Cover of Shreya Ghoshal's chalo tumko lekar

I've always been a big fan of this song. Shreya who had just entered the industry was (and still is!) all the craze and sounded ethereal. My first take was on a casette with a karaoke track, back in the early 2000s soon after the film (Jism) had released. After all these years I got on Smule and this was one of the first songs I wanted to sing. Here goes - hope you like it.

 

Dil dhadakne ka sabab - once again

Ghazal is a genre I love, but am generally apprehensive about singing since I'm always worried I'm going to make it 'sound Carnatic'. This particular one has been a longtime favorite and after many attempts through the years (one of which featured on this blog about a decade ago!), I couldn't resist recording and sharing this version. Asha, the one and only QUEEN - and Ghulam Ali, the maestro of ghazals - are the stuff that beauty and brilliance are made of. I wish some day my voice would roll with that kind of ease :/ Please compare this version to the original at your own risk.

Medley of Evergreen Hits - IndianRaga

Raga Behag has always been a personal favorite and I absolutely loved working on this with these fabulous musicians - check it out!

Lesser known Gruhabhedams: Rageshri

First of a series of videos on relatively lesser known gruhabhedams in classical/ film music.

What were you thinking Rahman?

I've been meaning to do this for a while now: compile a list of Rahman songs we all adore, BUT for those few cringeworthy moments in them. Some cringes in life die down. Some, you learn to live with. But there are others which just won't leave you. The cringe is magnified manifold particularly when the song as a whole makes for a great listening experience and when you just want to forward/ mute out those few seconds.

A few notes: 1. I was a diehard Rahman fan up until the early 2000s and I'm most familiar with his work until then. So this (teeny tiny) list doesn't contain many songs post 2002/ 03. 2. I'm only talking about musical cringeworthiness, not w.r.t lyrics/ pronunciation stuff. (I imagine the latter would generate a much longer list.) 3. Obviously this isn't meant to be an exhaustive list - these are (according to me) few of the most obvious ones, and this list might continue to get updated. 4. Rahman, I still love you.

So without much ado... presenting to you the "What were you thinking Rahman?" moments (going roughly from most to least egregious):

1. Dil se re: Okay, this is inexcusable. Anupama and Anuradha mouthing the wrong swaras? Why Rahman? Why? "Sa sa sa sa ri ri ni ni sa ri ma ma pa pa ri ri sa sa sa ni" wouldn't have sounded any less "cool".
2. Thee thee thitthikkum thee: What a remarkable song and vocals. Why oh, why those swaras (ma pa ni sa ri sa...) in that first interlude? "Drishti"? Just. Doesn't. Fit.
3. Anjali anjali: Again, a brilliant song. Not a fan of the third flute interlude. Simply doesn't go. Random major scale/ hamsadhwani/ mohanam notes following a lovely (mishra) maand? Why?
4. Bol sajni: a) Kavitha's voice. Me no likey, sorry. b) That go-up-the-cliff-and-drop effect in the humming in both interludes. :( :( What a gorgeous song otherwise!
5. Poovukkul olindhirukkum: Seriously, what's with those interludes again? Both of them. What is usilampatti penkutti doing in here?
6. Alaipaayuthe kanna: Anupallavi doesn't start on beat! Mixing guy, this one's on you. Despite the "ting" to indicate samam!
7. Snehithane: Not a fan of the first three lines of the charanams. Call me old fashioned, but I can't get over these musical digressions.
8. Kannathil mutthamittal: Same as above. The charanam beginnings are a little too random for me.
Addition as of 05/16:
9. Avalum naanum: Nice, breezy (albeit very simple) pallavi - but what's with the post violin part of the interlude and ugh, the charanam start??
10. Yeh rishta kya kehlata hai: Again, the charanam. Aargh. (Not that I love the rest of the song too much, so this one's kinda okay.)

Anyone got more?

Har Tajurbe Ko released

Here we go. (Click here for some background on this song.) Please share and spread the word and if you like it please buy the track from iTunes and support the artists!

