Qalandar’s Music Review: BLUE (Hindi; 2009)
Outright fun, not to mention silliness, has long been a casualty of A.R. Rahman’s recent Hindi oeuvre. Unlike in Tamil, Rahman simply hasn’t done very many soundtracks for “ordinary” Hindi films of late. That is, the typical Rahman Hindi album this decade has been a Swades or a Jodha-Akbar, or a Delhi-6 — not a Rangeela or a Daud. The last year might well be the beginning of a shift, with Ghajini, and now Blue. No song in either album will ever make a list of Rahman’s best, but equally, no-one can doubt that at their best, these albums feature a more playful Rahman, the sort of souffle-lover one missed in the likes of Jodha-Akbar. On the down-side, at its worst, the likes of Blue do give the impression of a composer who hasn’t lavished much care on his work. Luckily for us, the balance comes down on the side of buying the album.
Read the complete review HERE.
September 12, 2009 at 9:41 AM
Great review Qalandar.. mostly agreed on all your assessments.. by the way did you notice some of the self-referencing at work here? One of the songs has a bit of a refrain from Taal se taal mila (the opening), another one similarly recalls Ale ale. a couple of others that I’m forgetting now. On another note Rehnuma as GF rightly points out has the Bond theme embedded in it.
On the Ghajini comparison I’d disagree somewhat. I don’t think there’s anything as good here as Tu meri adhuri (a simple tune but quite addictive) and Kaise mujhe tum (quite haunting). Yet I wouldn’t necessarily pick Ghajini over Blue because there is something compulsive about the latter.
September 12, 2009 at 11:09 AM
hey q bhai .. just back from one hell of a week(in a good sense) from mumbai..
havent read the review but will read soon and get back as i havent yet heard songs of blue
September 12, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Thanks. You are on the money here. As usual.
September 12, 2009 at 11:35 AM
Excellent review. Not heard much of it myself and to be honest the couple of promos I have seen have been underwhelming. Led to believe that the other songs are much better from reviews such as this.
September 12, 2009 at 3:38 PM
didn’t think you’d be underwhelmed by Lara!
September 14, 2009 at 1:25 PM
Rahman proves his prowess yet again with ‘Blue’
Sunday 13th September, 2009 (IANS)
Film: ‘Blue’; Music Director: A.R. Rahman; Lyricists: Abbas Tyrewala, Mayur Puri and Raqeeb Alam; Singers: Kylie Minogue, Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, Vijay Prakash, Rashid Ali, Blaaze, Raqeeb Alam, Sonu Kakkar, Neha Kakkar, Jaspreet Singh, Udit Narayan and Madhushree; Ratings: *** 1/2
India’s double Oscar winner A.R. Rahman returns with another hit musical score in underwater film ‘Blue’. The album boasts of both racy and slow songs and brings forth contemporary sounds that generate a lot of interest.
The film, which is set to hit theatres Oct 16, stars Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar and Lara Dutta among others. The soundtrack has seven originals.
The listener is provided with a breezy and soothing experience with ‘Aaj dil gustakh hai’, a romantic song sung wonderfully by Shreya Ghoshal and Sukhwinder Singh. With the strumming of the acoustic guitar, the song becomes hip and rich in contemporary sounds. It sure is a delight to hear.
Up next is another likeable number ‘Bhoola tujhe’. The song crooned by Rashid Ali is a poignant offering and is slow in pace initially. But the tempo gradually increases. It has a unique quality that strikes a chord with the listener and Rahman spins his magic yet again.
Next in line is the theme song. It changes pace many times and also shifts from western to Indian influences and back. A power-packed number, it has Blaaze, Raqeeb Alam, Sonu Kakkar and Jaspreet Singh behind the microphone.
Then there is the much-awaited song ‘Chiggy wiggy’, which features international pop singer Kylie Minogue. Not only does she sing the number, she is also seen in the video. that is already on air. Kylie is supported by Sonu Nigam for the vocals.
The first part of the song is in English and is completely western, but Sonu enters with the sound of the dhol and gives the song an Indian feel. The track is neither bad nor brilliant.
‘Fiqrana’ by Shreya Ghoshal and Vijay Prakash is another fast-paced number. But it doesn’t impress very much.
Up next is ‘Rehnuma’, a sensual number with influences of jazz. The song is crooned by Shreya Ghoshal yet again along with Sonu Nigam. It’s in a different league altogether. Rahman’s signature style can be felt at places. A nice track indeed.
Finally there is ‘Yaar mil tha’, which has vocals by Udit Narayan and Madhushree. The song, a fusion of western and Indian styles, is not as interesting as others. It really doesn’t stand out as extraordinary.
But on the whole, Rahman has proved his musical prowess yet again with this soundtrack
September 14, 2009 at 1:26 PM
no one ought to defend Chiggy Wiggy! It is the ultimate 80s bubble gum track! Almost as if Kylie Minogue had been pulled out of a time warp. Rahman has consciously done this but why couldn’t he have made things a little more interesting?!
September 22, 2009 at 4:35 PM
chiggy wiggy’s doing well!
http://www.thehindu.com/fr/2009/09/18/stories/2009091850450100.htm