Tamasha - Music Review

Post 'Rockstar' there is always the curiosity element when Imtiaz Ali and Rahman come together. 

'Tamasha' starring Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in the lead is their 3rd outing. Here is a quick look at the tracks.

Matargashti - sounds more like a 'Rockstar' leftover, more so because of Mohit Chauhan's singing, till Rahman comes up with a lilting twist half way through the track. One that will rock the charts for sometime to come.

Heer Toh - rides on Irshad Kamil's Hinglish lyrics and exploits Mika's singing skills pretty well, which is not the case most often and ends on frenzied high. One can imagine the  heroine wiping her tears away and joining in to shake a leg as the pace picks up towards the end. Heer Toh Abhi Khush hai!

Tum Saath Ho -  is from a standard Rahman melody template, one that you have heard in the past in possibly Sadhna Sargam's voice. One cannot ignore Alka Yagnik almost sounding like Lataji. Passable.

Wat Wat Wat - Rahman strikes a lovely balance of pep and melody with this infectious track. Arijit Singh & Sashwat Singh only take it a notch higher with their rendition. One of those tracks that you will come to love after a few listens.

Chali Kahani - This dramatic track swings between moods and genres and is an interesting listen for some of the transitions. Sukhwinder handles it pretty well, ably supported by Haricharan & Haripriya. One has to wait and see how this is used in the film. 

Safarnama - Lucky Ali sounded very Rahmanish in this song. Rahman also pitches in with some vocal backing in the interludes. The song ends better than it starts with Rahman upping the ante half way thru. Could go on to become a favorite with FM stations along with Wat Wat Wat and Matargashti

Parade De La Bastilla (Instrumental) - Has a very celtic feel to it and should work well as background material

Wat Wat (Vengeance Mix) - I liked the other version better. The mix sounds a bit too forced and out of sync to me. The other version had a inherent beauty that seems suppressed here with the 'vengeance'

Tu Koi Aur - Perfect track for the director to put together montages of the lead pair reminiscing their happier past. Typical slow burner from Rahman, with fantastic support from Alma Ferovic and a majestic Western classical choir. Rounds up the soundtrack well and on a high.

Imtiaz Ali and Rahman have set such lofty standards for themselves with 'Rockstar' that it is tough to scale it with every outing. This is definitely not comparable to 'Rockstar' but certainly better than their second outing 'Highway'.

My Picks: Wat Wat and Heer Toh

Rockstar (Hindi)-Music Review-A.R.Rahman

Sorry for being away for so long.. I am back and hope to keep going like before.

ARR's Rockstar audio has already created the ripples and infact the store that I regularly buy music from had run out of the cd's. I managed to get a copy only after a week of the audio release. Shows the popularity and the pull of the double oscar winner!

The album has 14 tracks of which 2 are instrumental works and one (Meeting place) a poem (of Rumi) narrated by Ranbir.'Tango for Taj' and 'The Dichotomy of fame', the 2 instrumental tracks are quite engaging with the latter weaving some Shehnai (feat Balesh) magic in unison with Kabuli's guitars.

'Phir Se Udd Chala' starts with a meditative chorus elevated by that lilting guitar bit. Mohit Chauhan rules it and sounds a lot like Ranbir himself. Fantastic start this!

'Jo bhi Main' has some fabulous lyrics by Irshad Kamil, who unfortunately has not been credited in the CD. The guitar loop initially gave me a feel of 'If I Rise' from 127 hours, until Mohit's 'Yayaya' takes over. With minimal arrangements, this one's another good listen.

Harshdeep Kaur's silky vocals rule 'Kateya Karoon' and is undoubtedly one of the picks of this album. Super infectious from the word go!

To me the album belongs to 'Kun Fayakun'. On first listen, I felt a Delhi-6 hangover (Arziyan) probably because of Javed Ali's voice. But ever since, this song has been on loop. No complaints! Fabulous feel, typical of all Rahman devotional songs!

'Sheher Main' is fun and the dholak beats elevate the song to a different level. Didn't notice this song much the first few times. But it grabbed me today and I am lovin' it. Mohit's rendition is brilliant.

'Hawa Hawa' is another peppy and infectious track. Based on a Czech folk legend, the vocal arrangements are this song's highlight.

'Aur Ho' is a slow, mellow track and will feature in the backgrounds. Passable.

'Tum Ko' sounds like a Yuvvraaj leftover. Do you hear Tu Hi to Meri Dost hai somewhere? I do, for some reason. Nevertheless, its good to hear Kavita (Krishnamurthy) Subramaniam after quite sometime. Where have you been Kavitaji?

'Naadaan Parindey' is the anthem of the wandering soul. Is this a reflection of Rahman's state of mind, I wonder?! For that reason is alone this song is thoroughly enjoyable.

'Tum Ho' is another passable number that suffers from a Yuvvraaj hangover.

'Sadda Haq' is the war cry backed by some sensational guitar work (feat Orianthi Panagris, best known as Michael Jackson's lead guitarist for the ill fated 'This is it' concert series). Brilliant! The song is Jordan's (Ranbir Kapoor's character in the film) call to claim one's rights and is one sweeping track from the 'Isai puyal'.

Imtiaz Ali has extracted some brilliant stuff from Rahman. Now I am curious to see how these have been utilized.

All said and done, this album well and truly belongs to Jordan's voice, as the sleeve notes credit him, Mohit Chouhan. He has come quite a long way from his 'Dooba Dooba Rehta hoon' days. Now its time for him to fly high as in 'Phir se Udd Chala'. 

This Rockstar rocks for sure!!