It was a cl‘AAS’ apart

If the 13 tracks from 99 Songs (2020) on this blog were arranged in the alphabetical order, Gori Godh Bhari would be the first.

The track, which Navneet Virk penned, was four minutes and 49 seconds long.

It was composed by A R Rahman, and was based on Raga Bageshri.

Alka Yagnik was the most famous of the trio who rendered it.

The others were Anuradha Sriram and Shweta Mohan.

The highlights of the song’s orchestration were the sarod (by Sarang Kulkarni), the sitar (by Asad Khan), the shehnai (by Omkar Dhumal) and the tabla.  

Rekha sang some outstanding (A)lines

Ranjha Ranjha was truly an exquisite song. In fact, it was, by far, the best song on the soundtrack of Raavan, and possibly the numero uno track of the year.

The opening line of the track was an adaptation of Sufi poet Bulleh Shah's Ranjha Ranjha Kardi.

The song, which was penned by Gulzar and composed by A R Rahman, was five minutes and 54 seconds long.

It was one of the gems in the discography of Rekha Bhardwaj. She was joined behind the microphone by Javed Ali. Additional vocals were provided by Anuradha Sriram.

It wAS an awesome Son(u)g

It is interesting to note that Ishq Bina was originally composed for a film titled Shikhar.

When that film was shelved, it featured on the soundtrack of Taal, which released in 1999 and was a shikhar (peak) scaled by A R Rahman.

Seven minutes and 45 seconds long, it was the longest song in the film.

It earned Anand Bakshi the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist in 2000. It was his fourth and final Filmfare trophy.

The Son(u)g was rendered by Mr Nigam, who was joined behind the microphone by Anuradha Sriram and Sujatha Mohan.

Rahman rendered A FAntastic track

Dil Se Re, the title track of Dil Se.., was six minutes and 44 seconds long.

The phrase dil se means from the heart, and that was exactly what the listeners felt about the rendition by A R Rahman, who bagged the Best Music Director Award for the film’s soundtrack at the Filmfare Awards in 1999.

He was joined behind the microphone by three ladies – Annupamaa Krishnaswami, Anuradha Sriram and Febi Mani.

Guy Pratt, bass guitarist for English rock band Pink Floyd’s post-Roger Waters albums, played bass on the track, which was penned by Gulzar.