A.R.Rahman had to strike back. After some mediocre scores like Love u hamesha or Pukar, Rahman again establishes himself as the numero uno in the field of music. Lagaan clearly establishes this fact, and places Rahman on an unreachable platform. Lagaan ‘s every song is meticulously composed, to give the right mixture of melody, tune and music; and with Javed Akhtar, lyrics are bound to be good. Whether it be call for rain in ‘ghanan ghanan’ or very inspiring ‘mitwa’ and ‘chale chalo’ or the classical ‘ radha kaise na jale’, this album has all it takes to be a winner and more.
The first track ghanan ghanan is a clear winner. The song emphasizes the joy of a farmer expecting rains. Udit narayan, Sukhwinder, and Alka Yagnik make the song all the more rich and pleasant. This one is going to stay on the charts for a long time!
Mitwa is another feel-good song. The song will take quite some time to get used to and be liked, but once on, it stays. The song is all about going forward in life…you can call it an ‘anti-depressent’: a word Amir Khan himself uses on the song. Udit Narayan again strikes the right chord, showing how important it is to have a good voice behind good tune as well. In the same genre lies chale chalo another inspiring song which mentions about not giving up on life and going on and on till success strikes. This song is again a sure winner. Rahman seems to be singing in all his movies now, and I always feel that once he lends his voice to a song, it seems he was born to sing it and no other could do it better! Not the best of voices admittedly, but it’s the way he sings, that brings out the life in a song. Great lyrics on both these songs make them all the more likeable.
O rey chhori seems to be the only regular duet in the album. The song is a mixture of western music and Indian classical. Udit and Alka again make this song hummable…but do check out Vasundra Das’s (of Hey Ram fame ) English vocals.
Waltz for a romance is an instrumental, and as the name says, a waltz. You can’t help but imagine a ball room with dancers doing a ballet. The tune is very western and rich in terms of orchestra, with bass and violins! And the exact opposite of this tune is another instrumental , the title tune lagaan…once upon a time in India. This tune reminds me of his patriotic song in roja, though the tunes don’t match!. Its that the feeling in both the songs is same, and indicate about the struggle of the people. Both songs on the album take time to set in on you, but they are immensely hearable.
Lata Mangeshkar sings quite less for Rahman, but when she sings…, it’s a master tune. After ‘jiya jale’, lata again shows her mastery in O Paalanhare. This song is a bhajan, with wonderful lyrics again. Lata makes herself heard so much that even Udit seems a little nervous on the song…no doubt he has sung it brilliantly…its just that Lata is too good for him! But the song of the album must clearly go to radha kaise jale. Asha Bhonsale captivates, and stays in mind for ever. The Vocals by Asha are just too too good. I certainly rate this song as one of the best tunes composed in recent times. The song describes on the pangs felt by Radha on seeing Krishna with gopis and his fitting reply. Asha adds that element of naughtiness and melody at the same time. She definitely leaves her elder sister behind in this song! The song is a classical based song, and is a sure-fire hit!
Like any other Rahman’s albums, this too takes its time to grow on you. This album might not appeal to those people who don’t like classical based songs. Even the lyrics are difficult to catch; because of the village language employed…which might make a listener bored. Overall I will rate the album 10/10, as this year, till now there hasn’t been any album that has had such original, and soothing melodic music. The music defines the mood of the film very well and for those who haven’t seen the movie might not like the music as the images and sound go hand in hand in Lagaan. Varied audiences will appreciate the album as Rahman has created traditional Indian sounds with the help of modern and technical methods.