Music

Sabiha Kalolwala

Here8217;s the latest gift from HMV. A five-pack of the life, times and work of the father of Hindi film music, the late Kundan Lal Saigal. As usual, amid a horde of people speaking about the maestro it8217;s only fair to call him that are his tracks, recorded in their old glory. Digitally remastered, no doubt, but with a lot of the unerasable blips and beeps intact. If you8217;ve been curious about the man, or a die-hard admirer, Legends is one way of getting to know him. Anecdotes that dot the music are from friends, admirers, film makers and melody makers alike. You get an insight into the kind of man he was and the kind of music he made.

To sum it up, for all old music buffs, this collection is a must have. Simply because there8217;s no place else where you8217;ll find so much on the man.
Legends, K L Saigal, HMV
Maya Mittal

Enigma are living upto all expectations with their just released fourth album, but they haven8217;t managed to surpass themselves with The Screen Behind The Mirror. It8217;s quite a typical Enigma-chaap album.

For the title track, Michael Cretu the mastermind behind Enigma incorporates a legendary choir part, O Fortuna, from the world famous oratario Carmino Burana, as a leitmotiv. But that was just the title number.

Side B, on the other hand, promises to be a big hit with Traces, Camera Obscura, Between Mind and Heart and more of the same enigmatic music. Gravity Of Love on Side A is another brilliant piece. A must for Enigma fans.
The Screen Behind The Mirror, Enigma, Virgin Records
Suba Vasudevan

He8217;s in every party, every car, every disco and now in every heart. Daler Mehendi is back with his latest album Ishq Da Jalwa, a compilation album of all his previous hits. The cassette has three songs from the album Tunak Tunak Tun, two from Bole Tara Ra, three from Ho Jayegi Balle Balle and one from Dardi Rab Rab.

Both sides of the cassette have different moods. Side A has romantic songs like Ishq Da Charkha, Moye Moye, Dilruba-o-Ruba, and Side B has some typical bhangra-ishtyle senti songs like Sun Veh Mahiya, Sajna Door Na Javeen, Yug Beet Gaye and many more thumke-dar numbers. The musical score by Jawahar Wattal, Ravi Pawar and Daler himself has been perfectly matured for these melodious songs.

This is not the Daler Mehendi which we usually see. But if you8217;re a die-hard fan, don8217;t wait, just grab it and go Balle Balle!
Ishq Da Jalwa, Daler Mehendi, Magnasound
Shankar Menon

For reasons unknown, Sonu Nigam wants to establish himself as a romantic singer in his new album JAAN. How else do you account for the sudden onslaught of mush in his album?!?

In keeping with the theme, the rhythm of the songs is very slow, with soppy lyrics which, unfortunately, running short on depth. Try and discern one song from the other if you can. They all sound so similar.

Even the number Tera milna pal do pal ka picturised on Bipasa Basu, has not captured the audiences attention.

JAAN just doesn8217;t have that sure to win your heart8217; effect. After Deewana something better was expected from this versatile singer.
Jaan, Sonu Nigam, T-Series
Madhu Vijayan

A perfect belated gift for your Valentine8217;, is what Only Mohabbat can be termed as. The music is excellent, lyrics are kaam chalao but what really spoils the whole album is the singing. It8217;s just8230; not8230;

Side A starts off with Lovely Lovely and Mere Saath Jhoomele which are good numbers followed by Dil Bole Yara Yara. Side B has just one reasonably good song Pyaasa Hoon

. Out of ten songs, three are remixed versions of the others and one is a Punjabi number, why the punjabi-element even exists is a total mystery.

Amir, the singer8217;, music director as well as the lyricist of this album, has done his homework for the music and lyrics but needs to work on his singing.
Only Mohabbat, Amir, Tips
Anand Sundaram