RAM-LEELA - MUSIC REVIEW

There is a thing with the kind of cinema that Sanjay Leela Bhansali makes, you either fall in love with it or you discard it outright. So everytime Mr.Bhansali comes up with something there is a great deal of excitement surrounding it. 

Ram-Leela, Bhansali's directorial, is slated for a November release and going by the response that the trailer has acquired, it looks nothing short of an epic. Ram-Leela is also Mr.Bhansali's second film as a music director. 

They say that the songs in a film are a reflection of the film itself and not some added elements. Barely do you find people sticking to this fact. But SLB gets it right once again. The songs in the album apart from conveying the emotions and the cultural instances perfectly convey the scale, the grandeur and the exuberance that is expected of films by SLB. 

If Guzaarish, as an album was more soothing and pristine, where SLB showed great restraint in the compositions, Ramleela is loud and cheerful but it somehow also manages to keep intact the rhythmic beauty of the songs and is probably 2nd only in musical quality and variations to Lootera.

TATTAD TATTAD - The album begins with the addictive Tattad Tattad track sung by Aditya Narayan. This is a loud and outrageous track and perfectly defines the character of Ram. What works for this song is the arrangement of instruments. From traditional Gujarati folk instruments, coupled with nagadas and western techno thrown in at places, this one is for the loop. Aditya Narayan manages to sing with great energy and certain parts are very reminiscent of the UDIT NARAYAN style of singing. Like Father, Like Son. A chartbuster for sure.

NAGADE SANG DHOL - SLB knows a thing about the Garba songs. This track is 4 minutes of pure energy and is going to be a hot favourite at all the Garba Functions. Peppy beats and Gujarati folk Instruments make this song addictive. And to top it all up, Shreya Goshal sings with such great vigour that it is impossible to just not like this song. It is one of those rare tracks where the folk music is attractive enough for the "aam janta" as well. This also happens to be my personal favourite track from the album. Get ready to Dance folks. HAALO :D

ANG LAGA DE - With two relatively upbeat tracks, Bhansali is back to let his focus shift to melodies and boy does he surprise us! This is one hell of a seductive track. Aditi Paul's vocals sound a lot like that of Shreya Goshal's but there is certain rawness in her voice which makes this track strikingly beautiful. Written brilliantly and based on classical ragas, this song is a treat to the ears. UJLI KORI PREET PE AA SATRANG LAGA DE RE. Poetry hardly gets better than this. 

LAHU MUNH LAG GAYA - Apart from the haunting vocals of Shail Hada, it is the lyrics and the musical arrangement that make this song mesmerizing. The chorus adds to the premise and the great instrumental fade out towards the end of the song sync with the mood.

POORE CHAND - Shail Hada it is once again to surprise you with his range as a singer. Poore Chand is a piece of poetry that does not work on rhyme but works on the rhythm. This song, at certain points, reminds me of Chand Chupa Baadal Mein from HDDCS and Tera Zikr Hai from Guzaarish. Yet taking nothing away from this track, it is poetry in motion to say the least. The impact probably would be more enchanting once the video is out. The lyricist pulls of a gem as Shail Hada sings, POORE CHAND KI YE AADHI RAAT HAI.

LAAL ISHQ - With an array of hit songs in the last 6 to 8 months, Arijit Singh finally sings something substantial and something that is worthy of his talent. Laal Ishq is a track which is grounded in the beauty of its composition. Brilliantly sung by Arijit, the classical flavour does the magic here and despite being just over 6 minutes, it leaves the listener ecstatic and wanting for more.

ISHQYAUN DISHQYAUN - I'm yet to figure out the relevance of this track. The worst track from the album, even Aditya Narayan's pumped up singing could hardly save this disaster.

MOR BANI THANGAT KARE - This track sounds like a musical arrangement straight out from the Coke Studio set up. Osman Pir's vocals work wonders for this song. The visibility of the song will be reduced considerably considering the pure Gujarati lyrics but nonetheless it has got a catchy groove.

DHOOP - Bhansali saves the best for Shreya Goshal yet again and she delivers. It would be going too far to say but Shreya almost pulls off a Lata Mangeshkar here. With superb vocal quality and an extremely melodious musical arrangement, this track grows on you. We have hardly had better female vocalists than Shreya and SLB makes complete use of her talent. A delightful song.

I have hardly seen such detailed musical efforts for a film. Each song has its own story to tell. Each song makes you fall in love with the artistic genius of Sanjay Leela bhansali. With two Chartbusters and some extremely delightful songs, Ram-Leela is one hell of an album. BUY THE CD AND KEEP IT FOR THE COLLECTION!!

**4 STARS**