Guru
Music: A.R. Rahman

Lyrics: Gulzar Sony/BMG; CD Rs 160

}When did you last hear a thumper of a song beginning with Na na re, na na re, na na re, na na re? Daler Mehndi in Mrityudaata? Now, hear it in Mani Ratnam’s Guru, in the Barso re number (Shreya Ghoshal, Uday Mazumdar). The village belle gently and joyously caressing out the words (Meetha hai, kosa hai,/Baarish ka bosa hai or then Bailon ki ghanti baji,/Aur taal lage bharne) of Gulzar take you straight to Virasat’s Dhol bajne laga, of course! The Rahman stamp of authority is there even on the Laxmikant-Pyarelal style of tabla rhythm in Tere bina (dedicated by Rahman to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and sung by himself, Chinmayee and others), especially in the chorus sounding like his techno slokas! All this, and more, in the Ratnam-Rahman-Gulzar reunion after Dil Se. Seven in all.

Rahman seems to have become an expert at injecting techno into religious/anthem kind of stuff as in his trailblazing Vande Mataram or the more recent Mangala mangala (Mangal Pandey The Rising). And he struts some more of that stuff here. There is Ek lo ek muft (Bappi Lahiri, Chitra and others), very folksy-sutradhaarish, with Gulzar suggesting that we could then have two of each thing, and “loadshedding mein chaand jalaate”!

The rendition, the voices (Maryem Toller, Chinmayee, Keerthi), the rhythm, the musical arrangements in Mayya mayya are, of course, patent A.R. Rahman, and you can tell that blindfolded — in a manner of saying. And it’s the Paisa song (Baazi laga) by Udit Narayan, Madhushree, Swetha and Bhargavee, which has Gulzar giving full rein to his forte. Bound to make you think it belongs to the Bunty Aur Babli genre, as does Ek lo ek muft, and this is the kind of song Gulzar can also write blindfolded. Check out the brilliance beneath.

Or Gulzar’s other favourite motif — the night — and the wordplay in Jaage hain der tak hamen/Kuchh der sone do. Like he does while adjectivising the night in Tere bina beswaadi ratiyaan: Beswaadi!

The CD pack includes a little booklet which, apart from the sign of the times —ringtone codes — actually has stills and the lyrics!