It's the end of this blog as we know it (and I feel fine!) Well, here we are. The moment has arrived to announce that I hereby renounce all claims of elitism and "kvltness" in my choice of music, and go diving willingly, happily and completely into the omnipresent, and suddenly irresistible mainstream. Yes, things have changed. The caller tune on my cell phone may still be David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes, but the far more commonly audible (and hence greater advertisement for my present state of mind) ring tone has cast aside King Henry's Madrigal by Jethro Tull, Bouree by Circulus, and even Born of frustration by James, to settle down instead with the cheerful stop-and-start guitar strumming that opens what is likely to be the Song of the Year for me - Rashid Ali singing A.R. Rahman's Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi from the utterly utterly delightful film Jaane Tu.... Ya Jaane Na
Exhibit A, Ladies and Gentlemen, in the case for Sheer Pop Brilliance. It simply does not get any more infectious than this. And, more importantly, Aditi reminds us once again that truly great pop music need serve no greater purpose than to put a smile on your face, despite anything Tom Morello might say to the contrary. Now don't get me wrong, I love my social-activism/ world-peace/ failed-relationship/ driven-to-suicide-by-poverty songs as much as any rock fan out there, but sometimes (and I've been facing such a time in life lately) all you really really need is a reason to smile. And if you're in the same boat, let me assure you that you need look no further than this excellent soundtrack, yet another feather in the cap of a man who is as close to pop genius as anyone in this generation can hope to get. Ever since I watched the film (second day, last show, walking out a couple of hours past midnight with that heady feeling of warm, dreamy, fuzziness - ah forget it, there's no way I can describe it), I've been addicted to the soundtrack. Been looping it several times a day for the last week or so, thus rediscovering the joys of looping, which I'd probably last indulged in over a decade ago when I was just discovering The Who. It was Quadrophenia and Who's next then - angsty teenager years, long since laid to rest. My addiction for Jaane Tu....'s music, though, is probably more comparable to the first Beatles tape I ever owned, when it took me ages to get to Track 5, with all the constant rewinding. You loop it because you simply don't want to wipe that smile off your face for half a nanosecond. Which is not to say the soundtrack doesn't have its more serious moments. The two versions of Jaane tu mera kya hai are achingly beautiful, further improved by their contrasting arrangements - the slightly more upbeat "Aditi" version, and the truly melancholic and impassioned "Jai" version, sung impeccably by Sukhvinder Singh, exhibiting a bit more subtlety in the emotional delivery than he is generally known for. In fact, both these tracks are so well tied-in with the characters' emotions that it was extremely disappointing that they did not appear in the film. And Rashid Ali and Vasundhara Das on Kahin to hogi manage to elevate what seems on the surface to be no more than a pedestrian MLTR-style ballad (complete with the ubiquitous key change at the end of the song etc.) into a gorgeous, genuinely moving love song. Call me a sucker, but I just fell for these lines: Hoti jahan subah teri palkon ki kirnon mein Lori jahan chand ki sune teri bahon mein... I can't adequately translate that, but it moves me for sure! Coming back to the fun bits. Aditi I've already spoken about, but honestly, no amount is enough. It's the kind of song that makes you wish your partner was called "Aditi" so you could sing it to her freely, without any awkward syllable-squeezing exercises to fit her name in. Honestly, who wouldn't want to cheer up a loved one that way? To his credit, Rashid Ali, despite his rather glaring "US-return" affectations, injects just the right amount of playfulness and joy into his delivery. Nazrein milaana, nazrein churana is another catchy singalong ditty, despite its rather obvious borrowings from Rahman's own Yunhi chala chal raahi from Swades. Having said that, rearranging the song to fit into a rather more happy-go-lucky youth feel than the original "weary traveller" theme says a lot for Rahman's skills. The man himself contributes the quaint Tu bole, main bolun which actually makes me want to launch into jazz improvs and go Do-be-de-doop-boop-do-wah, and that's quite something from a jazz-hater like me! The only disappointment, if you can call it that, is the hugely popular Pappu can't dance which is rather slight, and, despite raising the odd snigger, doesn't quite match up to the rest of the roster. Overall, Jaane Tu.... Ya Jaane Na is probably some of the best music you will hear from Bollywood (or anywhere else, for that matter) this year, and represents that rather rare and pleasing situation when music that it seems completely impossible to escape, actually doesn't need to be avoided! http://endlesswire.blogspot.com/2008/07/its-end-of-this-blog-as-we-know-it-and.html
