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A rare collection of unreleased tracks composed by music directors Sonik-Omi,hits the market

The music duo of Sonik-Omi are hardly familiar to music aficionados. But if you walk down Kolkata’s Dharamtala area,there will be ample long playing records playing music from films like Teen Eekay,Farar Quadi,Sawan Bhado,Umra Quaid — for which the two had composed tracks. Now,years after the death of Sonik of the uncle-nephew duo,Universal Music has released 14 hitherto unreleased songs in an album called Unheard Melodies. “These are songs from films that remained incomplete for various reasons. The duo had a unique musical sensibility and these songs showcase it,” says Rajat Kakar,managing director,Universal Music,India. The duo began their careers by working as chorus singers for music director Roshan and later worked as arrangers for music director Madan Mohan.

Singer Asha Bhosle,who has sung three of the tracks released the album earlier this month. “This was the golden era of music in the Indian film industry. An era which boasted of S.D. Burman,R.D. Burman,Kishore Kumar,Mohammad Rafi,Lata Mangeshkar and of course,Sonik Omi. It feels great to hear these songs again. Some of these compositions were really beautiful and will take listeners back in time,” says Bhosle. The 14-track album promises to be a rare treasure of songs sung by legendary singers. With three songs each by Lata Mangeshkar and Bhonsle,one each by Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar,the album also has seven songs with Mohammad Rafi.