Rahman’s go-to Sing(h)ers didn’t (Bl)a(m)aze

Kooke Kawn, a traditional track, was the shortest song on the soundtrack of Mom – it was three minutes and 33 seconds long.

It was one of the two tracks in the film that were rendered by male vocalists – Blaaze shared Sing(h)ing credits with the seasoned Sukhwinder.

By no means would it be incorrect to state that the duo let the listeners down.

The song, which was composed by A R Rahman, was nothing to crow about either.

And there’s no doubt that the best word to describe its lyrics, penned by Irshad Kamil, was insipid.

Benny and Co definitely capitalised

The title track of Delhi-6, also called Yeh Dilli Hai Mere Yaar, was undoubtedly a catchy number, but it was probably not the sort of track that a person who doesn’t live in the city, or hasn’t been there, could relate to.

While Prasoon Joshi penned it, the French portion was penned by Vivienne Pocha and Claire, who shared singing credits with Benny Dayal, Blaaze and Tanvi Shah.

Yeh A R Rahman ki composition thi mere yaar, and needless to say, he did an outstanding job.

The song was three minutes and 36 seconds long.

Sonu and the others disappointed

When a Son(u)g is weak, the listeners don’t give it their nod.

Even a composer of A R Rahman’s calibre wasn’t spared – they said no to Shano Shano, the track from Yuvvraaj (2008).

Of the three songs from the film on this blog, this was the longest – it was six minutes and 22 seconds long.

Gulzar penned the song, whose remixed version, credited to Krishna Chetan, was a couple of minutes and 38 seconds long (that trivia was doubly shocking!)

It was rendered by Mr Nigam, Blaaze, Karthik, Srinivas, Sunaina, Timmy, Tina and Vivienne Pocha.

Benny and Co could sing

Composer A R Rahman roped in half-a-dozen singers (Annupamma Krishnaswami, Blaaze, Darshana K T, Mohammed Aslam, Satish Subrahmaniam and Tanvi Shah) to share singing credits with Benny Dayal.

And their collaboration – Pappu Can’t Dance Saala, from Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na – became one of the most popular tracks of the year, because it was catchy (not to mention the fact that it gave the youth four minutes and 27 seconds to prove they can dance).

Abbas Tyrewala penned the song, whose remixed version, which was as long as the original, was credited to Krishna Chetan.

Blaaze (Shah)incessantly Doled it out

The soundtrack of Yuva featured a track called Dol Dol, which was three minutes and 59 seconds long.

It was nothing but a series of repetitions of the aforementioned phrase, with the only other phrase in it being Salaam Namaste [which, incidentally, was a 2005 film (and its title track*).]

Composed by A R Rahman, the song was rendered by Blaaze (who also penned it) and featured ethnic vocals by Shahin Badar, an English singer of Indian and Bangladeshi descent.

(*For the post on the song, please visit my blog titled Hip-‘Shekhar’s: A ‘Vishal’ Collection.)

Blaaze and Karthik were (Bhos)letdowns

The soundtrack of Saathiya did have its share of disappointing tracks. The biggest of them all was Chori Pe Chori.

The inane English portion of the track is the reason it is easy to be blasé about rap in Hindi film music. Frankly, Blaaze, who sang it, didn’t exactly excite the listeners.

It would also be in the fitness of things to be critical of Karthik.

If it weren’t for Asha, who salvaged it, the song, which was penned by Gulzar, would have been one of the most forgettaB(hos)le tracks in A R Rahman’s discography.