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By
Joginder Tuteja, September 21, 2007 - 10:30 IST
The event has begun.
 Anything and everything that Sanjay Leela Bhansali
brings on celluloid is an event in itself. And when
the film is as mighty as Saawariya, there are
questions galore:
a) Whether Sanjay Leela Bhansali would manage to
converge the innocence of Khamoshi, romance of Hum Dil
De Chuke Sanam, grandeur of Devdas and sensitivity of
Black into Saawariya?
b) Whether the film would justify it's positioning as
a global mainstream release?
c) Whether Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor indeed
herald a new era of young romance?
d) Whether Monty Sharma's music and Sameer's lyrics
would have just the right elements which make for a
quality score?
While answers to the first three questions would be
known the moment first show of Saawariya commences on
9th November, the first hearing of film's soundtrack
does clarify the situation for the last question. Yes,
the music indeed comes across as a quality score. In
fact 'pure' is the word to best describe it.
The only hitch? One wonders how far would it be
successful in penetrating the masses. That's because
barring 2-3 songs, most of the tracks come together to
make Saawariya as a package which works collectively
and promises good cinematic outing but doesn't throw
songs which come across as standalone chartbusters!
The best track of the album comes at the very
beginning in the form of the title song ‘Saawariya.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's love for music is pretty
apparent in this track which is instantly catchy in
the first listening itself. With a young-n-fresh feel
to it, the track comes across as an innocent number,
something which was the hallmark of music composed by
Jatin-Lalit in their heydays.
 Beautifully composed and arranged, Saawariya has Monty
keeping things simple with not once going overboard.
Everything from the chorus guys to the sound of guitar
works just in perfect harmony for this song that has
some lovely lyrics by Sameer. But if there is one
individual to which the song belongs completely, it is
new find Shail Hada. He is tremendous in his rendition
and can count himself in to be in the running once the
nominations for some of the best sung songs of 2007
are announced!
There is a ‘Saawariya Reprise’ version at the very end
of the album which is set as a performance amidst a
group of youngsters. Almost an unplugged version with
focus completely on Shail Hada's singing, it has him
making full use of the platform provided to him and
impresses yet again. This is a kind of song that R. D.
Burman would have been proud of!
If one thought that the title song was the only good
enough reason to hear 'Saawariya' then 'Jab Se Tere
Naina' adds on to the list of reasons. A Shaan solo,
it has a R.D. Burman and Jatin-Lalit influence to it,
especially in the 'antara' portions. A love song that
has a serene feel to it, one wonders though if there
was any requirement of male voiceover artists in it?
Their frequent intrusions of 'aahas' and 'ohhos'
doesn't quite fit in well into the scheme of things
for this romantic track which maintains high standards
of melody throughout. However, as mentioned at the
beginning, the song is a good hear but not the kind
(like the title track) which you would sing back home
after watching it on screen!
Remote sound of 'Allah' marks the beginning of 'Masha-Allah'
which is the first duet of the album. Kunal Ganjawala
and Shreya Ghoshal come together for this song in
which one can expect scenic locations to compliment
the song's setting. There is a classic feel to this
song which takes it's inspiration from the soundtrack
of 1942 - A Love Story. A point to be noted here
though is that Sanjay Leela Bhansali was the song
director of this Vidhu Vinod Chopra film and hence the
references are understandable.
 Coming back to 'Masha-Allah', the song has a serene
feel to it and one can expect a pin drop silence when
the song is on in the auditorium. While the song
mainly belongs to Kunal Ganjawala who does a fine job,
Shreya Ghoshal is mainly relegated to giving 'alaap'
in the background.
After the title track, one would have expected the
spunk to be maintained in the album. Instead it goes
the 'Devdas' way here with the focus staying on
maintaining good quality of song rather than coming up
with songs which could be turn out to be instant
chartbusters around the town. With a hint of 'Bairi
Piya' [Devdas] when it comes to sheer sound and feel,
'Thode Badmash' has Shreya Ghoshal as the solo singer.
