Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag

Article Updated 26 August, 2007 09:26:15 PM IST

Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag

Ram Gopal Varma movies have never boasted of chartbusting music, apart from his only super hit 'Rangeela', which had some lovely compositions by the budding talent (at that point in time), A.R. Rahman. In fact, 'Rangeela' was the first "real" Hindi film album by Rahman. (his 'Bombay' and 'Roja', though hugely popular, were dubbed versions of his Southern work). After that, Ramu's films, barring a few songs (remember Gulzar's 'Sapne Mein Milti Hai' from 'Satya'), had little or no music at all. In fact, he did not really require music, as most of his films were not the same commercial stuff that Bollywood is made up of. But when his 'Sholay' remake was announced, Ramu made it clear that this time around a lot of care would be taken, as far as the music department was concerned. Of course, he had a huge legacy to follow, as all the songs from the original 'Sholay' have gone down in the history of the Hindi film industry, such was their popularity, and still is! So, let's check out what Ramu and his team of music directors and lyricists have in store for us music lovers.

The album kicks off with one of the most remixed tracks in the history of Bollywood, 'Mehbooba'. Yes, R.D. Burman's 'Mehbooba' sees yet another version, this time around with music by Ganesh Hegde (and we thought Ganesh was just an amazing choreographer!) and lyrics by Shabbir Ahmed. The most recent 'Mehbooba' remix was from Himesh Reshammiya's 'Aap Ka Surroor', featuring, Himesh and Mallika, which is still ruling the charts. But trust Ramu not to have gone down the beaten path, as his version is very different from the earlier cut and paste versions.

The song commences with some rap and then the basic infectious tune of the original takes over. Intermittently, we have Bachchan with his monologues, lending an air of dignity to the composition. This 'Mehbooba' is more slow paced, more in the league of Anand Raj Anand's item numbers from Sanjay Gupta's movies. Sunidhi Chauhan is in top form, as always. The confidence and ease with which she renders this number is amazing. Sukhwinder too must be lauded for his part. The promos, featuring the hot and sultry Urmila (who can also be called the "queen of item numbers", as she has been associated with some chartbusting numbers - 'Chamma Chamma', 'Aaiye Aa Jaaiye' to name a few), has raised the expectations from this 'Mehbooba' version, but the result is not very satisfactory.

High string base guitar, accompanied by the usual rap and reggae commence 'Mehbooba-Remix' by D.J. A-Myth, who has definitely worked hard to give that extra zing and flavour to the number. The original 'Mehbooba' tune has been put to good use, as in the original and so is Panchamda's nasal crooning. But can someone tell us what Bachchan's mindblasting 'Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein Khyal Aata Hai' is doing here? Isn't it a 'Sholay' remake? Or, is it just an attempt to cash in on India's megastar?

'Ruk Ja' is supposed to be the 'Koi Haseena Jab Rooth Jati Hai' counterpart in this RGV's 'Sholay' remake, but when we see the song, it's more familiar to the Aamir-Urmila number from Ramu's only super hit, 'Rangeela', 'Yaaron Sun Lo Zara', by A.R Rahman. The setting, the choreography and the carefree tapori style reminds us of the above mentioned track. Vinod Rathod is a misfit in these types of numbers, as his vocals are base. Maybe he is Devgan's voice in the film. Lyrics by Sajid-Farhad is run of the mill. In brief, Amar Mohile disappoints.

If Vinod Rathod was a misfit in the above track, he sure makes amends with the next one, 'Dum', as it is more up his alley. An inspirational, aggressive RGV-ish style track with some good situational lyrics by Sharim Momin, which literally translated states "Have guts, show it!". It's a tension-filled track that does set the adrenalin pumping and will definitely be used in the background, as the lead protagonists set forth to fight the main villain.

Amitabh Bachchan and Holi numbers are inseparable. Some of the memorable ones have been sung and enacted by the living legend himself. So we would have preferred it if Bachchan's rich, baritone vocals, would have heralded this festive one. This track by Prasanna Shekhar is a typical fun, ched-chaad number that fails to rise above the high standards set by the evergreen Bachchan's Holi numbers. More over, it has a strong resemblance to 'Rangeela Chala', a Holi song from the Rajesh Khanna starrer 'Zamana' (1985) . Being a situational number, we expected more ched-chaad with the bhabhi! Lyrics by Sharim Momin are once again commendable.

Is it the starting piece from 'Don 2' signature tune or is it the James Bond signature tune? No, neither of the two. Rather, it is the friendship, camaraderie song, 'Jee Le', by Prasanna Shekhar. The song signifies the carefree, live–for–the moment attitude of the male protagonists. Yet, it is once again let down by a very 'heard-before-tune', that fails to make an impression on the listeners. And more so, when compared to the benchmark set by the iconic, friendship number 'Yeh Dosti' from Sholay, it just fades away.

Soothing sitar and synthesized music commences 'Cha Raha'. A passionate, romantic composition, the shades of which are reminiscent of the 'Aa Aa Ee' track from Govinda-David Dhawan's 'Raja Babu'. The track is composed by Nitin Raikwar, who became famous for his tapori lyrics in 'Aati Kya Khandala'. Shweta Pandit is screechy in higher octaves, though one must commend Vinod Rathod for an excellent rendition.

We now come to the title track, 'Hai Aag Yeh', which is undoubtedly the best track of the album, after 'Mehbooba'. The song commences with the hair-raising tune that warns one of the arrival of the most scary on-screen villains of all times, Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan). The bongo based, well orchestrated piece of music that ends in a crescendo is mindblasting, with all the credit going to Amar Mohile. Sunidhi is superb as always.

'Hai Aag Yeh-Theme Music', as suggested by the title, conveys the feel of the movie well. The flow around the bongo is very fluid and the arrangers have to be commended. The throwback to the original 'Sholay' is quite pronounced (though punctuated by bullet sounds) here.

On the whole, Ramu (the iconoclast that he is), must be given credit for not trying to rehash/rearrange the legendary tunes of Panchamda's golden classic 'Sholay'. Still, the enthusiasm that we are about to hear something extraordinary (after Urmila's 'Mehbooba' promo), vanishes in a whiff, as we listen to the disappointing 'Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag' album. And that reflects in the poor audio sales as well.

Rating: 6.5/10

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