Ahista Ahista

Article Updated 18 June, 2006 10:36:25 PM IST

Ahista Ahista

Abhay Deol's debut movie, 'Socha Na Tha', will be remembered as a neat, cute and touching film, which could've done better business had it's music (by Sandesh Sandaliya) been more commercially viable and the promotion better. May be, that's why Himesh the one man army, who is ruling the Indian music industry has been roped in. So let's check out whether Himesh delivers the goods, as successfully and regularly as he has been doing of late.

Soft guitar strummings and slow drawl violin commence the title track 'Ahista Ahista', which on first hearing puts one off as Himesh rehashes the mukhda of his still popular title track from the movie 'Humko Deewana Kar Gaye'. But thankfully the 'antara' is different and quite nice. Himesh excels in high as well as low pitched singing. Lyrics by Irshad Kamil are very classy though not as identifiable as Sameer's lyrics.

'Ahista Ahista (Unplugged)' introduces us to Himesh, the real singer as he croons, minus the usual background musical intruments (except for electronic plates and light guitar strokes} and he is amazing.

'Ahista Ahista (Remix)' by Akbar Sami livens up a soft, at times dull original track.

The next track we encounter is 'Allah Kare'. And as the title suggests, it is a song with a 'sufi/dargah' background . And dear oh dear, the mukhda is again a derivative of the title track of 'Humko Deewana Kar Gaye'. The antara too is similar to so many Himesh's number being dished out. Overwork kills! Isn't it Himesh bhai?

What is worth a mention is the use of totally Hindustani musical intruments like the 'sitar' and 'veena' and of course Irshad Kamil's beautiful lyrics- "Jab tak khudai rahe, Tere dil pe mera naam rahe , Allah Kare."

In the 'Allah Kare (Remix)', Akbar Sami makes the tempo faster the track more peppy.

'Allah Kare (Unplugged)' version has been sung exceedingly well by Himesh, as he again shows his versatility and proves that he doesn't need too much musical support to highlight his vocals.

Next up is 'Love You Unconditionally' which Himesh sings in a deep husky voice and he renders English lyrics in Hindi style which sounds funny , at times. The pace is slow, the arrangements smooth & soft throughout and the melody pleasing to the ears. A good romantic track.

The soft, slow pace which was the beauty of the original has totally been spoilt in the 'Love You Unconditonally (Remix)' by Akbar Sami.

Eureka! A track minus Himesh. This time it is a sort of 'jugalbandi' with KK and Jayesh Gandhi combining superbly to render the the best track of the album 'Ishq Ne Tere'. A simple, sweet sounding melodious track, with lots of semi-classical 'alaps' and good use of Hindustani musical instruments which makes it an excellent track.

As it happened with the previous song, this composition too is totally spoilt in the 'Ishq Ne Tere (Remix)' the faster rhythm, the excess use of musical intruments playing a big role. Shreya Ghoshal though mentioned in the credits , does not feature in this version.

'Awan Akhiyan Jawan Akhiyan' is the second song in this album which has a 'dargah' background. It's another 'sufiana' style 'qawwali' and to be more precise, a 'tasawwuf' composition( where the 'piya' is God almighty).

The starting couplets- "Is duniya ka sang na chahun, Na main jhumka kangna chahun, Jaise bhi ho jitna bhi ho, Rang piya ke rangna chahun", are similar in style to that of the great Ameer Khusro's "Chhap tilak sab chheeni re mose naina milaike". And the raag reminiscent to that of 'Mother India' number 'Nagri Nagri Dware Dware'. Himesh is too nasal but shows his maturity as a 'qawwali' singer along with Jayesh and Hashim & Aftab, who provide him good support.

Finally, in an all male dominated album, Sunidhi appears in a rare romantic duet 'Tanha Tere Bagair' with KK. However, it turns out to be an average composition, a mix'n'match of some of Himesh's old hits. The part "Dil lagya na lagya" is repeated so many times that it gets irritating after a while.

The 'Tanha Tere Bagair (Remix)" too is no great shakes.

Soothing violin notes and Kunal Ganjawala's silk smooth vocals commence 'Tum Jo Mile' , which can be classified as another title track, as the words "Ahista Ahista" are used many times here. High pitched melodramatic singing and haunting melody are the highlights of this classy track.

Surprisingly, the album also features 'Dil Naiyyo Maane Re' (Himesh and Tulsi Kumar) from 'Phir Hera Pheri'. Now , what was the necessity as there are already 15-tracks (along with the versions) in the album. Is it T-Series 'dariyadili' (generosity) or Tulsi Kumar's (head honcho Bhushan's sister) promotion?

To sum up, 'Ahista Ahista' is a good to decent (though classy) album by Himesh Reshammiya, a departure from his usual commercially viable stuff. So it remains to be seen whether it will be patronised by the masses in a big way like the rest of his albums.

Rating: 7.0 /10

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