Hear It to believe It!. Review on Veer-Zara Songs

Veer-Zaara is My Album of the Year! Saregama (or HMV) must be calling it their ill-fate that Yash Chopra has launched his own music label with this movie depriving them of huge sales that his movies have always guaranteed... The album is surely on its way to become a bestseller... Madan Mohan's compositions couldn't have been put to better use... Yash Chopra has, with Javed Akhtar & Madan Mohan, come up with a score worth its weight in gold...

The credit for this music also goes to Sanjeev Kohli for recreating his father's compositions with such panache... He has stuck to the base tunes & only orchestrated them giving it a contemporary feel... The music no doubt has Yash Chopra's stamp on it...

TERE LIYE is the stuff classics are made of... Right from the introductory notes on the piano to heart-warming vocals of Lata & Roop Kumar Rathod everything seems to fall in place to make it an unforgettable number... Lata's captivating voice, scaling the crests & troughs of her pitch with equal ease, finds an able companion in Rathod's honeyed voice... The music is dulcet {how cliched a word it is, but that's my limited vocabulary} & the song stands out in a class of its own...

Udit Narayan is mint-fresh in MAIN YAHAN HOON... The soft feel of the song especially the santoor & guitar pieces strewn in between make it extremely hummable & an anytime listen...

Gurdas Mann with his sonorous vocals shines in AISA DES HAI MERA... The lyrics talk of an arcadian land - where the zephyr combs the grain fields, the koel sings, the monsoons shower, the children have a gala time at village fairs, the guests are treated as God... What makes this song endearing is the positive feel to it, it's not jingoistic & tone is that that the two nations have so much in common...

YE HUM AA GAYE HAIN KAHAN actually transports you to a wonderland... All you have to do is to play the song & close your eyes... The brilliant choice of instruments elevates the intrinsic melody of the song to soothing heights... This is the song that will grow on you & sound better every time you hear it...

DO PAL has the old world charm oozing out of it... Lata & Sonu render this song giving it the vintage touch aided by the pensive violin interludes...

Yash Chopra himself lends his voice to KYON HAWA rendering the introduction... The commentary may not be in the same class as his Ye kahan aa gaye hum {which is my all time favourite} (Silsila) but go with upbeat mood of the song...

HUM TO BHAI JAISE HAIN is a zingy number, where Lata defies her age again... The arabic tone of the song is quite contemporary with lyrics which are simple & peppy...

Qawaalis seem to be becoming rare these days... The Indo-Pak theme of the movie surely gives a situation to incorporate one... AAYA TERE DAR PAR has all the elements & energy to make it the quintessential qawaali... The vocals, rising & falling with impeccable ease & the intermittent strains of Miyan ki Malhaar {as it seems to me} make it an awesome rendering & rest assured you'll go back to this qawaali again & again...

A Yash Chopra movie can't do without having a boisterous Punjabi number & Veer-Zaara is no exception... LODI is all about ''chhed-chhaad''& zest... Lata, Udit Narayan & Gurdas Mann are sure to set your feet tapping & mind zapping with this number, which comes in the league of Mehndi laga ke rakhna (DDLJ)...

TUM PAAS AA RAHE HO is the suprise package of the album... Lata & Jagjit Singh gave us a memorable album when they got together for Sajda... And here again, it is sheer ecstasy listening to them together... This shimmering ghazal adorns the colors of passion & love like never before... The melody has the Madan Mohan written all over it & words make the heart melt with joy...

Lata's mellow voice shines across JAANE KYON, which is another soft number loaded with moving https://lyrics... I'll not write since I seem to be repeating myself again & again...

Hear It to Believe It!