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Taj Mahal
Times Music, Rs. 55
Comparisons, they say, are odious. But can you help remembering (which really means comparing, whether or not you admit to it) Mughal-e-Azam and Baiju Bawra when you hear that the grand old music composer of these films is making music for yet another film on the Mughal era? With producer-director Akbar Khan making grander statements about his choice of Naushad for the magnum opus Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story — "My film's music needed a Tansen, a Beethoven or a Naushad — I was left with the third choice. The music does not touch the eardrum and bounce back, but penetrates and lives on in the soul." — the expectations naturally run even higher.
So, even before you set out to listen to the music of Taj Mahal, it's important to solemnly pledge not to let a grand memory and grander statements cloud your objective listening!
The tape opens with a mellow Hariharan's solo number "Apni zulfein... " A lovelorn man pleads with his beloved to let go and allow "transgressions": Apni zulfein mere shanon pe bikhar jane do/ Aaj roko na mujhe had se guzar jane do... (lyrics by Naqsh Lyallpuri and Syed Gulrez). Another equally soothing number is Hariharan's "Mumtaz tujhe dekha jab Taj Mahal Dekha... " A bonus on the tape is Ajoy Chakraborty's slow and moving rendering of "Yeh kaun mujhe", which hangs on to your mood for long after the song fades away.
This tape has some sweeping violin interludes, juxtaposed with soul-stirring sarangi phrases. Their real sounds give the tape a refreshing non-synthetic feel. And if you have been a fan of Hariharan in those early days of his ghazal singing (before he turned a Colonial Cousin and came to sport a funky ponytail), you will love Hariharan's singing here. He seems to return here to his old style, particularly in "Mumtaz tujhe... " The first song, in fact, reminds you of "Kuch door hamare saath chalo... ", one of his early ghazals.
Despite all this, why is it that the music of Taj Mahal leaves you disappointed on the whole? Songs such as "Ajnabi tehro zara" and "Dilruba" are amazing for their sheer predictability. And you feel absolutely let down by the qawwali "Ishq ki dastan... ", which has none of the zest, wit, and pace you associate with a qawwali. Blame it, if you like, on memory and the insurmountable urge to compare, but it left me longing for Naushad's own classic qawwali number from Mughal-e-Azam, "Mohabbat me zara", which is among the best of genre one has heard in a film.
BAGESHREE S.
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