It seems as though Rahman never ceases to surprise. Just hear Rang De Basanti and you will know why.
Novelty is Rahman forte. From Roja to Rang De... he has kept the track record of offering something new, something fresh to the audience. That is why he is still the undoubtable Maestro of music in India.
The title track , sung by Daler Mehandi and supported by K S Chitra, was the first one to catch popular imagination. Later Paathshala took its place. But after going through the album for many times, and after watching the movie, its Roobaroo that lingers in the mind.
Daler made a wonderful comeback through the title track. After a blotted interlude this song came as a breather to this gifted singer. Rahmanhas made full use of the singer’s potential. The orchestration was tremendous. Beginning slowly, the song suddenly picks up the tempo and then goe rocking till the end. The percussions and the keyboards were in perfect sync (no doubt, since ARR gives the best orchestration in the country) and K S Chitra’s voice added melody to the peppy number.
Then came one of the most rocking rap songs in the industry - Paathsala. The lyrics by Blaaze, were simply cool. Without going loud, Rahman kept to a medium in terms of orchestra and that is what made this number a special one. The sync sounds were perfect match to the performance by Blaaze and chorus. The same standard was maintained in remix version too.
Khalbali was quite different one. Honestly I didn’t like it at first. But after watching the movie, the song striked a note in me. The rendition of the song by Rahman was superb. No one would argue that Rahman is a talented singer. His sufiyaana voice gave depth to that number which swinged between a fast and melody number.
Now, to the melody part. Rahman’s hold over melody is unpallelled. The evidence is the three extremely beautiful songs in this album. First is Tu bin bataye. a slow romantic song that just soothes and fills you with love at the same time. The lyrics by Prasoon Joshy were refreshing. He is the next big thing in song writing. The best part in the song, which I loved the most, was the humming at the end. God, that just took me places.
Rahman gave a new dimension to lullabies through ’Lukka chuppi’. His duet with Lata Mangeshkar worked wonders. The guitar piece and the tabla, that catches up in the middle’ gave an ethreal touch to this song. Rahman’s singing , particularly the classical piece was stupendous. The song was done in such way that it gave the feel of musical letter sent to the son by a mother and the sons’ reply to it. Again kudos to Prasoon for that.
Then there is ’Khoon chala’. The song that invokes nationalist feeling in a totally unique. The lyrics were titillating. The use of the march past drums towards the end elevated this song to the range of an anthem. The depth given to the song by the singer is commendable.
Now comes my most favourite number in the album, ’Roobaroo’. This song came in the end of the film. No other thing could have given such a charm to the ending. The song was sung by Naresh Iyer, another one Rahman’s findings. The guitar piece and the vocal sin the background made it much more enchanting. It was a musical summing up of the whole film. Rahman filled with youthful carelessness, romantic exuberance and maturity of responsible youth. The music was accurately complimented by Prasoon Joshy’s https://lyrics. Altogether, it is a superb work.
The last thing to comment about is ’Lalkar’ It was a real war cry. The voice of Aamir Khan along with the orchestration gives the audience the feeling of the imminence of a serious mission. A similar effort was done by Rahman in ’Iruvar’ using Arvind Swamy’s voice.
As far as a music lover is concerned, Rang De Basanthi is a must-keep. So, keep it and keep on hearing it.