Music: Sonu Nigam & Bickram Ghosh Lyrics: Sonu Nigam, Sanjeev Tiwari, Bikcram Ghosh & Traditional…  

<b>Music:</b> Sonu Nigam & Bickram Ghosh <BR> <b>Lyrics: </b> Sonu Nigam, Sanjeev Tiwari, Bikcram Ghosh & Traditional<BR> <b>Music Label: </b> Saga Music<BR><BR> <b>Expectations: </b><BR><BR> With Sonu Nigam and Bickram Ghosh at the helm, we expect out-of-the-box music that is thematic, but not intended to be a bestseller or a chartbuster. <BR><BR> <b>Music: </b><BR><BR> A deep and musically intense prelude begins Shubha Mudgal's '<b><i>Jal De</i></b>', a haunting track that is a layered composition, simple in its words with its ornamentation so rich and replete with folk, classicism and fusion. <BR><BR> The undercurrent of pain and pathos is pitched just right by Shubha amidst the mélange of music unleashed by the music duo. The lyrics are almost functional in their simplicity - mere vehicles to convey the seemingly complex but simple <i>raag</i>-based tunes. <BR><BR> Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan-Suzanne's '<b><i>You Fill My Life</i></b>´ is an ingeniously-structured musical mix-and-match of an English song by Suzanne, an expertise born out of the duo's affairs with music overseas. It seamlessly moves into the Ustad's Hindi words (lyrics also by Sonu and Bickram) and after this, it is enticing back- and-forth play by the two singers with some overlap as well. <BR><BR> A kind of <i>jugalbandi</i> between percussion and electronic strings begins '<b><i>Zaalima</i></b>' sung by Sonu Nigam, which has excerpts from '<i>Jal de</i>' and is the only composition that sounds almost <i>filmi</i>. Almost a tribute to the evergreen style of Shankar-Jaikishan, this tune is embellished with some of the most unusual orchestration we have heard in any film soundtrack. <BR><BR> The traditional '<b><i>Paani Si Behti Jaaye</i></b>' is vocally put across by Ambarish Das very well. <BR><BR> Among the instrumental tracks, there is terrific variety. A whole ensemble of Indian instruments and those from other countries, including djembe, <i>nagada, tabla, shehnai</i>, frame drum and many more have been included in the soundtrack. <BR><BR> <b>Overall: </b><BR><BR> The songs in this album are caringly made, with enormous use of cerebration in the selection of instruments, voice modulation and <i>raags</i>. However, the surfeits of so many instrumental tracks that are a part of an equally well-thought out background music score bring down the consumer appeal. <BR><BR> Our rating, as always, is based on commercial value. <BR><BR> In the effort, however, we get a deficiency in appeal that might have helped the movie, for 19 instrumentals cannot be value-for-money for investing in a physical album, however rich or brilliant the music tracks or songs may be. <BR><BR> <b>Our Pick: </b><BR><BR> <i> 'Jal De', 'Zaalima'</i>