With a classical base to it, this Nusrat Badr written
song is mainly created for a situation in the movie
and can't be expected to rock the charts from the word
'Go'. Revolving around a girl for whom her lover may
be naughty and innocent but still stays on to be her
God, this is the kind of song which was mentioned at
the beginning to be belonging to a package rather than
contributing individually.
Remember Ismail Darbar composed ‘E Chaand Teri’ from
‘Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya'. A song which belongs to a
similar genre, 'Yoon Shabnami', comes next which again
qualifies to be one of those songs that make for a
peaceful hearing. This Sandeep Nath written track has
newcomer Parthiv Gohil coming behind the mike and
doing a rather decent job.
With a poetic feel to it, 'Yoon Shabnami' that also
touches upon being a 'qawalli' revolves mainly around
the moon and the glow it spreads. All of this does
promise a good cinematic experience though one waits
to see the kind of deep rooted reach that a track like
this may have across the country.
Have you loved the theme piece that goes along with
the teasers of the film? If so, then get set to
revisit it in 'Daras Bina Nahin Chain' which has Richa
Sharma pairing up with Shail Hada and Parthiv Gohil
who have earlier enjoyed a solo each. Richa does what
she has been widely acknowledged for being capable of
i.e. croon a number which is soaked in Indian
classical music.
 With a Bhansali stamp all over it, this situational
piece mixes pain with love and turns out to be a track
with a strong A.R. Rahman influence, especially
towards the second half when the setting becomes
purely classical.
Shreya Ghoshal returns to the scene with 'Sawar Gayi'
that opens with the sound of a thunderstorm. Yet
another classically oriented number which moves at a
rather slow pace with an out and out situational feel
to it, it makes for a decent listening but is
restricted to the situation in the film. In fact even
when it is heard in the album, it would be appreciated
mainly by a select set of audience who follow such
genre of music.
After 'Masha-Allah', Kunal Ganjawala and Shreya
Ghoshal return with second and the last duet of the
album - 'Jaan-E-Jaan'. In fact the entire music
arrangement in the first 60 seconds is very much on
the lines of music that has been heard in films coming
from RK banner. By this time around, one would have
expected at least one more song to match the stunning
effect that the title song had managed to achieve.
Sadly, 'Jaan-E-Jaan' doesn't quiet turn out to be that
song as it does maintain good quality by following
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's vision more than anything else
but in the process looses out on the commercial
prospects. It's not that 'Jaan-E-Jaan' is THE number
which could have achieved that but by this time
around, one seriously misses a second potential
chartbuster track in the album.
Kunal Ganjawala gets to sing his third song in the
album, 'Pari'. If there is one song which is
relatively enjoyable after 'Saawariya' and to an
extent 'Jab Se Tere Naina', it is 'Pari' which follows
a love ballad approach and succeeds well in it. A
difficult song to sing and compose, something which
has been made to look easy by Ganjawala and Monty
Sharma, 'Pari' is a beautiful track that one can set
in a repeat mode and go off to a peaceful sleep. The
orchestra is minimal in the background with focus on
lyrics and rendition, hence making 'Pari' a good song
to be enjoyed in the loneliness of the night!
 Is this the song choreographed on Rani Mukherjee? It
seems so the moment one plays on 'Chhabeela'. In fact,
the song amalgamates the style of Subhash Ghai, Yash
Chopra and Karan Johar school of music and comes
across as en enjoyable track. Perhaps the only song in
the album with a potential to break across A, B and C
centers of the country, this massy Indian track is
crooned quite well by Alka Yagnik who has been making
restricted appearances of late and justifies her
presence for her only track in the album.
In the end, it is the sound of the title song 'Saawariya'
which stays on with you forever and is leaps and
bounds above anything else in the album. While this is
the anchor song which would be remembered for months
to come, if not years, the others don't really go that
extra distance to such an extent that it becomes hard
to get them off your lips. 'Jab Se Tere Naina', 'Masha-Allah',
'Pari' and 'Chhabeela' do have their moments but don't
quite qualify as chartbusters. In the end, 'Saawariya'
turns out to be an album which does boast of quality
in it's songs but gets hampered by restricted mass
appeal.
Rating:- * * *
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