Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

CHORDS & NOTES

ASHA REVEALS

REAL RD

Sa Re Ga Ma, Rs.290

Asha Bhonsle has always been a delight to listen to. She is an ageless singing sensation who seems to just go on and on. Her bubbly voice had youngsters swinging to her delightful numbers during the golden years of Bollywood. Her voice is as bewitching as it is haunting - even today. Remember her recent song "Huzoor, Huzoor-e-ala...ala?"

As a tribute to the voice that has few parallels, Sa Re Ga Ma has now brought out a two-pack audio CD, "Asha Reveals Real RD". And if one thought one is in for a great treat, one will be thoroughly disappointed. The CD begins with an introduction by Asha about R. D. Burman or RD for short, son of legendary music director Sachin Dev Burman. The CDs have 22 songs, all RD-Asha combine, save one. But unfortunately none of them has that vintage Asha stamp. You would like to skip most of the songs and when you actually do that you feel genuinely sad. You can't be doing that to Asha but then the selection of songs is pretty poor, a glaring omission being the "Oh Mere Sona Re... " from Teesri Manzil that was such a runaway hit.

This film in fact catapulted RD into the big league of Bollywood music composers.

A couple of songs that are `hear-able' are again not original soundtracks. It is like watching a B-grade movie and coming out of the cinema hall, both exasperated and relieved! Some of the passable songs include "Bhali Bhali Si Ek Surat", "Samne Yeh Kaun Aaya", "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To", "Dum Maro Dum."

Anyway, the RD-Asha combination is certainly a far cry from those heady days when she had teamed up with the inimitable O. P. Nayyar to give us some of the most memorable hits that the Hindi film world has ever seen. You don't get to hear the `real' Asha in this offering. And at Rs.290, it is an expensive buy that one can as well do without.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail