Lagaan

The long wait for Aamir Khan's big-budget epic 'Lagaan' is finally over! Well at least it is for the soundtrack! With a team of Javed Akhter penning the lyrics and A.R. Rahman composing the music, this is undoubtedly going to be a soundtrack to remember.

The album opener, 'Ghanan Ghanan' is sung by a multitude of singers, including Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Sukwinder Singh, Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan, Kishori Gowariker. The opening, with several voices gently chanting the song title sounds a little ominous, but Alka transforms it into a warmer ode to rain. The traditional composition is enhanced by the simplicity of the instruments and the folk effect of the chorus, which in some parts sounds like it could be from a Manoj Kumar film. The tamborine creates a wonderful lightening effect which cleverly fits with the lyrics and the theme of the song. Perfect!

The next song 'Mitwa' has Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Sukwinder Singh and Srinivas. The music is beautifully melodious with calm soothing verses and a more a spirited chorus. The percussion is quite strong and really enhances Sukwinder Singh's equally intense vocals. The dhol at the end sounds great and adds character and authenticity to the village setting.

Asha Bhonsle, Udit Narayan and Vaishali sing 'Radha Kaise Na Jale'. Akhter has composed his lyrics very cleverly, creating a playful conversation between Asha and Udit using religious analogies. Rahman combines these mischievous lyrics with his unique style of music, using the flute and cymbols to emphasise the religious overtones.

'Lagaan…Once upon a time in India' is Rahman's customary instrumental theme for the movie and features Anuradha Sriram. Its an interesting blend of East and West, with the East initially being represented as calm and serene using the sitar and Anuradha's ethereal voice. The West is portrayed through operetic vocals and much harsher violins and trumpets. However, the Eastern representation gradually becomes more aggressive, perhaps suggesting a crusade against the West, but it ends on a tender note with Anuradha Sriram.

'O Rey Chhori' is a romantic song with Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Vasudhara Das singing the English lyrics flawlessly, without a hint of an accent. Rahman emphasises the East with traditional beats and blends into the West with the piano and harp, making these transitions completely seamless. Also, credit to Akhter for writing equally poetical English lyrics as he does Hindi.

A.R Rahman and Srinivas provide the vocals for 'Chale Chalo'. This is a song of courage and determination and the lyrics combined with the forceful style of music express the fortitude of the people effectively. It sounds a little like 'Vande Mataram' making it quite inspirational and uplifting.

'Waltz for a Romance' is a classical western instrumental version of Vasudhara Das's vocals in 'O Rey Chhori'. Rahman has created a very graceful effect with the flute and has successfully managed to capture the emotion of first love.

The soundtrack ends with a beautiful bhajan, 'O Paalanhaare' sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Udit Narayan. Lataji's magical voice intensifies the grace and elegance in the song. The composition is absolutely flawless, with the tablas and cymbols gently blending into the gentle use of the synthesizer.

There is not one bad, or even mediocre song on the entire album! The lyrics and music are beautifully composed, presenting us with north Indian folk combined with classical western music, which fits perfectly with the 1890's time setting. Because of the tradtional theme of the movie, Rahman has successfully created an equally traditional ambience with his music. He is definitely one of the most sought after music directors in Bollywood today. If the movie is half as good as the music, methinks Aamir may have a huge hit on his hands!