2006 - Wah - What an year it was!!!!!. Review on Ten Best Hindi Songs of 2006

These are my favourite Hindi film songs of 2006, may not be the list of best. 2006 turned out to be a glorious year for bollywood with hits after hits. Not just the movies but the quality of soundtracks was also good. Hope the same will continue in 2007. Only the soundtracks of the movies released in 2006 are considered. I had to eliminate some soundtracks/songs for the doubt of originality.

.:1:. Omkara(Vishal Bharadwaj) - Rang De Basanti(A.R.Rahman)

I was in a big dilemma to choose between the two. Both soundtracks are exceptional in their own way and so to share the top one slot. Both Omkara and Rang De Basanti are the kind of soundtrack with songs being a very integral part of the movie and also which sounds great as stand alone tracks. It caters to both mass and class. We have soul stirring melodies like “Oh Saati re” and “Jag Ja”, we have foot tapping rustic rhythms in “Omkara”, “Beedi” and “Namak” and situational songs like “Laakad” and “Naina” which gels well with the scenes like a background score and we have the best instrumental piece of the year ‘the Tragedy of Omkara’ all in one soundtrack. I was bowled over by the way Vishal has used “Jag Ja” song in the movie. The nativity in the music, the beauty of the melodies, ornamental orchestration, the thump in the rustic rhythms, poetry of Gulzar, extreme relevance to the situation in the movie, right choice of singers are the factors that made Omkara soundtrack to reach this slot. Vishal, Take my deep bow.

No doubt, A.R.Rahman rocked the whole nation with the soundtrack of ‘Rang De Basanti’. First of all, let us congratulate Rahman for his two songs from RDB and a song from Water has entered the Oscar short list of Best Original Song category. Rahman never gets tired of experimentation and innovation in the sound of his songs and RDB soundtrack is the recent proof of that. The soundtrack which sounded very conventional in the audio later sounded very unconventional with the movie. The soundtrack and also the background score of the movie is sprinkled with variety of Guitar riffs and pieces sounding the energy and rhythm of the youth. The variety and unique mix of Devotional ‘Ik onkaar’, energetic and peppy ‘Paatshala’, romantic ‘Tu bin’, patriotic ‘Sarfaroshi’, imaginative and emotional ‘Lukka Chuppu’, ground breaking ‘khalbali’, sensitive ‘khoon chala’, exhilarating and upbeat, out of the box situational song ‘roobaroo’ makes the soundtrack the most vibrant and trendy cult classic of our times.

.:3:. Jaan-E-Mann(Anu Malik) Anu Malik after a long hiatus hit bull’s eye with this soundtrack, adding charm and beauty to the already colorful soundtrack is its beautiful picturisation like a Broadway musical. This album could be termed as a truly Bollywood one in a sense that Indian film music itself is an amalgamation of all forms of music in the world layered with our own Indian classical and folk music. Rock n roll, Jazz, pop, fusion, European, middle eastern, African and you name it we have it in Indian film music and so is in this soundtrack. We have all necessary and usual clichés of the Bollywood music in this soundtrack but the good thing is that it is done in an interesting and acceptable way with even a brief music cue in the song being composed to be instantly catchy. Equal credit should go to G.V.Prakash in providing grandeur and a sophisticated sound to the beautiful melodies of Anu Malik with his orchestration and arrangements.

.:4:. Aaaj Ki raat – Don(Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy)SEL though became quite predictable and repetitive this year, came up with quite a few fresh songs. Even their remixes were quite different and convincing in Don. I feel this song should have been a big challenge for SEL. It is not a remix. It should be original and yet not entirely original in a sense that the melody should be original but the orchestration and rhythms should be like that of songs of 70’s, also it has to sound very sophisticated to suit the look and feel of the new Don. With all such constraints in my mind, SEL has managed to bring in their unique touch in the song without loosing any above mentioned flavour.

.:5:. Mitwa – Kabhi Alvida Naa kehna(Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) Though the soundtrack of KANK suffers a lot from KHNH hangover, this song is an odd man out. Even no Karan movies earlier have had such a love ballad. The blend of Pakistani pop and Sufi flavour with the inimitable strings, rhythms, choral interludes and alaaps of SEL brings plenty of freshness to the song and not to forget Shafqat Amanat Ali’s voice, who has put his heart and soul into the song. The picturisation of the song deserves a mention which will extend the life of the song.

.:6:. Lage Raho Munnabhai(Santanu Moitra)Santanu Moitra who came up with a beautiful “Parineeta” scored for LRMB this year. It is a very good soundtrack with situational songs among which I liked “Samjho Ho hi gaya” and its picturisation very much. It is really tough to achieve a musically convincing song with mere dialogues. But Santanu has done it beautifully in this song.

Continued in Comments.