Best Hindi songs of 2007 - Part II

When I posted the "Best songs of 2007" I had not heard the music of Taare Zameen Par and hence this post.

Did I say that S-E-L are the most versatile composers around today? Well, the TZP songs only help prove that point further. These are the guys who had an out-an-out typical masala soundtrack for Salaam-e-Ishq, a very experimental soundtrack for Johnny Gaddar and now Taare Zameen Par!

Song: Jame Raho
Movie: Taare Zameen Par
Singers: Vishal Dadlani
Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi
Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

If “Hum to aise hain bhaiyaan” (by Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire) was a celebration of the wretchedness of an ordinary Indian’s life, “Jame Raho” is about the race of survival for a working class urban Indian family. The song is innovative in its composition, lyrics, singing – another evidence of “new sounds” in Hindi film music.
The song starts with an alarm clock ringing and then immediately gives a sense of the urgency of attending to ones duties for the day – the father going to work, the good kid to his school.
The lyrics aptly describe the daily acts of staying on track and focussed that are a part of the society today .
For the Father leaving for work: “Manzil ko chali sawaari, kandhon pe zimmedari”
For the Good Kid : “Aage rehne ki tension, mehnat inko pyaari hain, ekdum aagyakaari hain”

The song then switches moods to describe the world of the non-achiever kid in the family. The tune changes to a more dreamy pace:
“Har kaam ko taala karte hain, yeh sapne paala karte hain”
The song makes even more sense when you see it on the screen. Some of you might argue that “Maa” is a better number – and don’t get me wrong the song is great, but I found more creativity and innovation in this song.

Song: Taare Zameen Par
Movie: Taare Zameen Par
Singers: Shankar Mahadevan, Vivienne Pocha, Dominique Cerejo
Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi
Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

The title song is sung with a lot of sincerity by all the singers, the minimal and simple instruments of Tabla and Sitaar are a good choice for a song that describes “children”. The tune is also very simple and non-complicated. Shankar sings the “Mukhda” and Vivienne and Dominique do the “Antara”. The use of two singers for the “Antara” is unusual, but it works here.
Prasoon Joshi’s lyrics are the old tried method of similes. It works in most places
"Jaise rangon bhari pichkaari, jaise titliyaan phulon ki kyaari
Jaise bina matlab ka rishta koi"

but it seems deliberate in some places –

“Mohalle ki raunak galiyaan hain jaise
Khilane ki zid pe Kaliyaan hain jaise”

S-E-L, 2007 belongs to you three.