Krrish Music: Rajesh Roshan

Lyrics: Nasir Faraaz T-Series; CD, Rs 160

If it’s Rajesh Roshan wielding the baton, you can be sure it will be good ol’ fashioned Bollywood melody. And if it’s a score for family production, that special something will be there, too ' the pulsating Karan-Arjun, the much over-rated Kaho Na'Pyaar Hai, the inspired Koi'Mil Gaya, and now the ‘supergraphic’ Krrish. By its very nature, therefore, the sound track will fly once its picturisation is seen (a classic example being Koi'Mil Gaya).

By itself, without ‘seeing’ the music, there are two outstanding tracks which will burn the charts anyway: Aao sunaaoon pyaar ki ek kahaani and Sa-ra-ra-ra. Ibrahim Ashq’s only lyric here, Aao sunaaoon, gives total recall to Anand Bakshi’s telling tale-poem, Ek tha gul aur ek thi bulbul'Hai yeh kahaani bilkul sachchi,/Mere Naana kehte they, from Jab Jab Phool Khile.

Hear this: Aao sunaaoon pyaar ki ek kahaani,/Ek tha ladka ek thi ladki deewaani' But also to push your ears to the sound box is the intricate musical arrangement by Rajesh Roshan. Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal do justice to the number, though Shreya is just about there. Shreya gets to do more in the other breezy number, Sa-ra-ra-ra (lyric, Nasir Faraaz), though here too Udit Narayan takes it away from her (that, we guess, is because Krrish is all about Hrithik, not the strictly supportive Priyanka).

The number, however, is delightfully delicate, wonderfully wafty and comes with a far-away expiry date: Dekho pawan bhi,/Lehra rahi hai,/Tum ko chhoo ke...Wow, real romantic stuff.

But the score must have its mandatory disco number, so here it is ' Dil na liya (lyric: Vijay Akela), by Kunal Ganjawala. It’s got that pseudo techno pace, and a supernasal rendition by Kunal who probably tried to ‘match’ Hrithik’s voice, but ends up making Himesh Reshammiya sound like a sneeze. Kunal could have first shot out some of the phlegm from his throat, seriously.

After Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s Jiya dhadak dhadak (Kalyug), we have another Khan, Rafaqat Ali, coming in here, accompanied by the fast-forgotten Alka Yagnik, who shows signs of some loss of grease, in Main hoon woh aasmaan. This Faraaz number does its salaam to a classical base.

Koi tumsa nahin (Sonu, Shreya again) is the other Faraaz number which is okay but there just for the ‘count’. Why it gets selected for a Big Band Mix is a good question; and the mix by itself is so damn dated, Narmada sounds like the previous hour’s scoop. Main hoon woh aasmaan gets a Mystic Love Mix; and could a mix or love get more forced'

Anil Grover

late registration Kanye West
Universal; Rs 150

Hitting it big with your first album could be perilous, for the possibilities of crash-banging the next time round creates a pressure that most artistes get wary of. The wave either tears into the psyche of performers, washing them away completely or they hit back with the energy of a newborn twister with a mind of its own.

Talking of Kanye West, it’s neither. Late Registration doesn’t propel the promising rap star any further than his debut effort, College Dropout. It just re-establishes West as a commercially saleable rap artiste who can churn up some sizeable hits that nurture his clout in the great Black kingdom of rap.

Late Registration has 17 cuts, more than half of which retain the promise of his earlier effort. Teaming up with Adam Levine of Maroon 5 on Heard ’em say, he pulls out a real sparkler for the opening song. And to think of it, M5 are the same guys who came between West and the Best New Artiste Grammy in 2004 (West ain’t no nasty guy, eh!). Diamonds from Sierra Leone is a slick, dramatic rap song that once again highlights West as a rapper to contend with. Gold Digger, Crack Music, My way home, We major, Hey mama ' all are thoroughly enjoyable tracks with a spark of their own. Addiction featuring Brandy is a letdown though.

Kanye West is among the many to have joined the league of ‘Grammy’ artistes, so expect to hear a lot from him in the future. And, yes, you can bet on every buck of yours ' he’s gonna be at the Grammys smiling in his sparkling white suit awright!

Sunny C. Dua

Dookhha rater raja Various
P&M Records; CD Rs 125

It’s a trip not just through songs selected and sung well, but through some of the thought-provoking, poignant and sensitive moments of Rabindranath Tagore’s life as well. And that’s what makes this collection of 12 songs sung by Jayeeta Bhowmick, Sangeeta Dutta and Paromita Bandopadhyay really special for Rabindrasangeet lovers. Songs like Aamai aei pothei and Dookhha rate perfectly catch the essence of the spirit behind this collection called Dookhha Rater Raja. The feelings of sorrow and melancholy, loneliness and the search, and the need to triumph over them, are well rendered by the singers, beautifully complemented by the narration by Soumitra Chattopadhyay, who gives us a fine glimpse into the little nuances of the poet’s life, giving the album a very special shelf life.

Deepali Singh