Wednesday, July 7, 2010

mr. singh aur mrs. mehta music reviews

Mr. Singh / Mrs. Mehta is a Hindi film starring Prashant Narayanan and Aruna Shields. It's directed by Pravesh Bhardwaj, who has learnt the nuances of film making from the likes of Shyam Benegal, Gulzar, Aruna Raje and Govind Nihalani, to name a few. The film is produced by Manu Kumaran and was released on June 24th 2010. Mr Singh/Mrs Mehta is directorial debut of Pravesh Bhardwaj and features music of Grammy nominated artist Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan.

Plot

Set in London, Mr Singh/Mrs Mehta is a story of two people – Ashwin (Prashant Narayanan) and Neera (Aruna Shields) who find their spouses are having an affair. Drawn together by shame and anger, they find comfort in their growing friendship even as they resolve not to be like their unfaithful mates.


Cast


Music

The movie has 6 vocal tracks and 4 instrumentals, composed by Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan and Shaarang Dev Pandit, son of Pandit Jasraj[1]
  1. Ai Khuda - Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan (06:36)
  2. Barhaan Dil - Shreya Ghoshal (05:09)
  3. Fariyaad Hai - Richa Sharma (06:59)
  4. Behoshi Nasha Khushboo - Udit Narayan & Shreya Ghoshal (08:19)
  5. Ajnabi Aankhein - Roop Kumar Rathore (06:51)
  6. Barhaan Dil - KK (05:09)
  7. Nailpolish On The Toes - Instrumental (03:15)
  8. Losers Theme - Instrumental (02:43)
  9. Solitaire Blues - Instrumental (01:43)
  10. A Shade of Red - Instrumental (05:03)

music reviews

Soundtracks composed by classical exponents tend to be in most cases a bittersweet experience, more so when such tracks happen for movies of a parallel nature. On the one side while they ensure the highest quality of music, the compositions bear a heavy influence of their regular line of music and hence they invariably get listened to by very few people owing to the esoteric nature. Scored by grammy-nominated sitarist Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan and Shaarang Dev Pandit, son of Pandit Jasraj, the soundtrack of Mr. Singh Mrs. Mehta is yet another one in that league.
The two ghazals that start off the playlist are both beautifully arranged. First one, Ai Khuda, has been delivered perfectly by Ustaad Shujaat Hussain himself, bread-and-butter stuff for him. And the second one,Barhaan Dil, has two variants. The first one has Shreya Ghoshaldoing the vocals and KK does the honours in the male version. The third song, Fariyaad Hai, is a melancholic folk ballad, fittingly sung byRicha Sharma who has in the past delivered quite a few such songs. The longest track of the album is Behoshi Nasha sung by Udit Narayan and Shreya. And the only track where the composers have tried to bring in a slightly filmy touch to the arrangement, producing a breezy melody characterised by its flute sequences. The final vocal track, Ajnabi Aankhein is also one with a ghazal flavour, sung by Roop Kumar Rathod. And this is the one I liked most, for its haunting tone and the surprise rock-ish twist in the first interlude.
The last four tracks are instrumentals all with heavy classical flavour. First one, called Nailpolish on the toes, has been composed in raag Sindhubhairavi I felt, and is dominated by flute and sitar. The second one, Losers Theme, seems to be in raag Abhogi, and has some splendid flute playing to a soft background of acoustic guitar and keys. Solitaire Blues is a continuation of Losers Theme with the flute playing on at a faster pace.A Shade of Red is for most part an alaap on the sitar, which is followed by unrelated bits and pieces, denoting the situational nature of the track.
The four instrumentals shall make for excellent background material, but having

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