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Hindi Music Review: Baabul

Deepa

2006-11-26 10:52:17

While Bollywood continues its experimentation of different genres of film, one genre has remained in tact—the family drama. Hritik Roshan can display superpowers in Krrish, Aamir Khan can essay a terrorist in Fanaa, and Abhishek Bachchan can chase bad guys in Namibia in Dhoom, but audiences have shown time and time again that family dramas made well will never go out of date.

So when director Ravi Chopra made Baghban, a story about how children mistreat parents, the audiences flocked to the theaters. This year, Chopra takes on widowhood in his family drama Baabul (Father). Baabul revolves around the Kapoor family: parents Balraj (Amitabh Bachchan) and Shobhna (Hema Malini), and their son Avinash (Salman Khan). Avinash falls in love with and marries Milli (Rani Mukerji). However, soon after their marriage, Avinash dies suddenly and Milli is left a widow.

Having adopted Milli as his own daughter, Balraj tries to bring happiness back into her life by trying to get her to remarry. Enter Rajat (gorgeous John Abraham), who was in love with Milli even before she married Avinash. The struggle between Balraj’s desire to see Milli happy and society’s scorn of widows remarrying forms the premise of Baabul.

Aadesh Shrivastav has directed the music and Sameer has written the lyrics. Like with every big banner in Bollywood, I had high expectations from this album. And for the most part, I was not disappointed. I do, however, think that Sameer was the weakest link. He was not consistent.

Come on, Come on – Aadesh Shrivastava, Amitabh Bachchan, Ranjit Barot, Sonu Nigam, Vishal; Remix composed by DJ Suketu

For the first time in a long time, Amitabh Bachchan sings for himself in a movie. He is not the best singer, but he does really well here. He’s really fun to listen to in this upbeat dance number, which I’m assuming is going to be a treat to watch on the big screen. And he speaks English. Without making you cringe. Sonu Nigam sings for Salman Khan and complements Bachchan well. Aadesh Shrivastav and Ranjit Barot lend good support.

The remix version, composed by DJ Suketu, is good as well. The only thing I was disappointed about in this version is that the beginning sounded like something that Himesh Reshammiya would compose. But that was a brief moment at the start of the song so it wasn’t too bad.

Keh Raha Hai – Shreya Ghosal, Sonu Nigam

I have to say that I was really disappointed with this song. I’m so tired of listening to Sameer re-hash the same lyrics over and over again. With the melody being so great, this song would be worth something if the lyrics were better. It’s a typical song about being in love and making promises and spending lifetimes together. Blah blah blah. Who talks like that in real life? I mean do they really want to spend every waking moment together in this life, much less future lives? It’s a piece of cake for the singers, too. Nothing they haven’t done before.

Sonu Nigam sings a slower version of it at the end of the album, which I actually. Nigam emoted it well—the idea that these two people who were destined to be together finally are. And it helped that the words were kept to a minimal and they were straight to the point. Not sugary like the first one.

Har Manzar – Kunal Ganjawala

This song starts off a little weak but takes an about turn when Kunal Ganjawala starts singing. He breezes through it, literally—I just love the way it flows. This is one of those pieces that you can play in the background while you are trying to get work done. I don’t know what else to really say. It’s nice, but doesn’t stand out. Ditto for the remix.

Kehta Hai Baabul – Jagjit Singh

This is a situational number that I’m assuming they are going to play in the background. It’s slow and boring. The lyrics aren’t extraordinary. Jagjit Singh sounds bored singing it, but he does well. For a number that’s supposed to capture the essence of the movie, I’d say they can do a little better. But to be fair, it’s not horrible. It’s actually decent, but it’s just boring.

Bebasi Dard Ka Aalam – Kunal Ganjawala

This song seems to be picturized on John Abraham, who secretly continues loving Rani Mukerji’s character while she is pining for her dead husband. In the manner of a knight in shining armor, he is asking her to give him all her troubles: her sadness, her silence, and her loneliness. In return, he promises to give her happiness. While this all sounds uber-sappy on paper, the English translation doesn’t capture the Hindi well. It’s really quite a sweet song without being over the top.

Kunal Ganjawala was the perfect pick as singer because his voice sounds raw but in a way that works for him. I also love the melody—it allows for a range of emotion and it stays with you afterwards.

Bawri Piya Ki – Sonu Nigam

This song has perhaps one of the most beautiful intros I have ever heard. This slow, classical number is pretty much as good as it gets when it comes to Sonu Nigam’s comfort zone. He exudes the feelings of love and emptiness with such subtle strength that the end product really leaves an impact. This is one of the best pieces on this album.

Gaa Re Mann – Alka Yagnik, Kailash Kher, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sudesh Bhosle

There is an interesting mix of singers here, but they sound good together. Kailash Kher has an earthy voice while Sudesh Bhosle has a deep, powerful one. Alka Yagnik has a thin, soft voice and Kavita Krishnamurthy has a more mature one. I will say that it was a treat hearing Kavita Krishnamurthy after such a long time. She is one of my favorite singers. The song overall is decent: good music, good words, and great singing. But I felt as if something was missing, preventing it from becoming even better. It needed that extra oomph, if you know what I mean.

Also, at one point, Sameer copied lyrics from Baghban. Two lines from “Meri Makhna, Meri Soniye” of Baghban were lifted and placed straight into this song. That’s sad, even if it his own work.

Baabul-Bidaai – Richa Sharma

This is a trademark Richa Sharma song. She also has a very earthy voice and is often given slow, sad numbers such as this because it’s her niche. Like all those other songs, she knocks this one out of the ballpark. Here, Rani Mukerji is leaving her father’s house (I’m assuming it’s because she is getting married). Generally in Indian weddings, when the bride leaves, it’s a very sad moment for the family because she is officially leaving her childhood home and adopting a new family. This number captures that emotion well.

So this album has two really good songs: Bebasi Dard ka Aalam and Bawri Piya. The rest are decent to average, but suffer only because of the lyrics. And of course, the music composition makes up for other flaws, so I would say 3 out of 5.