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/har-tajurbe-ko-feat.-ravichandra/id1097597195



Vocals: Subhamita Bannerjee
Composition: Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam
Lyrics: Ajay Chandran
Flute: Ravichandra Kulur
Arrangement, Music Production, Mix and Master: Vijay Kannan

Thanks to Kaushik Sen of Rainbow Digital Studio, Kolkata, India; and Armando Cepeda's studio, Carlsbad, USA.

Artwork: "The Dive" by Sumithra Bhakthavatsalam (42hues.com)

Youtube link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOQ4xzGGTNU

Lyrics and translation:

har tajurbe ko taraazuu mein rakhaa
hisaabon mein uljha rahaa

Why weigh every experience? Why be ensnared in calculating every move?

zindagii saamne aayi
to ehtraam bhii na kiyaa

Life appeared in all its glory but alas, wasn't heeded to.

ik samandar peegayaa, phirbhi.. pyaas vohii pyaas rahii
mere andar koii bagaavat si.. aag vohiii aag rahii

Drinking the ocean in its entirety didn't quench the thirst...
Inside me is a rebellious fire that doesn't abate...

Har Tajurbe Ko - original composition feat. Subhamita Bannerjee coming soon

TEN years since I started this blog. (Well, almost.) Amidst some philosophizing and soul-searching that've resulted in a few write-ups on music, the last decade has been filled with some wonderful (though not very frequent) musical collaborations both online and offline. In September of 2009 I had what's easily been the single most life-changing musical experience for me so far: I got to perform with Pt. Ravi Shankar's ensemble in Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles. As rewarding as the experience itself was, it also gave me the opportunity to build some invaluable musical connections. In particular, I've been very fortunate to have collaborated with two amazing musicians I met there: Ravichandra Kulur and Subhamita Bannerjee. Brindavani - a flute-centric piece I composed a couple years ago and played impeccably by Kulur-ji was the first of these collaborations. But in fact, although we managed to finish and release that piece first (in 2013), what I had originally thought of requesting Kulur-ji to play for was a ghazal-esque song that I had composed. Play he did - and gorgeously of course - but the song never saw the light of the day.

The genesis of the song started with Ajay Chandran's lovely lyrics. One day back in grad school I caught myself humming a tune that was a mishmash of the ragas Varamu and Hindolam. The two ragas differ in just one note: the dhaivatham, and I thought a raga that combined the two sounded really beautiful and I wanted to come up with something. I felt the mood of the raga would best suit something ghazal-like. I immediately went to Ajay Chandran's blog and found a poem that I liked a lot: har tajurbe. I came up with a basic tune for it and soon decided that it had to be sung by someone else. Although it was me who'd come up with the tune, execution was another ball game altogether and I was unhappy with my own rendition since I felt I was totally "Carnaticizing" it. I then approached Subhamita-di to sing it and she graciously obliged. She's brought so much life into this song with her mellifluous rendering and I will be eternally grateful to her.

The next big question of course was, who'd arrange it?! After keeping the song hibernating for years I finally approached Vijay Kannan - an extremely talented and popular flautist and arranger. He immediately agreed to work on it and I think he's done a fabulous job. After composing the song in 2012, and having Kulur-ji play for it the same year, and having Subhamita-di sing it the following year, I tried unsuccessfully to resurrect this song multiple times in the years that followed. It's finally done now - and for being able to revive and complete it, a BIG shoutout to Vijay. And sorry Vijay, for being a pain through the process ;)

There's a certain unparalleled joy in conceiving of something and then completely letting it go out of your hands and just watching others realize it. One part of me thinks that's euphemism for plain laziness, but what good is a PhD if your super power is not intellectualizing the mundane as a means to escapism: so I'm just going to say, distributed cognition for the win. (No but seriously, I mean it.)

The song is all done and will be out soon - watch out for it! And thanks in advance for listening ;)

Naina Neer Bahaye

Naina neer bahaye from Water is a song very, very dear to me - and easily one of Sadhana's very best. I love how Rahman brings in such a calming and ethereal feel to it. Here's my take. I haven't done a particularly great job of creating the karaoke track but this being a vocals heavy song, hopefully that can be excused. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Song: Naina neer bahaye
Film: Water
Music: A. R. Rahman
Lyrics: Sukhwinder Singh
Original singer: Sadhana Sargam

Crazy Kiya Re

A break from my long drawn Carnatic/ Classical spell. Here's a racy bollywood number.

Not my usual kinda song choice, but thoroughly enjoyed singing it! Feedback would be much appreciated.

Song: Crazy Kiya Re
Movie: Dhoom 2
Music: Pritam
Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan

Payaliya Jhankar

For a while now, I've been having what a friend rightly called "singer's block"- I simply haven't been able to sing. Not been practicing, abandoned music classes constantly feeling I don't have time for it, and worse, reinforcing in myself that I simply cannot do it. Grad school has indeed been exhausting, but I can't conscientiously convince myself that I don't have time to sing- it's rather just been a different avatar of plain procrastination I guess. I finally forced myself to resume music classes and it feels very rejuvenating! Anyway, all the ranting apart, here's a new song finally.

I first heard Payaliya Jhankaar, a popular "chota khayal" in Raag Puriya Dhanashri (Pantuvarali in Carnatic), when I was probably 6 or 7- sung by one of my cousins who was learning Hindustani. My sister and me used to love this song... And then after many years, there was the silken voice of Hariharan rendering a few lines of the song as a prelude to A.R.Rahman's "Hai Rama yeh kya hua"- what a magical piece of music that was! And then came Ajay Pohankar's very classy "indipop" version which has a natural "instant appeal" factor to it. I'd been wanting to cover his version for a long time but somehow never got around to doing it. It's here now; finally. Thanks to Vijay Narayanan for the vocal-cut track. (I had to then play around with the track to reduce the pitch, so it probably isn't as good as it could've been).

Song: Payaliya Jhankaar
Artist: Ajay Pohankar
Album: Piya Bavari Again
Covered by: Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam




PS: Hope you like the new look of this blog! :)

The Japanese connection

Here's a non-Carnatic song from me after a while!

Ajay Chandran passed on this absolutely beautiful Japanese song from Final Fantasy to me quite a while back, and told me he was writing alternate lyrics for it which he wanted me to sing. The idea really excited me- for one, the song was so beautiful and two, by past experience, working on Ajay's lyrics was always a pleasure... Like with many other projects in the past this too got stalled and stalled... but finally here it is!

Many many thanks to Meera who mixed this for us in no time and making me sound better than I actually do perhaps :P

Here's the original song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlwSPMwAqbM

It might be interesting for you to note that Ajay has tried to make many of the Hindi words rhyme or sound similar in some way, to the original Japanese lyrics! Great job Ajay, to come up with something completely on your own and make it fit in so beautifully with an existing tune, that too with some resemblance to the original words which were in a totally unrelated language! Enjoyed doing this :)

Here are Ajay's lyrics:

________________________________________

udti pirun main to aasmaan mein yoon
main chanchal, hawaa ki tarah
gum hai kahaan
teri aashiqui mein
kaash ye dil ko..hosh aaye

sajna main yoon
teri raah khadi
dekh zara..
kabhi to yahaan
hosh nahin.. mujhe.. tu jo mila..
tuu hi magar ye jaane naa..

dil kii aahen....kahe maahi thaamo baahen
aaa yoon, jiya na jalaaa
yahaan jaltii hoon
kahaan jaane aankhen teri
aise to.. naa jaa...

so jaaoon mai
kho jaaoon aaj mein
aaun phir aankhon mein
banke aansoon

kahin se sada
teri dil ne suni
aankh khuli.. kuch bhi nahiin
haqeekat kya.. jaane kyaa sapnaa
kaun se sach ko maanu mai

kehna kabhi
hoon mai kaun teri
khel nahiin ..
pyaar mera
umeed to hai.. jaane.. kyon dil mein..
laut ke tum phir aaoge..

dil kii aahen....kahe maahi thaamo baahen
aaa yoon, jiya na jalaaa
yahaan jaltii hoon
kahaan jaane aankhen teri
aise to.. naa jaa...

so jaaoon main
kho jaaoon aaj main
aaun phir aankhon mein
banke aansoo

_____________________________________

So here it is, for you to appraise!

Song: udti phirun
Music: Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano (for the original "Suteki da ne" in Final Fantasy X)
Lyrics: Ajay Chandran
Singer (lead and harmonies): Self
Mixing: Meera Manohar



Download here.

khamoshiyan gungunane lagiin

This is a relatively less known number by Rahman from 1-2-ka-4. The movie bombed at the box office I guess, but had some good melodies- including this one and sona nahi na sahi.
Found an excellent karaoke track for this one on an esnips page... and it was a long pending idea to do a duet with fellow blogger Rajesh Raman and it somehow never took off until this one.
Needless to say, Rajesh is remarkable. One of those singers who we should be lucky to have here, among us.
A little about the original: A sensational duo, Sonu and Lata have sung this. Lata, despite the shake and all other age related factors sounds so expressive. I wish I could isolate her singing from her voice...
Sonu: Amaaazing as always. Check out a live version by them at the Unity of Lights concerts with Rahman here: Sonu is adorable! :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gsmoWEsvpo&feature=PlayList&p=BFBDCF7A7807CBBF&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=37

Now, here's our's :) Let us know what you thought. This was recorded a long time back- we kept going back and forth on mixes... finally decided to pick the best one and put it up... Many thanks to Rajesh's friend Arun Varma for his efforts in mixing this.

Song: Khamoshiyan gungunane lagiin
Movie: 1-2-ka-4
Music: A.R.Rahman
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Sonu Nigam

This version mixed by: Arun Varma

BlogSwara 5 released!!

BlogSwara has released its fifth volume online!!
This time, I had the fortune of singing two songs:

azhaiththadhu yaaro: Thanks to Vijay S, got to sing a classical based melody again, after kaaththirundhen last year. Raga based songs always hold a special place for me and I so totally enjoyed singing this beautiful number, azhaiththadhu. Thank you, thank you, Vijay S!
Its not too often that you come across people with good orchestration skills plus a good understanding of ragas. Vijay Narayanan has been really supportive in these respects!
I don't have to say much about Jo- a voice that can make almost anything sound good!
Thank you, team- it was great working with you guys!
Here's a small fun video made by Vijay Narayanan - on his experience with the orchestration.




Listen to the song here!

khoye khoye: My first venture into such a genre and it was truly very exciting! Thank you Anup, for trusting I could pull it off! Used to singing classical/ melody based songs usually, this was a very refreshing change for me indeed!
Ajay Chandran's lyrics were what added life to this song- thank you, Ajay!
Many thanks to Nandu and Sam who have been extremely supportive and worked tirelessly to bring the right sound.

Listen to the song here!

I hope you enjoy listening to all songs of BlogSwara V5 as much as we enjoyed making them!

Cheeni Kum

Yet another song where Shreya is at her best. Although I prefer the Tamil original mandram vandha thendralukku from Mouna Ragam any day, I can keep listening to this song just for Shreya's voice! And that is the power of Raja's music- more than 20 years and the tune is still fresh.

Recorded this quite a few months back...
So here goes my version :)

Song: Cheeni Kum
Movie: Cheeni Kum
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Lyrics: Sameer-Manoj Tapadia
Singer: Shreya Ghoshal



Hope you like this. Do drop your comments.

And oh, 5 days to go for BlogSwara-V5!!

Sleepless in Seattle

After about eight years or more, I finally got to sing with my sister here in Seattle. And the feeling is just awesome :) We decided to sing this beautiful classical based song from Hum Dile De Chuke Sanam- Albela Sajan.
We started recording and it just went on and on and on and into the dead of the night! Nevertheless, it was an absolute fun experience. Love ya, Sumi :)

Here's the song, up for you.

Song: Albela Sajan
Music: Ismail Darbaar
Lyrics: Mehboob
Singers: Ustaad Sultan Khan, Kavitha Krishnamurthy, Shankar Mahadevan.
Movie: Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

Download here.

Koi raaz-e-dil: taking off from 'Etho rathri'!

Here's an Urdu version of the Malayalam song "Etho rathri" written by Ajay Chandran in my voice. Writing alternate lyrics wouldn't be so easy I suppose- I think what Ajay has done is commendable!
Your feedback'd be much appreciated. Thanks!

Song: Koii raaz-e-dil
Music: M. Jayachandran
Lyrics: Ajay Chandran
Singer: Sindhuja Bhakthavatsalam



And here are the lyrics:

koii raaz-e-dil bol gayi aankhen
saare ashq mujhe deke gayi aankhen
yoon hii sochti hoon pass ho wo aankhen
jaane kis jahaan ko choD gayi aankhen
mere sannaaton ko, dil ke andheron ko, dekhe na haaye wo aankhen
teri aankhen

koii raaz-e-dil bol gayi aankhen
saare ashq mujhe deke gayi aankhen

wo tere saath ke chaar din kya
umr se baDke wo lahma lamhaa
dil ke paas the, dil kii manzilen
aankhon mein sapnon ke saaye
har lamhaa

koii raaz-e-dil bol gayi aankhen
saare ashq mujhe deke gayi aankhen
yoon hii sochtii hoon pass ho wo aankhen
jaane kis jahaan ko choD gayi aankhen

bekhayaalii mein yoon saans loongii
zindagii kii sazaa kaaT loongii
merii hasraten, terii aahaTen
yaadon mein Dhal gaye saare
tere saaye

koii raaz-e-dil bol gayi aankhen
saare ashq mujhe deke gayi aankhen
yoon hii sochtii hoon pass ho wo aankhen
jaane kis jahaan ko choD gayi aankhen
mere sannaaton ko, dil ke andheron ko, dekhe na haaye wo aankhen
teri aankhen

(Listen to the original Malayalam version (in the movie Bus Conductor) sung by Chitra here.)

Bahon ke darmiyan

Khamoshi- The Musical was a poignant film that was critically much acclaimed. It was well supported by music composed by Jatin-Lalit who are best known for their melodies. Although simple in tune and structure and use of instruments, many of their songs have left their mark- Pehla nasha for starters!
My favourites in Khamoshi were Mausam ke sargam ko sun and Aaj main upar (but for Kumar Sanu's voice!). Bahon ke darmiyan too, was nevertheless a sweet, romantic melody to which I think Hariharan and Alka Yagnik had done complete justice. The slowness of the song and the feel it gives of a soft, continuous flow are what make it linger on..
So when Murali suggested we do this song, I readily agreed. Here we have our version of Baahon ke darmiyaan, up for you.

Song: Baahon ke darmiyaan
Movie: Khamoshi
Music: Jatin-Lalit
Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Singers: Hariharan, Alka Yagnik

Download here.

Piya tose naina laage re

It's been a while since I did a Hindi cover. Here's one- from the 1965 classic Guide: Piya tose, a scintillating melody...*Bows* to Lataji!
Here's my version for you to appraise :)

Song: piya tose naina laage re
Movie: Guide
Music: S.D.Burman
Lyrics: Shailendra
Singer: Lata Mangeshkar

Saavan rut aayi

Piya Basanti was a non filmi album by Ustad Sultan Khan and Chitra that released some years back. The title track became quite a hit and as far as I know, was the only song that was shown on TV. (Probably the other songs didn't even get filmed) Curious, I bought the album only to discover that the title track was nothing at all- compared to this other song called Saavan rut aayi. An outstanding composition in my opinion and amazingly rendered by Chitra. Beautiful use of instruments, lovely imagery through the lyrics and last but not the least, wonderful choice of raga (Shuddha Saarang, sorta equivalent to Hamsanadam in the Carnatic school).
This album was a dedication by the composer Sandesh Shandilya to his guru Ustad Sultan Khan. In addition to vocals, Sultan Khan has of course played the Saarangi in most of the songs.
A song that won my heart on the very first listening. Here's my attempt. Unfortunately, could not find a karaoke track.

Song: Saavan rut aayi
Album: Piya Basanti
Music: Sandesh Shandilya
Singers: K.S.Chitra, Ustad Sultan Khan
Lyrics: Rakesh Nirala


Download here.

Thanks in advance for leaving your comments!

Dil dhadakne ka sabab

A human effort of a near-superhuman task: here is my version of this timeless ghazal. After many failed attempts of this song in the past I told myself to be complacent with this version. While on the one hand we feel some songs should be left untouched, the worldly, ambitious egotist in us on the other, wants to see how far we can go...sigh!:)

Song: Dil dhadakne ka sabab yaad aaya
Music: Ghulam Ali
Lyrics: Nasir Kazmi
Singer: Asha Bhonsle

Do leave your valuable inputs.