Gulfisha - Singers: Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan and Vivian Chaix This one is a not a typical ARR tune though the arrangment is very Rahmanish. I don't see anything special with this song and not the best of ARR by any means. It could easily pass off as something from Vishal Shekar/Pritam's stable. I could hear 'Rangeela' influences. Sunidhi Chauhan in a ARR song - First time? If it is, not a great song for her to debut with ARR.
Gum Sum - Singers: Sonu Nigam & Alka Yagnik A peppy song sung very well by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik. I have to say again that the song and the arrangement itself doesn't sound completely Rahmanish. Again, a lacklustre song by ARR standards. Nothing much to write about it. Hai Dard - Singer: Udit Narayan Here's a song that starts off in a typical Rahman style with Udit's soulful singing. It makes you realise that there aren't many pathos songs Udit has sung for ARR in Hindi. The evergreen classis 'Ae Ajnabi...' from Dil Se was anything to go by, you'd have thought there should have been a lot more. But I frankly cannot think of much. Udit's comfort in high pitches (Sahaana from Sivaji) must have been the decisive factor for ARR picking him to sing this song. Udit's voice has a magical element that it can adapt to a pathos song as easily as a peppy one. He doesn't have to do much but his voice does something to add to the mood of the song. Super! Hawa Sun Hawa - Singers: Sonu Nigam & Alka Yagnik Another Sonu Nigam song. I wonder when was the last time Sonu got so many songs in one album of ARR. TLOBS? This one is a lilting melodious duet which is Sonu's forte and he just breezes through this one like he has done for ARR in the past. The tune in some places reminds you of the duets in TLOBS and Zubeidaa. The flute in the interludes give the song more haunting feel to it. Super, again! Ishq Ada - (Male Version) - Singer: Rashid Ali Now comes the masterstroke from the genius. The way the song starts gets you into its feel right away. The '70s Beatles' beats that plays throughout the song gets you into the groove of the song. The tune is a very complex one with many layers to it. ARR started with a simple basic tune of the song and tries out various permutations and combinations of pitch to it. Pure genius. Rashid Ali's singing is a mixed bag for me. His voice is very fresh in some places but at many places he gets too nasal to my liking. And thats where he sounds like a Adnan Sami clone. The accordion and guitar you get to hear is so refreshing which is something thats not well used in many songs these days. Ishq Ada - (Female Version) - Singer: Parul Mishra The female version of the previous song with minor variations. Parul sounds almost like Shreya in this song except when she sings in high pitches. She has done a creditable job for a song with a complex tune and has more classical touches to it than the one sung by Rashid. The tune has a complex mix of low pitch and high pitch singing that keeps switching pretty quickly and I wonder how many takes it took for the singers to get it right. Meherbaan - Singer: ARR The song starts off with a piano that you could easily mistake for a Richard Marx from 80s. And just when ARR starts singing and you hear the acoustic arrangement, you realise the obvious. ARR wanted to do a 80s soft rock romantic number ala Richard Marx, Elton John. I guess he wanted to do it for a long time and this is his way of doing it. A fitting tribute! This is one genre that is still evergreen especially for those who were in their teens during mid 80s and early 90s and were influenced by that hugely popular soft- rock genre. I guess ARR is one such. Having said all that, I noticed a similarity with 'Ni Sa Ri Sa...' song from Jeans. Anybody else? Meherbaan (Instrumental) Guitar: Sanjeev Thomas A nice song to pick for an instrumental. This would make for a great BGM if used well. It can easily pass off as music track from Richard Marx / Bryan Adams with such great guitar and piano. Milo Wahan Wahan Singers: Alka Yagnik & Jayachandran Everybody said it and I'll say it again. The song starts off with the BGM piece that Rahman used it in the climax of Kannathil Muthamitaal (2002 was the time he was scoring for both the movies, perhaps). This one is a sad melodious duet between Alka and Jayachandran. It is so good to hear jayachandran again after a long time and you wonder how he could have been used all this time. The humming that Alka does reminds you of 'Evano Oruvan' from Alaipaayudhey. ARR right from 'Bombay' has weaved magic with violin orchestra when he had to convey a tinge of sadness in the song and you can hear that here as well. Tu Mera Hai - Singers: Chitra, Sukhwinder Singh & Naresh Iyer Chitra still sounds the same as she did in Thiruda Thiruda. The song has quite a lot of traces of Rangeela and Pukar and those late 90s of ARR. Sukhwinder and Chitra is quite a combo for this song for their contrasting voices (like Chitra with Daler for RDB). I am not sure where Naresh Iyer figures in the song. A throwback to ARR of 90s. Overall it is a very good album though there are numbers like Tu Mera Hai, Gulfisha, Gum Sum that gives away the fact that the album was done more than 5 years back. Ishq Ada is the experimental track and is way ahead of times. It takes the credit of my 'Song of the Album' and that along with 'Meherbaan' is my 2 picks of the album.
