Desi Train

I rarely venture into writing on music. Cause I know nothing about it, except two unrelated things. (a) The song should suck me into its world, where I obsessively start building images in my head as the song plays in the background,… OR… (b) I walk to the nearest trash can to junk the CD.

Those are the only two things I have, that are in anyway related to music. So if you read anything about music on Desi Train (which is rare and has been time and again pointed out by Desi Train’s readers), it is because a song or an entire album gave me a huge high.

And Omkara does that to you, if you grew up listening to various forms of Indian countryside music. The folk songs, the dholaks, the traditional Indian musical instruments.

No that isn’t why Omkara works. A big sucker for fusion music, I’m pulled instantly when Vishal Bhardwaj mixes the UP/Bihar folk beats with the electronic rhythms of today.

And he is back in form. This is the Vishal Bhardwaj, I liked so much in his debut venture, Machis. Be it “Chappa Chappa Charkha Chale” or “Paani Paani re…” or my personal favourite “Chod aaye hum woh galiyaan”

With Omkara, Bhardway is back in business. These may not be the songs that you may hear on the dance floor, though “Beedi Jalayke Jigarwa se” had me ejecting from my seat and rocking the floor with my UP/Bihar dance moves (yeah I do have some).

The earthiness, the raw quality, the basic going-back-to-the-roots equation, the long forgotten village folk music - all these have not been used in ages in Bollywood. It was high time some brought them back, and Bhardwaj does it with enough panache and style.

The slower ones too have their hook points if you care to roll the foot rest up and roll back your arm chair to listen to it. Namak and Laakad may or may not be your cup of tea, but it’s worth a visit.

The faster ones have the grab you by your collar characteristic. Sukhwinder Singh is a surprise in the title song. It’s hard to recognize his voice. And he goes all out to have a blast. Notice how your head starts moving to the beats and your feet start tapping by itself. This song is meant to be played on a cool starry night amidst with your gang sitting around a bonfire. Beer, blankets, masala chicken and the cool company of friends would be a fine companion to oye “Omkara Omkara”.

But then a couple of songs later comes in,… “Beedi jalayle jigarwa se, jigarwa maa aag badee hain…” and you are done. Jump off the chair, wear your long forgotton “gamcha” (but your towel will do) around your neck and get back into the “we were wild once” mode. Hit the dance floor, spread your legs, bend backwards and rock the floor. Surprisingly when I saw this song on TV, it actually matched the visuals I had imagined on first listening to this song.

What prevents “Beedi” from becoming a vulgar run of the mill “nautanki” song, is the way Bhardwaj synthesizes it with strings of todays, and the words crafted by Gulzar.

Gulzar-saab, the master wordsmith has nothing left to prove. “Beedi”, shows he’s the best in the world of idiotic, street side ruffain lyrics, too. Not that he hasn’t done it earlier (Remember - Goli maar bheje mein?). The art of building senseless lyrics, which still pull you right into its heart, can only be done by the one and only Gulzar-saab.

The instrumental - Tragedy of Omakara, is another piece which has the ability to start drawing vivid images in front of your eyes. After the theme of “Bombay”, this is one piece that has a mesmerizing quality in it.

You may not be sold on the entire album, but Omkara does have the finest piece of fusion that I’ve heard in a long time from Bollywood. The backdrop of UP/Bihar countryside kind of music, has been used in the one of the most creative ways, in a very long time.

Worth giving it your time and ears…

You can listen to Omkara’s album on streaming audio here.

Do the team of Omkara, a favor. Buy the CD, if you like what you hear. Keep the good music alive and kicking in our dear Bollywood.

P.S. Watch out for Saif Ali Khan. This guy surprises me with every passing movie. His creative experimentations are just WOW!

Omkara

Director : Vishal Bharadwaj
Producer : Kumar Mangat
Cast : Ajay Devgan,Vivek Oberoi,Saif Ali Khan,Kareena Kapoor,Konkona Sen Sharma,Bipasha Basu,Naseruddin Shah,Deepak Dobriyal
Music Director : Vishal Bharadwaj
Lyricist : Gulzar
Singers : Shreya Ghosal,Vishal Bharadwaj,Sukhwinder Singh
Sound Designer : Subhash Sahu,K J Singh

TRACKLIST:

1.)Omkara (Sukhvinder Singh) - *fast*

2.)O Saathi Re (Shreya Ghoshal, Vishal Bhardwaj) *romantic, medium paced*

3.)Beedi (Sunidhi Chauhan, Sukhvinder Singh) *fast rocking*

4.)Jag Ja (Suresh Wadkar) *slow*

5.)Laakad (Rekha Bhardwaj) *slow/medium paced*

6.)Naina (Rahat Fateh Ali Khan)

7.)Namak (Rekha Bhardwaj,Rakesh Pandit) *slow/medium paced*

8.)The Tragedy Of Omkara (Instrumental) *raw medium paced*

This entry was posted on Monday, July 10th, 2006 at 9:23 am and is filed under Music.
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