Pure, refreshingly soulful. Review on Raincoat Songs

Raincoat directed by RituParna Ghosh, is one film everybody seems to have been waiting for. After Aish?s disastrous performance in the recently released movies; be it Kyun Ho ? and Bride & P. The last movie when the duo worked together was the widely acclaimed Chokher Bali. It will be an acid test for Aish to deliver a palatable performance since Ritu is known to be a very fine director able to extract equally fine performances from his aritistes. Okk , I don?t know if Miss Rai qualifies to be called one!

Yes many of you might disagree but I find her overt gestures and sighs at the drop of a hat as entertaining and impressive as SRK?s stammering in difficult scenes. Rumoured to be a story of a jobless Bihari out to meet his beloved who left for Kolkata and their meeting thereafter on a rainy day in Kolkata, the story does seem to be interesting and the music especially suits the theme perfectly. Since this movie is about Kolkata and Bihar, the music director seems to have worked a lot on this aspect for the subtle underlying theme of the tunes render a very Bihari-bengali folk touch to all the songs. All songs have a very classical touch. Hence to that extent, he seems to have put in efforts which cannot be dismissed as crap.

The lyrics which I would talk about in greater detail are very reminiscent of good old Thumris and semi classical numbers sung by both Kishori Amonkar and Shubha Mudgal herself and the equations between the protagonists have been described beautifully in these songs. The following songs are in the descending order of ratings though I couldn?t come up with specific quantified rating this time.

1) Piya Tora ? HariHaran/ Shubha Mudgal

Despite his rather successful foray into indipop, I personally believe he delivers absolute gem of a song whenever he is expected to sing a difficult number. I like his Ghazals and slow numbers to peppy ones any day. The song talks about beloved?s ego and the state of both the lovers now. And this song is wonderfully worded and Hari Haran seems to be way ahead of S.M when it comes to emoting for though the curves have been performed better by Shubha and the ?Nahin Aaye? and ?Apni nayan se neer bahaye? stretch have been very smoothly sung by Shubha; and then Gulzar?s amazingly terse but soulful commentary adds to the Shubha version, I would have wanted the same commentary in Hariharn?s song. Nevertheless, a near perfect rendition by both. Na din hota hai na raat hoti hai, Woh kaisa mausam ka jhokha tha Jo is diwar pe rakhi tasveer ki tarah??? The relationship?s journey, the rust layer having formed, the regrets??Absolutely wonderful.

2) Mathura Nagarpati Kaaahe tu Gokul Jaaye ? Shubha Mudgal

I do not know the full story but Shubha?s voice has suited this song perfectly and I do not believe many would have done justice to this rather difficult song which required pure Hindi diction which if distorted would spoil the beauty of the song. This song again depicts the one?s beloved having gone, the reveries seem to have overwhelmed one into breaking into this song.The Radha ? Krishna sweet-sour relationship have been explored in this one.

3) Raah dekhe ? Shubha Mudgal

Kitne baras beete tum ghar aaye na re Raah dekhe saawan bhado, dariye bahaye. If there is one song which tells you that the ?dhoom? number composed by Palash Sen?s group was sung by none other than Shubha herself, its this one. Its pretty similar to the background vocals given in that song, Debajyoti Mishra has composed a wonderful score and Shubha has given that Bihari touch to the song as well.

4) Akele Hum Nadiya Kinare

?Maajhi tora naam to bata, Phir Kaise pukare tujhe, Akele Hum Nadiya Kinare.? A short hummable one which is probably more contextual and befitting some scene of the movie for it abruptly ends after the given three-four lines. The other three songs are more of those ?Banna-Banni? numbers which are sung in weddings in India. Meena Mishra?s voice seems to have suited those songs well. All in all, its treat for purists, and equally enjoyable for the others esp. the first three songs. I would rather wait for these songs to be a part of some assorted album than consider purchasing the CD.

Awaiting your RRC, Keerti