| Music review of
'Gaja Gamini' |
Director: M.F. Hussain
Music: Bhupen Hazarika
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar, Maya Govind, M.F. Hussain
`Gaja
Gamini' is truly a movie of epic proportions, though it may not turn out to be the same at the box office. (Even its name is one, `Gaja Gamini' means one with the gait of an elephant). Just take a look at the team behind the movie - Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Shahrukh Khan, Shabana Azmi, Shilpa Shirodkar, Naseeruddin Shah, Mohan Agashe, M.F.
Hussain, Ashok
Mehta, Bhupen Hazarika.
In the blurb of the cassette, Hussain says, ``It took me 60 years to realise this dream, of which 30 were spent in allowing Madhuri to arrive.'' But
Hussain's ode to Indian womanhood is not with its blemishes, the music being one. For excepting a couple, the
album is very run-of-the-mill and lets the listener down. Bhupen Hazarika starts off in his trademark style with the title track `Gaja Gamini, tu hai man mohini', which describes the several roles of a woman.
`Meri payal bole', by Kavita Krishnamurthy, reminds you of the song `Dil hum hum bole', scored by Hazarika for Kalpana Lajmi's `Rudaali'. `Hamara hansa gaya videsh', again by Kavita
Krishnamurthy, has a folksy feel to it and reminds you of the songs of the `bauls' of West Bengal.
Two
slokas written by Kalidas and sung by Suman Devgan follow. `Do saidyon ke sangam' is a good song by Udit Narayan and Kavita. Shankar Mahadevan does a marvellous job in `Deepak
raag', making it clear once again that he is one of the most promising singers in the country now.
An instrumental number `Protest march' follows with a violin score and a high-pitched chorus accompanied by the sound of drums. `Yeh gathri taaj ki tarah' is sung by Kavita again,
who has never sounded so good in recent times.
Though the album is not as consistent as earlier scores by Hazarika, it does have its moments. Only if all the songs were as good as `Deepak raag' by Shankar Mahadevan and `Hamara hansa gaya videsh', the album would have proved immortal.
Venky
