Yash Chopra’s Veer-Zaara is the latest and the biggest talk of the tinsel town
currently. From its title, theme and cast to its completion, the film has been
an object of constant media speculation. Getting straight to the music of the
film, which essentially is one of the prime reasons why the film has been under
constant conjecture, it’s now a known fact that the film has music composed by
yesteryear maestro – the late Madan Mohan.
The prolific composer had scored some of the best and the biggest hits from the
early 50’s to the late 70’s. To refresh memories some of his golden compositions
include songs like Aap Ki Nazron Ne Samjha (Anpadh), Kaun aaya mere man ke dware
(Dekh Kabira Roya), Woh bhooli dastan lo phir yaad aa gayee (Sanjog), Naina
barse rim jhim (Woh Kaun Thi?), Ab tumhare hawale watan saathiyon (Haqeeqat),
Milo na tum to, Yeh duniya yeh mehfil (Heer Ranjha), Dil Dhoondta Hai Phir Wahi
(Mausam) . Others may identify him as the original composer of current remix
tunes like Jhumka Gira Re (Mera Saaya) and Kya Soorat Hai (Man Mauji) .
The music legend who unfortunately passed away at a young age had composed a
bank of tunes while he was still going great as a musician. Yash Chopra
specially selected those tunes from this unused collection that went in perfect
sync with his movie theme. These 30-year-old eternal tunes were recreated by
Madan Mohan’s son – Sanjeev Kohli and recorded in voice of contemporary singers.
Incidentally though both Yash Chopra and Madan Mohan were from the same era,
they never worked together before this album. (An example of a musician’s tunes
being used after he passed away is in case of 1942 – A love Story where RD
Burman’s memorable compositions were recreated by his erstwhile assistant Babloo
Chakrabarthy).
Over to Veer-Zaara…
The album opens with mellow string notes of the track Tere Liye (the interludes
of which are currently aired in the promos of the film). In the melodious vocals
of Roop Kumar Rathod and the evergreen Lata Mangeshkar, this makes for a slow
(but steady) start for the album. This emotional track appears to be the theme
song of the Veer-Zaara, interludes of which are usually played in the background
at several instances in the film. Lata’s vocals do tend to get somewhat sharp on
treble notes but overall the track refrains from getting to high pitch.
After a poignant start, the album takes a peppy turn with Main Yahan Hoon. Udit
Narayan vibrates his voice and lends an effervescent feel to his solo number. A
typical Shahrukh number, the song has a vivacious feel to it.
Udit Narayan and Lata Mangeshkar get along for Yeh Hum Aa Gaye Hai Kaha. Though
the song title may sound like an inversion of a track “Yeh Kaha Aa Gaye Hum”
from one of Yash Chopra’s earlier films Silsila, the tune is far from it.
Nevertheless it’s a melodious tune catching up instantly. A refreshing romantic
duet this may turn out to be the most popular song of the album!
Gurdas Mann opens the fervent Punjabi flavored Aisa Des Hai Mera and Udit
Narayan soon takes over the track. An inspiring song in praise of the
motherland, Javed Akhtar gets to his usual best with his practical down-to-earth
lyrics. In fact rather than admiration of Des (nation), the song is more
targeted towards a man’s love for his village/town and its way of life.
Thematically it reminds of the song Ghar Aaja Pardesi from Chopra’s earlier film
DDLJ. Gurdas returns to add the bhangra touch with interludes of Punjabi folk
tunes like Ye Desh Hai Veer Jawano Ka and Reshmi Salwar Kurta Jaali Ka (also
used in yesteryear films) interspersed in between. Lata Mangeshkar makes a late
appearance in the track and points out how similar is the neighboring country
(Pakistan) with this des (India). Small time singer Preetha Mazumdar also gets
to croon a few lines in the song and incidentally is the only other female voice
(after Lata Mangeshkar) in this album.
Do Pal by Sonu Nigam and Lata Mangeshkar is a touching track and essentially has
that touch of 60-70. The light metal percussions (which were an essential
element of SD Burman compositions) make that more evident.
Yash Chopra goes beyond the microphone for the first time in Kyun Hawa. But hold
on… he isn’t singing but just gives a commentary for the track. Faintly
reminiscent of Amitabh Bachchan’s prologue in the song Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum (Silsila),
Chopra’s heavy-worded foreword seems to be slightly stretched out by the time
Sonu and Lata Mangeshkar take charge of the mike.
Hum To Bhai Jaise Hain, a Lata Mangeshkar solo is a fun-frolic song about ‘I
will be the way I am’. A youthful and joyful track as far as it lasts! Hussain
brothers (Ahmed and Mohd.) get together for a traditional qawalli Aaya Tere Darr
Par Deewana. The tune is restricted within the conventional qawalli domain with
the customary tabla arrangements and vocal pitch variations (and without much
experimentation). The song appears be set in the climax of the movie.
Udit-Lata-Gurdas Mann get together once again for the Punjabi track Lodi (which
stands for the Punjabi festival of fire). Basically a male-female ched-chad song
with a frothy folk feel, it is in the lines of Soni Soni Akhiyo Wali (Mohabbatein)
. Gurdas Mann dominates the track while Udit plays the supporting singer here.
Two bonus tracks also feature on the CD in the sense that they won’t appear in
the film but have been recorded as add-ons to the disc. Jagjit Singh and Lata
Mangeshkar feature in the mellow ghazal Tum Paas Aa Rahe Ho while Jaane Kyun is
a soft and slow solo song by Lata with a sonata thrown in between.
Veer-Zaara is a mixed bag varying from a rich collection of love songs to
emotional tracks to a patriotic number, a qawalli, a folk song and a ghazal.
While the first half of the album is instantly appealing the second half will
slowly grow on you. At the end the outcome is pretty likeable.
Take a break from the world of techno music and remix item numbers. Dip into
divine melodies with Veer-Zaara .
