Rahman has a knack of motivating his listeners especially with his patriotic themes, be it his ’Vande Maataram’, ’The Legend of Bhagat Singh’ or Swades. Bose has 8 songs that have lyrics and the rest are BGMs(background music pieces).
Rahman has sung one solo AZAADI and also in the lead in another(ZIKR) while Sonu Nigam has sung two fantastic melodies. Sapna Mukherji sings a melifluous Bengali-Hindi song, the lullaby ’’GHOOMARAPANI’’ which can easily put a child off to sleep!!
By now even a five year old in India can recognize how Rahman’s music sounds. Even though he tries new things with every movie, you can see a definite pattern. The use of warm pads (a keyboard patch) that is used in the background through out the song, to signify chords, which is Rahman’s signature and is being mimicked by all the upcoming musicians. Then there are the patterns or loops like the Shehnai piece in Swades that comes in the song ’yeh jo des hai tera’. Rahman’s ensemble of techno bass riffs with live orchestration has a been a welcoming factor for his listeners.
The album starts with the best of AR RAHMAN (his solos are every time the best!!!) the song AZAADI. it is just marvellous. Simply Not enough words to appreciate this track!! Although it seems much better with the video yet it is no less without it!! the next comes a stunning performance ’’KADAM KADAM BADHAAYE JA’’. another wonderful song...... it really raises the spirits of a person and for once the person is totally flooded and engrossed in the feelings of patriotism, courage and heroism. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are loads of people who after watching this film get themselves admitted into the Indian Army!!
the next song ’’EKLA CHALO’’ starts with bengali lyrics sung by Nachika Chakraborty and then there is awesome performance by Sonu nigam. the lyrics are simply great! the lyrics ’’Tanha Rahi Apni Rah Chalta Jaayega, Ab to jo bhi hoga Dekha Jaayega....’’ are sung wonderfully by sonu nigam. The Performance of Mumbai Film Choir in ’’HUM DILLI DILLI JAAYENGE’’ is great. this is also with a stunning background music lke KADAM KADAM BADHAAYE JA. the next DESH KI MITTI is also a union of wonderful lyrics and awesome singing. Probably this song would be the most striking for the NRIs!!! longing to get back to their motherland!!
ZIKR is another great performance with Islamic enchantings with the tempo rising from the beginning to thee end where it becomes extremely intense. GHOOMRAPANI is a sweet lullaby by Sapna Mukherjee and is the best song of its type(there was another one of this type from the movie ’’SWADES’’ - AHISTA AHISTA). In both, A.R. Rahman’s Music Direction has been mind blowing. This album is another feather in his cap. The BGM is rather better seen with the screen shots. The songs are excellent. However, the heavy timpani and cymbals could have been used rarely.
After his performance in DES MERE DES in The Legend Of Bhagat Singh, VANDE MAATARAM, YE JO DES HAI TERA in Swades, and AZAADI in Bose the forgotten hero, I think his singing, especially his solo performances are as much mind blowing as his music. From this point, I can expect more movies coming up with such themes and for my part, I would buy his albums blindly. My best wishes are with this film, hope it makes to the top ones in the box office and I seriously wish this film does well coz it’ll serve as an encouragement for other directors to make films on such themes. I would like the people to be responsive and not finish such a great movie unsatisfactorily like they did with swades. for AR RAHAMAN, my best wishes are always with him!! Keep Going man!! you are a great singer as well!!!!