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By
Joginder Tuteja, May 28, 2007 - 12:46 IST
 In the times when most films are set either as feel
good entertainers or revolve around slice-of-life
dramas, choreographer turned director Ganesh Acharya
has decided to make a move against the tide and make
Swami. A film that seems to be breaching upon art
house cinema, Swami is quite a shift for Ganesh who
has been known for his 'jhatka' dance moves for over
two decades.
Roping in Manoj Bajpai and Juhi Chawla in principal
roles, Ganesh has sent the message loud and clear that
his film is performance oriented more than anything
else. One hear at the music and the fact is further
established as composer duo of Nitin Arora and Sony
Chandy along with lyricist Sameer too have
concentrated on class rather than delivering a massy
score.
There are as many as 14 tracks in Swami but still the
entire duration of the album is just around 30
minutes. Reason? Most of the tracks are used for
background score purpose and last for just about a
couple of minutes.
'Shubharambh' is an extremely soothing beginning to
Swami and makes you glued to the music system at the
very beginning of the album as the track lasts for a
couple of minutes. Boasting of western classical
arrangements, the theme piece has piano towering over
other instruments and creates a classy environment.
First song to come in the album is the title song
'Swami' that takes a cool beginning with the sound of
an electronic flute. Soon K S Chitra arrives on the
scene as she sings in South Indian classical mode as
an elaborate orchestra comes into picture to make way
for Hariharan to take the center stage.
 A slow moving track with a classical base to it, this
duet between a husband and a wife is about living a
content life with whatever resources being available
and still be happy about the sheer pleasure of being
together. The longest track of the album (around 5
minutes), it would be mainly picked by those who are
fond of classical music based songs from South India.
There is a heavy A.R. Rahman influence in the way 'Naa
Tin Dhinna (Child Of Joy)' begins. After the stage has
been set with an assortment of instruments having come
together to create a classical mood with a foot
tapping effect, both Hariharan and Chitra croon the
words 'Naa Tin Dhinna' for close to 3 minutes before a
group of children come on the scene towards the end to
make one find the Rahman effect again.
Built up of orchestra at the beginning of 'Mumbai
Jaayenge (Dream) ' hooks you on before one hears Manoj
Bajpai uttering his apprehensions about leaving the
house and moving with his family to Mumbai. These are
the only few words which are heard in this musical
piece which comes with a sound of flute that remains
even after the track is through.
The way 'Gullak (Treasure) ' begins on a dark note,
one can make out that it is for a sad situation in the
film. 45 seconds into the instrumental and an
elaborate orchestra is on work again as a male chorus
too arrives on the scene to create a haunting impact.
Things settle down in a matter of few seconds and mood
turns pensive once again to take the track to its
closure.
The feeling of sadness continues with 'Aa Ri Ra Ru
(Sorry) ' which moves on in a routine manner before
Juhi Chawla utters a couple of dialogues from the
film. Chitra's voice is heard at the very end as she
croons 'Aa Ri Ra Ru' with the sound of piano
concluding the track. Those who have watched the
promos of the film would not have missed out one of
the short teasers that focuses on a chair. A theme
track around this chair, aptly titled 'Kursi (Chair) '
is also present in the album and is an easy on ears 80
seconds piece.
There is some more pain to arrive on scene as
Hariharan sings 'De Jab Duaayen (The Loss) '. With
just a couple of instruments in the background for the
first one minute of the track's duration, it is almost
an unplugged version for Hariharan before Chitra comes
into picture with her crooning of 'Swami'. Ending is
just right as the theme sound of flute makes an
impression yet again.
 It's back to piano and flute with 'Talaash (Search) '
which is yet another instrumental to arrive on the
scene. This time around sitar is also used for a short
while to bring on the sound of the theme piece before
piano is reintroduced into the proceedings. 'Aankhon
Ki (Memories) ' is a track by Chitra which is a sad
version of 'Swami' and also has Hariharan joining in
the latter half of the track.
Finally there is some sense of a happy mood in the
album with the arrival of 'Ta Ra Ri Ra (Innocence) '.
Piano and violins come together to create a feel good
tune on the lines of the music of 60s while children
come together to croon 'Ta Ra Ri Ra' to further give
the track a push. The mood reverses soon with 'Vyakul
(Agony) ' which, as apparent from the title itself, is
a slow moving musical piece with large pauses in
between. Longest musical piece in the album (3
minutes), it seems befitted for a situation during the
film's climax.
Hariharan is heard after a gap with 'Radhe (Missing) '
where all he is required to croon is 'Radhe Radhe'
with a feeling of sadness being imparted to the
surroundings. The album ends with 'Dhyaan (Awakening)
' that has the soothing sound of a flute dominating
the proceedings with violins joining in after a
minute. Yet again, Chitra joins in to croon in a
manner similar to 'Shubharambh' to give the track a
classical touch.
Soundtrack of Swami proves yet again that Ganesh
Acharya has looked for creative satisfaction than
thinking much about the commercial aspects of making
this film. The soundtrack carries a classical touch to
it throughout and though it is easy on ears, it is a
kind of album that has a miniscule audience for
itself. An album which is mainly made of background
theme pieces; it is a decent effort but mainly for the
purpose of being heard during the film's screening.
Rating:- * *
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