Variety is the spice

Honesty is suddenly the most sought-after quality when it comes to picking music composers for Hindi films. Not that we’re complaining. As listeners,it turns out well for us,because when the music of a film stays true to its essence,we find a nice variety on our playlist. The sounds of urban and rural India find place next to each other,thanks to the back-to-back releases of Aisha,a candyfloss tale of the lives and loves of Delhi’s swish set,and Peepli Live,a satirical take on farmer suicides.

Amit Trivedi can now officially be called one of the country’s most reliable music composers,who can be counted on to produce fresh sounds with each new soundtrack. For Aisha,he’s churned out a frothy mix of jazz,rock,bhangra and Latin music. Interestingly though,the music plays second fiddle to the vocals— whether it’s the title song Suno Aisha,where Trivedi himself provides the breathy vocals or whether its the contemplative Sham,sung by Trivedi and Neuman Pinto. The only sore thumb is Lehrein,a rather run-of-the-mill ballad sung by Anusha Mani. There are some beautiful strings playing here,but the excessive dreaminess of Mani’s rendition makes the song seem ordinary.

If Aisha spells urban sophistication,the music of Peepli Live is raw and spontaneous. The best song on the album,the folk-inspired Mehngai Dayain,sung by Raghubir Yadav and composed by the Bhadwai Village Mandali of Maharashtra,may sound funny to city folks,but no other track expresses rural anguish better. Another winner is Chola Maati Ke Raam,composed by and sung with a bhajan-like fervour by Nageen Tanvir (familiar to theatregoers as the late Habib Tanvir’s daughter). Shockingly,the Indian Ocean contributions,Des Mera and Zindagi Se Darte Ho,sound a little off,particularly the latter. The songs sound wonderful on their own and Des Mera,especially,which is more faithful to the folk-ish feel of the soundtrack,would be a gem on a purely Indian Ocean album. Unfortunately,on this particular compilation,they sound too sophisticated (especially Susmit Sen’s sublime guitar work,which we usually love).