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.

ThiS Kuintet (Srini)vas indeed RocKing

The soundtrack of Saathiya was so chock-full of songs that it is easy to overlook a few of them and write posts on the others, only because they went on to become more popular.

But by no means can those tracks be ignored.

That was the thought that crossed my mind when I realised that I hadn’t written a post on Mangalyam, which was rendered by a male quintet, headed by none other than A R Rahman, who composed it.

The others were KK, Kunal Ganjawala, Shaan and Srinivas.

The track was penned by Gulzar.

It wAS an oUtStanding track

To paraphrase the opening lines of the song from Lagaan, “Har fan kahe, critic kahe, punch aur melody hain jinke compositions mein, loop pe geet unhi ki baje.”

The longest track in the film, (M)itwas six minutes and 47 seconds long.

The opening lines of this post were written for none other than A R Rahman, who bagged the National Award and the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

The song was penned by Javed Akhtar.

(Ud)It was rendered by four Sing(h)ers, namely Mr Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Sukhwinder and Srinivas.

It (Srini)vas the composer’s (Rah)mantra

Chale Chalo – Hindi for keep going forward – was a song from Lagaan, the 2001 film whose tagline was Once Upon a Time in India.

It was six minutes and 40 seconds long. Although a song of that duration has the tendency to become preachy, this track didn’t.

Being a song about teamwork, it would be unfair if there were no mentions of the team that collaborated on it.

Javed Akhtar penned it.

The song wasn’t just composed, but also rendered by A R Rahman. He was joined behind the microphone by Srinivas and a chorus.

Rahman was a guest KoMpoSer

Mumbai's Haji Ali Dargah, which is as much a symbol of the city’s pluralism as it is an architectural marvel, inspired Piya Haji Ali, a song in Fiza (2000).

Fans of A R Rahman, who is known for his all-or-nothing approach to composing the music of films, were pleasantly surprised, because this was the only track on the soundtrack of the film that was composed by him.

He was also one of the four singers who rendered it, the others being Kadar Ghulam Mustafa, Murtaza Ghulam Mustafa and Srinivas.

It was penned by Shaukat Ali.

Supriyo's rendition (Srini)vas indeed fantastic

Ta Ra Rum Pum, from Doli Saja Ke Rakhna, was the song every young guy would croon upon discovering who he believes is the one.

And if he’s lucky to have a group of buddies who are genuinely worried about his habit of being khoya khoya (lost) and din mein soya soya (asleep during the day) and raaton ko uthke rona (getting up at night and crying), they’ll say, “Chalo usko dhoondhenge hum” (which means, “Let’s go and find her.”)

Mehboob penned the song, which A R Rahman composed.

Babul Supriyo and Srinivas rendered it.

It certainly (Srini)vas (Shank)arocking (Chi)t(h)rack

It wouldn’t be incorrect to state that Ek Bagiya Mein, from Sapnay, was a typical A R Rahman composition – one that takes a while to grow on the listeners.

But once it does, it will be a track worth listening to repeatedly. And when one listens to it, it is bound to bring a smile to his/her face.

Javed Akhtar penned the track, which was five minutes and 53 seconds long.

There couldn’t have been a better crooner than Mr Mahadevan to render the track.

Srinivas and K S Chithra Sha(nka)red singing credits with him.