Making good music is really difficult – especially for the current brand of music directors in India who have no clue what they are making. Take for example mahive from KHNH (Karan Johar lovers, SRK fans, Shankar Eshan Loy bhakthas – please jump to next paragraph instead of complaining in comments :-) ) – The song begins like a bhangra, and then suddenly turns hip and pop and back to traditional in mukhdas back to pop back to bhangra – there is no semblance of proper tuning in the song with ridiculous lyrics going – ‘everybody sing’ and blah blah. Thankfully, there are some people who know what quite music is, and in one such effort the music of PAAP was born to show these very idiots that good music didn’t mean banging every available instrument in the ears of the listener.
Anu Malik has always been a strange musician – at times he has been absolutely brilliant (Asoka, Baazigar), and then whenever he gets inspired, he falls. However, there is one thing about Anu Malik which I have always enjoyed – his orchestrization of music has always been good. Now coming to PAAP, instead of getting ‘inspired’ by neighboring musicians, Malik finally collaborates with them – the result of such a collaborative effort is simply enchanting to the ears, and making this album simply one of the best of year 2003 and a great beginning in music to 2004. I have a penchant for songs which carry a same beats throughout – I always believe that the flow of the song should be smooth – once set, you cannot and should not change its tempo / beat / rhythm. Rahman has been hugely successful in doing this few years back, and now hopefully others should realize it too. There are 5 songs in PAAP while the rest of them are all instrumentals. I won’t even go into the instrumentals, since they are situation specific pieces and there is no way to actually analyze them!
If wishes were horses Anuradha Paudwal would have found her place in the industry – largely sidelined thanks to the nightingale of India, she is one lady who never quite found her voice in the industry. One listening of ‘Intezar’ and you know what she is made up of; even today she did give kavithas, alkas, and other singers a run for their money – she must simply be clubbed with Asha Bhonsle as two of the best singers in the country. The song begins on slow note, slowly letting the listener delve into the hidden mysteries of love. The Santoor provides the initial resonance to follows to be a beautiful song sung in an enchanting manner by Paudwal. Note the beat of the song – never quite does it change; A special mention to the composition – the antaras quite simply jell with mukhdas themselves making it a soulful composition. Anu Malik returns with his combination of bass violins and chorus in the background (especially the beginning) as he did in Asoka. The song is a good example of how proper synchronization of elements makes a sound beautiful.
I have always been a fan of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, but I never knew his Grandson shared almost the same voice. One has to hear ‘Dil ki Lagan’ to actually realize what an incredibly beautiful song this is. There are precisely 5 instruments used in this song – a harmonium, 2 guitars, a tabla, and drums – each of them used rather minimally but to great effect in the song. Note the way the song begins rather abruptly, but sets the tone through the tabla. A bass guitar then adds to the acoustic feeling and continuous background of harmonium gives this song an ethnic sufi feeling. At times the electric guitar adds to the charm by clipping in at appropriate points, bringing about a subtle variation, but a codicil to the harmonium. The song encompasses through melodious tunes with a soft touch of classical tenor in it. The exquisite end of the song encompasses quite appropriately a classical linger and all the sounds coming to a stop at once. Note the pitch of the singer – superb variation and class.
While Paanch tried atrociously hard to bring about a rock song in Hindi music, it failed miserably. Junoon, a pretty well known band already excelled in that, and they return with another Hindi Rock song in ‘garaj baras’ with this movie – an unconventional blend of classical tune with rock fever, this song is simply amazing in the way it has been composed and sung. There is certain restlessness in the composition to the serene classical touch to the song, making it an absolute must-hear. Check out the electric guitars building up the frenzy in this song, and especially note the stylishly done end. What makes it even better is the usage of natural instruments (like last song) and not relying on any synthesized music. - Truly another great piece on this album.
As if this were not enough, there is yet another ’aalap’ composed and sung by Pakistani singers. What I particularly loved about this piece was the instruments and orchestra behind it. Again, minimal use of instruments, but the rights one are present to create that sense of urgency in the song. The song begins slowly, and notice how the taps on a guitar pad are first used as background music and then the drums and tabla set in – that small nuance in music is simply brilliant, and also indicates that composers actually spent time even on such small indistinct parts of a song! Note the part when the electric guitar takes off as background – they provide that added edge to this aalap; This is yet another great track on the album you cannot afford to simply put.
Ever heard of songs which go on and on and on? ‘Sun Le’ is the fifth one on the album – this is one song which Malik thought he was composing for LOC – it just keeps going and going. Not that there is anything wrong with this song at all; infact this is another gem of a piece, though its kind of song that leaves ‘heard this somewhere’ kind of feeling. There is not a lot of novelty involved in the song, and Udit Narayan nearly screeches in the song. However Anuradha Paudwal yet again mesmerizes with her voice. The nice part of the song is the background and the slow tune; however in being slow, I wish they could have cut the length of the song too.
These are then the songs of PAAP. Needless to say, this album is simply a must buy album – The five songs are indeed brilliant in the way they have been composed. While JISM proved that Pooja Bhatt indeed has a good sense in music, this is one step ahead. Till this supposedly ‘bold’ film releases, it would be a great sin to miss the music of this film!
Happy listening!