Music: Tapas Relia Lyrics: Manoj Yadav Music Label: TIPS Music Films Expectations: A dramatic, real…  

<b>Music: Tapas Relia</b><br> <b>Lyrics: Manoj Yadav</b><br> <b>Music Label: TIPS Music Films</b><br><br> <b>Expectations: </b><br><br> A dramatic, real story of a young girl's fight against sexual exploitation, the film needs sober music, preferably rooted in classicism to heighten the necessary emotional wallop. <br><br> <b>Music: </b><br><br> Tapas Relia largely succeeds in creating the right ambience. Like <i><b>'Sun Suguna Re'</b></i> (Suchi-Ankita Joshi) echoes the poignancy of a wedding song, with optimistic lyrics about the bride's future and the pathos of separation in a fair blend. The soothing instrumentation with dollops of <i>shehnai</i> and flute is a welcome change from the synthetic sounds that have begun to dominate film music. The singers do a nice job, but why do we get an impression that Suchi is trying to mimic Rekha Bhardwaj? Is it the composer's diktat? <br><br> The lead track, <i><b>'Hai Reham'</b></i> (Kailash Kher-Rishikesh Kamerkar- Shivam Pathak) has an interesting statement by lyricist Manoj Yadav - <i>'Ilahe hai yahin / Mariyam yahin hai / Sab mein Radha kahin / Seeta kahin hai / Par kisi me woh Ram, Krishna kyoon nahin hai / Aisi haqeeqat hai'</i> Kher leads the singers with gusto as always, his voice seeming to resonate for the cause in this Sufi expression of angst against man's tyranny for the female of the species. Manoj writes with a heartfelt pen and Tapas's tune matches. <br><br> The lyrics get more hard-hitting in <i><b>'Sun Ri Baavli'</b></i> that is sung soulfully by Papon. However, the guitar-based melody seems a little tepid and incongruous for the mood of the song. Yadav excels in the lines <i>'Toote taaren uthaale / Unnse chanda banaa le / Thaam aanchal ka kona usse aasmaan banaale'</i>. Here is where the tune should have much more moving, rather than just sounding like a pale and watered-down version of a provincial Eastern folk song. <br><br> <i><b>'Aa Ghar Chale Hum'</b></i> (Monali Thakur, incidentally also the lead actor of this film) has been extremely well sung. The song is a bank of the right emotions packaged in some cerebrally conceived acoustic orchestration. The tune is a shade complex, but all is forgiven as the song grows on you with repeated listens and is composed with diligence, as if every word mattered to infuse musical nuances. Which is as it should be, but isn't, in a field when words are fitted to tunes in nine of ten cases! <br><br> <b>Overall: </b><br><br> Tapas <i>Hanuman</i> Relia scores a soft soundtrack that is right for the somber mood of the film. The music complements the movie, and is not expected to be a crowd-puller. However, once again, a balance of substance and commercial appeal would have enhanced the prospects of a niche film. And our rating is for the commercial value as always. <br><br> <b>Our Pick: </b><br><br> <i>'Hai Reham Hai Karam', 'Aa Ghar Chalein Hum'</i>