 6 album.

SREENATH JANAKIRAMAN, M.S. A&M University Texas, USA

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