Swades Music

Swades is a treat by the same team from Lagaan- A. R. Rahman and Javed Akhtar. While Lagaan had a predominantly rural feel, Swades is mixed bag full of goodies. Intelligent lyrics are united with supreme compositions in this Swades. Javed Akhtar continues his poetic stint (carrying along from a host of other movies with SEL and Anu Malik) of simple yet thought-provoking lyrics. A. R. Rahman continues his revolution in sound with compositions enriched from his sound library. The album boasts of seven songs and two instrumentals. Lyrically all songs are masterpieces. Javed Akhtar has yet again proved his resoucefulness when it comes to poetry. Metaphorical usage for conveying simple ideas is his usual trait and is expounded in this work too.

"Yeh Tara Woh Tara" is the opening track with Udit Narayan and two kids. They seem to be having a ball singing to best lyrical in the album. A track inspiring unity, it is a derivative of "Mitwa" from Lagaan. While "Mitwaa" inspired the villagers for the cricket match, Yeh Tara Woh Tara brings out the simple truths and benefits of unity for the general community. Udit Narayan should be applauded for maintaining the freshness in his voice and seems as if the previous song he sung was Papa Kehte Hain from QSQT. The kids keep up ably with some trouble in Rahman's usual high pitch vocals.

"Saavariya" is a female solo love song sung by Alka Yagnik. Reminiscient of a track from Rahman's earlier work 'Zubeidaa' this has some unique music arrangements that makes it a worthwhile hear. Hints of a classical base this track has Alka Yagnik roaming in very high pitches and doing full justice to it.

"Yuh Hi Chala Chal" sets up the party mood after two melodious numbers. Sung primarily by Udit Narayan and ably supported by Kailash Kher. Hariharan's voice is used as another musical instrument in the orchestra. He figures at the beginning and the end of the song singing along with Udit most of the time. Kailash Kher adds the classical touch in his brief interludes which are mostly repetitions of Udit's lines.

"Ahista Ahista" is a lullaby sung by Udit Narayan and accompanied in the latter part by Sadhana Sargam. Sadhana Sargam is getting all credit she rightly deserves in the latter part of her career. She has become a regular with Rahman and that is a relief. A sweet tuned song, this comes as a restful piece after the previous racy track.

"Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera" is my pick of the album. A soft and slow number sung by A. R. Rahman himself, this track penetrates you deeper with each hearing. The amazing use of shehnai in this song is the reason. Shehnais are heard in almost every marriage but when Rahman handles a musical instrument, it just changes its purpose. The tune is soulful and so are the lyrics cajoling the individual to return to his motherland. Programmed tabla and guitar along with the two track shehnai are the heroes of this song.

"Pal Pal Hai Bhari" is a bhajan in praise of Lord Rama and would appear in the film, it seems, as a part of a play on an episode from Ramayana. Madhushree, the latest Rahman find, performs along with prose by Ashutosh Gowariker himself and male vocals by Vijayprakash. Vijayprakash is a singer with a deep and amazingly controlled voice. He seems to be well versed with Sanskrit pronounciations as is evident from his singing. This track reminds one of "Radha Kaise Na Jale" from Lagaan. Conventional bhajan instruments like the tabla, sitar get the notable and unique Rahman touch again.

"Dekho Naa" is a love duet between Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan. This song apart from its instrumentation has a unique (read complex) mixing toward the end of it. I keenly tend to hear such pieces especially with Rahman's music and they are a treat and they are plenty! Rahman blows you out with these pieces every now and then.

"Pal Pal Hai Bhari (Flute Instrumental)" is a reduced duration, Flute instrumental of the bhajan.

"Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera (Shehnai Instrumental)," the "Swades Theme" of sorts is as soothing as its original vocal. The programmed tabla and guitar sequences start from the beginning of the track itself as opposed to the vocal where they appear at the end. The best time to hear this track is when you are well conversed with the tune of the original song. Then the song growth is complete. The sound of shehnai in this track has almost become primordial for me.

In all, Rahman and Akhtar present Swades in a very different yet enjoyable mould that should not be missed at any cost.