Last 2 days, i’ve had the chance to repeatedly listen to the music of Ishqiya. And what a magnificent soundtrack it is! Gulzar saab and Vishal Bhardwaj have combined yet again to deliver a masterpiece. The lyrics that Gulzar saab writes for Vishal are, quite simply, magical. A brief opinion on the music, then..

ibn-e-batuta is the most commercial of its tracks, and quite expectedly, is doing the rounds of all music channels, trying to garner eyeballs for the movie. It’s not bad, actually, but pales in comparison to the other 3 songs which make up the album.

Dil to Bachha hai is an outstanding composition, with brilliant lyrics, and sung extremely well by rahat ali khan. quite unlike the style of singing of rahat, and hence, so refreshingly different and soothing.

Ab mujhe koi instantly takes you back to the jagjit singh / chitra singh days. classically ghazal oriented, rekha bhardwaj has done an exceptional job on this song. It just keeps growing on you, no matter how many times you listen to it.

Badi dheere jali is again sung by rekha, and though a tad too slow, it is a brilliantly sung and composed song. its completely classical, and i can’t recall when i last heard a classical song in a mainstream commercial bollywood movie.

Both these songs are sheer gems & have a fantastic appeal from start to end. The quintessential Vishal Bharadwaj and Gulzar, first seen in Maachis, and last in Kaminey, remains as magical as a Bollywood soundtrack could promise. Remember ‘Naina Barse’ from omkara, or ‘paani paani’ from maachis? These 2 songs are quite in that mode. Perhaps better.

The remixes for dil to bachha hai and 2 for ibn-e-batuta have been done, as the trend has been for composers these days to release albums with remixes built in. a quentin tarantino touch exists in them, the way the music starts on these remixes. again, its no secret that vishal is a big fan of tarantino, so quite expected that music follows that affection..

Verdict. Listen to Ishqiya. Sit back with a drink in your hand. And relax.

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