Delhi 6 - Music review

Rahman’s magical soundtrack After tasting international success through Slumdog millionaire, the Mozart of India is coming up with his latest offering Delhi 6. Last year has been quite special for Rahman and his fans as whatever he touched turned gold whether it was Jodha Akbar, Ada, J.T.Y.J.N, Yuuvaraj, Sakkarakatti or Ghajini. And to top that all an international movie which got him the Golden globe - a lot was indeed riding on Delhi6 and the fact that Rakesh Omprakash Mehra and Rahman’s

last collaboration was the revolutionary movie Rang De Basanti, it just couldn’t get bigger than this. Let’s see if Delhi 6 can stand up to its huge expectations or not. Aarti... (Tumre bhavan mein) A devotional piece, which is so simple - which is what makes it so beautiful to hear. Not much of instrumental usage but the chorus put to good use make this a soothing listen. . Arziyan... Another devotional song from Rahman about Allah. And this one will rank right at the top and a sure buy for all believers. The rich vocals by Jaaved Ali and Kailash Kher, some brilliant lyrics by Prasoon Joshi and immaculate use of instruments by Rahman makes this a special song which will melt even the hardest heart, and make it sway to the music. An answer to last year’s Khwaja mere Khwaja, so get ready to spread your hands slowly turn round and twirl with God. If only Rahman has himself sung this, it would have been a perfect rendition.

Bhor bhaye... A classical Hindustani style song sung by Shreya Ghosal, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Gujri Todi is a nice listen, and would surely go well and would impress more when we see the movie. A song, which will surely remind us of Rahman’s guru Illayaraja, especially the style of rendition by Shreya or the way the tabla is used. It bears an unique Illayaraja stamp on it. Illayaraja will surely feel proud of his prodigy, a job well done.

Delhi 6... Now that’s what we are talking about, hip hop song on the lines of Rang de Basanthi’s Paathshaala. Blaaze, Benny Dayal, Vivinenne Pocha, Tanvi, Claire have enjoyed rendering this. The female voice repeating ‘yeh Delhi hai mere yaar’ is haunting. This theme song is so beautifully tuned that if you can close your eyes you can visually enjoy the streets of Delhi in a car, repeating it over and over again. This is going to become a 2009 anthem for youngsters. Dil Gira Dafatan... A sterling vocal work by Ash King makes this the most pleasing to hear romantic number in a long time. It’s a slow and soothing romantic song which will most probably be used as a background music and not mouthed by any actors. Rahman just uses simple string instruments and especially puts guitars to good use to give soul to this number. A song, which would surely become a favorite among fans of soft melodies. It has a striking similarity to Rang De Basanti’s ‘Tu muskaraye’. Genda phool... Rekha Bharadwaj, Shraddha Pandit, Sujata Majumdar with supreme ease transform you to rustic village but Rahman with his brilliant usage of western instruments transforms you to another world of ecstasy all together. With Rajat Dholakhia sharing the music credits with the maestro, this little piece is sure to rule the charts and will be constantly used at many marriage functions! Noor... It’s a small shayeri voiced by Amitabh Bachchan which is given an earthly, vibrating soothing music. The shayeri does demand a ‘wah-wah’. (As it runs for less than a minute we aren’t rating it). Hey Kaala Bandar... A rap and hip-hop song which sounds like a satire at the world itself, Karthik, Naresh, Srinivas, Bony Chakravarthy have rendered the song brilliantly with Rehmanism taking over. With peppy and danceable music this is going to ring in many phones as a ringtone for a while. Masakali... This has been running in our minds for quite a while thanks to the promos. Rehman’s slow poison seems to work brilliantly yet again as the 40 sec start up to the song in the promos’ have already captured the hearts of many million Rehman fans. And with the full song it is going to put the whole nation in a frenzy. It might be the next Kabhie Kabhie Aditi or the next Chaya Chaya to say the least. Brilliant placement of instruments and Mohit Chouhan’s lively rendition makes this a must hear. Masakali will do for Mohit what Chaya Chaya did for Sikhwinder. Rehna Tu... Rahman doesn’t keep the best to himself but whatever he renders would become the best automatically and this song sung by A R Rahman along with Benny Dayal & Tanvi is a simple song driven to greatness by our Mozart’s magical voice. A romantic number which will be widely used by people who love to spend their time at the beach watching the sunset. It’s magical. Verdict: Rahman has done it yet again, a perfect soundtrack, which has something for everyone. This is not a musical - this is magical! Go and buy the original CD available on T-series, as this album is going to fly off the music counters in no time. All hail the director Rakesh Omprakash Mehra for selecting these masterpieces and compiling everything together. Even if Slumdog doesn’t get the final nod from the Oscars this year, we have a worthy album, which can bring us the next!!

Courtesy: behindwoods.com