AUDIOSCAN
It showcases Kashmir
ASC

THE way the Nadeem-Shravan duo continues to churn out creditable scores despite the physical distance is amazing. What makes it all the more surprising is that there is no compromise with quality.

The music of this particular album is totally on Kashmir. It relates to the storyline, so much so that you can almost guess the script of the film. The instruments used are mostly Kashmiri and so are the general tunes.

The stage is set by the opener, Yeh to Kashmir hai sung by Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan. Another song to have Kashmir in its opening line is Main ladki Kashmir ki (Kavita Krishnamurthy). O Sanam Kuja Beri (Sapna Mukherjee, Sonu Nigam) is also seeped in the valley traditions.

The most moving is, of course, Aao jannat mein jahannum ka nazara dekho (Shreya Ghoshal, Nirja Pandit, Kumar Sanu, Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan and Mohd Aziz), which recounts in pithy details the havoc wrought by terrorism in the idyllic valley.

The lyrics are by Sameer.

This Sohail Khan production boasts of a different kind of music. While Daboo Malik is the main music director, a few songs have also been composed by K C Loy and Xinc. So, all songs tend to be unique.

The most powerful of these is Khata nahin, sung by Krishna and penned by Jay Verma. It deliberately imitates the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan style.

Many others are pure Punjabi stuff. For instance, Nach kudi Punjabi has been sung by Arvind Singh and Sukhdev Singh with traditional élan. Lyrics of Kanwar Juneja are nothing exceptional but the overall impact is electric.

Audio CDs are fast making way for video CDs. Rates are already below the 100-rupee mark and the day is not far when VCDs may be as inexpensive as ordinary CDs.

This VCD has been recorded with quite a hefty budget. It even features Milind Gunaji in one of the songs, Aika Dajiba.

As is the trend these days there is quite a bit of skin show but that does not mean it is really vulgar. 

The title song figures repeatedly, and there is even a sequence on the making of Meri Madhubala. But other videos like Rama Rama ghazab ho gaya re, Pretty Lady and Dilbar dil se pyare hold their own.

This feature was published on February 14, 2004