Shreya Ghoshal holds fort with her sweet rendition in Deewani mastani, with Sanjay layering it between Marathi folk prelude and a quasi-sufi ending. Shreya is again fantastic in Mohe rang do laal—possibly using raag Purvi (or Puriya Dhanashri) and evoking Pt. Ravi Shankar’s Karuna suno shyam mori from Meera—brilliantly supported by Pt. Birju Maharaj. Pinga, Shreya’s next, with Vaishali Mhade, is Sanjay’s irreverent melange of Marathi folk, and a foot-tapping dance value optimization for the film’s leading ladies. Vaishali also aces Fitoori, with Sanjay handing her a haunting tune, mixing it with captivating Marathi folk. Javed Bashir seems perfect for the Sufi’ish Aaj ibaadat that Sanjay beautifully segues from its Muslim sound to Hindu chants, amidst a profusion of sitar. That sitar, and a brilliant chorus, is so apt for a more spritely interpretation Albela sajan. Aayat is curiously interesting – the beautiful verses are very Ghazal’ish and so is Arijit’s singing, but the soaked-in-love tune is rather semi-classical, layered with a dollop of qawali. Payal Dev’s singing lifts the pensive, tuneful Ab tohe jane na doongi. Vishal Dadlani-sung Malhari and Sukhwinder Singh-sung Gajanana are clearly from the Ram-Leela stock. In his third film as solo composer, Sanjay finally gets it wonderfully right.
Keywords: Bajirao Mastani, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, 200, #200
Listen to the songs:
