| Song: Allah Ke Bande Album: Waisa Bhi Hota Hai – Part II Type: Bollywood Singer: Kailash Kher Music Director: Vishal – Shekhar Lyricist: Vishal Dadlani Rating: 5.0 Vishal Dadlani has been in news for the TV show The Dewarists. The show itself was pretty good but it reminded me how underrated Vishal’s lyric writing skills are. A classic example is the song that practically launched Kailash Kher’s career – “Allah Ke Bande”. Since the song was later included in Kailash Kher’s band’s eponymous album “Kailasa”, most people assume that this brilliant song is his. Kailash may have sung his heart out for the song but pay attention to the lyrics and you’ll be amazed by Vishal’s prowess as a lyricist. |
| Song: Yeh Sama Album: Yeh Kya Ho Rahai Hai Type: Bollywood Singer: Shaan, Sowmya Music Director: Shankar – Ehsaan – Loy Lyricist: Javed Akhtar Rating: 4.2 Extremely easy on the ears and utterly feel good, this song is tailor-made for Shaan. Some lovely flute. |
| Song: Aankh Me Surat Teri Album: Chhoo Mantar Type: Bollywood Singer: Mohd Rafi Music Director: O.P. Nayyar Lyricist: Jaan Nisaar Akhtar Rating: 4.0 A really interesting song that never settles down and doesn’t let the listener settle down either. It alternates between an exuberant folk tune, a ghazal type rendition and a qawwali influenced section. The tempo also varies from slow to medium to fast and back. All this in the space of 4 minutes! |
| Song: Ajj Din Chadeya Album: Love Aaj Kal Type: Bollywood Singer: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan Music Director: Pritam Lyricist: Irshad Kamil Rating: 4.8 A lot of people, myself included, appear overdosed on RFAK songs. But I had put myself on an RFAK detox program for many days and when I istened to this song today, it sounded as sugary sweet as it did the first time I heard it. A good song really but FM channels should realize that too much of anything is not good. |
| Song: Yun Zindagi Ki Raah Mein Album: Saath Saath Type: Bollywood Singer: Chitra Singh Music Director: Kuldeep Singh Lyricist: Javed Akhtar Rating: 4.3 I think Kuldeep Singh was destined to create the score for Saath Saath. How else do you explain such a brilliant album from someone who hardly made a dent in the music scene otherwise? Of course, he was supported by Jagjit Singh at his peak and wonderful lyrics by Javed Akhtar. “Yun Zindagi..” is probably Chitra Singh’s best solo number. |
| Song: Anjali Anjali Album: Duet Type: Koliwood Singer: S.P. Balasubramaniam, Chitra Music Director: A.R. Rahman Lyricist: Vairamuthu Rating: 5.0 A beauty of song. SPB and Chithra’s singing, ARR’s composition, Vairamuthu’s lyrics, Kadri Gopinath’s saxophone and Naveen Kumar’s awesome flute all come together in a magical blend. |
| Song: Do Sitaron Ko Zameen Par Album: Kohinoor Type: Bollywood Singer: Mohd Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar Music Director: Naushad Lyricist: Shakeel Badayuni Rating: 5.0 A lovely, lovely song from an album that was perhaps the last great one by Naushad. The use of slide guitar and choral vocals show that Naushad had a lot more in his repertoire than classical music. |
| Song: Alolam Kanmani Album: Raathrimazha Type: Mollywood Singer: Sujatha Music Director: Ramesh Narayan Lyricist: Kaithapram Rating: 4.6 Ramesh Narayan again uses his Hindustani music background for this mellow number. This times he gives it a nice pop twist which Sujatha delivers with panache. I wish he had taken it easy with the synth though. |
| Song: Na Jane Kya Hua Album: Dard Type: Bollywood Singer: Lata Mangeshkar Music Director: Khaiyyam Lyricist: Naqsh Lyallpuri Rating: 4.2 This song was big when it came out but seems to have completely disappeared from public memory over the years. It may not be the best song from that period but it would be a shame if a song like this disappeared in the abyss of time. It deserves to be heard. This is the typical light song that Khaiyyam was so good at – light acoustic guitar, some santoor, some flute, understated string section (unlike the loud orchestra that was usual then) and a simple, hummable tune. Good ol’ days! |
| Song: Take The Long Way Home Album: Breakfast In America Type: Pop Artist: Supertramp Rating: 5.0 I just love this song. You have to listen to this song if you like any of the following – upbeat melody, harmonica, piano, saxophone, harmonies. A very good song from a very good album. |