Gali Hai Deewanon Ki Dilli

Updated: 20th Feb, 2009.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I complained to Chadha (my eternal bollywood music confidante) about Rahman ... and how I won't be able to worship him as God until he comes out with a truly hindustani classical number (like Chashmebadoor's Kahan Se Aaye Badra). Rahman's use of Shehnai in the instrumental of Swades' "Yeh Jo Des" was very close to classical, but still!

With Delhi-6, the God seems to have responded to my prayers!

A very reluctant suggestion: instead of wasting your time reading this post, please reach out for the songs here and listen to them online. For a torrent worth 320kbps MP3s, click here.

A very enthusiastic suggestion: Don't even try to listen to this music (or any Rahman's music, for that matter) without earphones, or a Bose system. It's like munching on BournBourn biscuits without the chocolate cream, or like eating toast without the crunch, or like playing football only to score goals ... (ok .. I'll stop)!

Once in a while, an album shows up out of the blue with 3-4 such magnificent songs that you wish you could listen to, and enjoy, all of them at once. The patience to listen to songs one after the other fades away ... staying on the same song (when other delicious numbers are waiting in the line) becomes really hard .... but parting with the current number seems out of question! 

I started listening to Delhi-6 with the title track ... and even after 20 continuous replays, I couldn't get enough of it! Rahman makes himself very audible despite being the chorus, and croons so pleasantly like only Rahman can! This is a song that you would want to play in a topless car while roaming around in Delhi ... a perfect show-off song with enough rhythm in it ... 

Then came Bhor Bhaye, wherein the cruel Shreya Ghoshal and quaatil  Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Sahib combined to deliver a killing Hindustani classical masterpiece!

The next step, if not an earlier one, was to come to senses, and search for the protocol Rahman-sung song. As is known, songs sung by Rahman are usually the best of his albums, but off-late he was messing up with this trend. Unfortunately, I wasn't very happy with "Rehna Tu" .. may be because it's a very different song, or may be because the my expectations were sky high after the first two numbers I listened to. May be this song will grow on me very soon.

[I was correct! 7 days on, this song has taken over! The lyrics are just great too ...]

I don't mind if it doesn't ... since Hey Kaala Bandar more than compensates for it. Probably no one can handle the concept of Hinglish songs as well as Rahman does ... and he QEDs it here yet again with Hey Kaala Bandar and Delhi-6. With items like Hello Doctor, Suniyo Re, Paathshaala, or Delhi-6 ... every other music director attempting Hinglish seems just like a "money out there!" I think it's very much due to Sivamani's god-giri percussion ... may be not ... who cares! One line that Prasoon wrote stands out, "Kasmein to moongfalli hain, jab chahe ham hain khaate!"

:)

Throw in 1000 Sufi songs, and you will still figure out which one were done by Rahman. Arziyan is an ok piece, very Rahman-ish, but cannot come even close to Khwaja Mere Khwaja.

However, check these lyrics: "Arziyan saari main chehre pe likhe ke laaya hoon, tumse kya mangoon main, tum khud hi samajh lo!" ... and ... "Marammat muquaddar ki kardo maula" ... or ... "Mastiyaan piye sabko jhoomta nazar aaya ... [...] ... noor ki baarish mein bheegta sa tar aaya"  ... all this amazingly sung by Javed Ali and Kailash Kher. Rahman does have something special for Sufi songs!

Genda Phool is a cool folk-fusion which, the way Rahman fuses it, makes you tap your feet! I like it especially since the lyrics make a mention of Raipur! The reason why one's sasural is called "Genda Phool" (as I read on some forum) is that it looks good from distance, but is as aroma-less as can be. Listen to the lyrics carefully ... very folk-ish! The best moment of this song, for me, comes soon after the first rendition of "Saiyyan hai vyaapaari"  ... when the bass kicks in! Awesome!

Masakalli, the song which the teasers have been playing with free will, lends a very South Indian feel to the album initially (like Chinakamma of Meenakshi - also because of the similar percussion in places), but helllll! I love it! It's sung by the always fantastic Mohit Chauhan ... but Rahman somehow fails to bring Mohit Chauhan's drowning voice into this one. I would rather listen to the Parachute's Gorgeous Hamesha than this one if I want to listen to Mohit.

The reason why I am going really gaga over this song is the lyrics! Prasoon Joshi is just awesome ... like he proves with, "Hawa se jud ... ada se ud" and "dikhla de thenga in sabko jo udna na jaane" ... 

4 Stars to this album - 2 for Delhi-6, 2 for Bhor Bhaye!

Gut feel: Abhishek Bachchan will surely succeed to convert another prospective box office hit to an average Bollywood movie. This movie, for me, has two heroes: Rahman, and Delhi.