Shaurya

Article Updated 13 March, 2008 12:15:29 AM IST

Shaurya

Way back in 2005, director Samar Khan made his debut in Bollywood with the much ahead of its time, Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye. The music director was Himesh Reshammiya and lyricist, Sameer. Together they gave us some nice music in the form of its title track and the classical thumri. Samar is back with his next venture, Shaurya, which stars some of the greatest talents of the industry like, Rahul Bose, Kay Kay Menon, Javed Jaffery, Seema Biswas, Minissha Lamba and Deepak Dobriyal, just to name a few. The unique aspect of the music of the film is the pairing of the highly versatile Adnan Sami and the king of poetry, Javed Akhtar. So let's check out what this talented team has in store for us.

The album opens with Shah Rukh Khan reciting "Shaurya Kya Hai". An interesting bit about the recitation track is that it has not been written by Javed Akhtar but by Jaydeep Sarkar, who is the story writer of Shaurya. When yours truly asked him about his inspiration, he had something interesting to say. "It was not planned. Actually we were shooting in Naggar (Kullu-Manali) for Shaurya and were quite tense about sticking to the schedule. I was sitting there and out of nowhere the whole idea came. I started penning down my thoughts and also showed it to the other writer, Aparna, who liked it immediately. While recording it, Shah Rukh Khan rendered it almost flawlessly the first time around, but decided to render it again. It is the 7th version that you are hearing! Each attempt was different, the feelings, the voice modulation and everything. I cannot express my feelings and gratitude to Shah Rukh Khan for giving voice to my work."

So let us checkout exactly what 'Shaurya Kya Hai' says -

"Shaurya kya hai? Thartharati is dharti ko rowndte faujiyon ka shor. Sahme se is asmaan ko cheerte hue bandookon ki salaami ka shor. Shaurya kya hai? Hari wardi par chamakte hue chand peetal ke sitare. Ya sarhad ka naam dekar andekhi kuch lakeeron ki numaiyish."

And then we have a very inspiring answer to the above questions - "Shaurya kya hai. Shayad ek hausla. Shayad ek himmat. Hamare bahut andar. Mazhab ke banaye dayere ko todkar. Kisi ka haath tham lene ki himmat. Goliyon ke betahasha shor ko apni khamoshi se chunauti de pane ki himmat. Shaurya kya hai. Aane wale kal ki khatir apne is kayanat ko aaj bacha lene ki himmat."

Such profound thoughts and some fantastic words indeed by Jaideep Sarkar, and narrated with such convictions and feelings by King Khan, it gives one a case of inspirational goose pimples! The music in the background is kept to the bare minimum by Surendra Sodhi, so that Shah Rukh's vocal perfect voice is highlighted and is just apt, and in sync with the narration.

Some soft female crooning and a nice rhythm commences the superbly romantic 'Dheere Dheere'. The petal soft love ballad is raaga based. The melody is smooth with no jerks and there is not much musical cacophony in the background, with guitar and piano providing the perfect backdrop for a romantic interlude. Adnan and Sunidhi's vocals caress the listeners' imagination, and since this type of singing is Adnan's forte, he is excellent as usual. Though Sunidhi does a good job, our feeling is that Shreya could have done more justice to the number. Javed Sahab's delicate (nazuk) poetry deserves accolades as the feeling of love is brought out in this ode to the beloved composition through some classy lyrics.

Military band and drill with real drums as the main instrument commence the title track, 'Shaurya', because the movie has the military as its backdrop. The track embodies the spirit and the theme of the movie, "It takes courage to make right ... Right." Javed Akhtar is just the right person to put the noble thoughts to words through some inspirational poetry. "Jeetna seekh diwane. (Learn to win) Mana isko duniya ne (world acknowledges winners). Wo jo kabhi haar na mane (Those who never give up). Wohi shaurya hai ( he is the warrior)." Kunal's fresh vocals are a treat and he gives a fine performance. The beauty of the track lies in the fact that the whole song has been interwoven around march past/drill music with an ample rock and roll touch.

Heavy orchestral music, distant sounds in the background and dispersed vocals depicting a disturbed state of mind start the proceedings of another inspirational track 'Ghabra Ke Dar Dar Ke'. Once again the totally western arrangements, relying more on drums, guitar and percussion instruments are the highlight of the track. Sunidhi is in her elements as she goes full blast and puts in an amazing rendition along with Adnan, who is superb. Once again the highlight of the track is Javed Sahab's motivational poetry. The lyrics challenge the escapists and the weaklings and inspires them to do something worthwhile with their life.

Spanish/Hawaiian guitar combo and plate sounds accompanied by a distant chorus commences the dance track, or as is the nomenclature these days, item number, 'Jaane Kyun Jaane Man'. Given the classy nature of the movie, we will not insult it by calling it such. Coming to the number, it's a Latino style dance number, the carnival feel is evident in this festive composition. The track has crescendo condiments and ballet like music addition. Kudos to Adnan for a truly international track with all its India finesse intact.

The album ends with a friendship cum camaraderie track aptly titled 'Dosti Kya Hai'. Two veterans (they can be called that), Udit Narayan and Abhijeet, both top playback singers of the mid '80s and '90s, join hands to render a song which is quite difficult as it has many twists and turns (utaar chadhao). The melody is not easy to hum as it changes pace from soft jazz to hard rock, it take all kinds of curves. The arrangements and vocals mingle with each other and never once does one dominate the other.

A perfect end to a superlative beginning. They talk of "hatke movie", here's Samar Khan's Shaurya, which has hatke music, one which is truly different. It has to be as Shaurya is "a very important film for Bollywood" as the writer Jaydeep says.

Rating: 7/10

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