Zebunnisa Bangash, a versatile singer with some unique vocals is one of the most prominent musician from across the border and has the ability to sing in six different languages. She is one of the most loved vocalist in Pakistan as well as gaining a lot of popularity in India. Preferring quality over quantity, she has done few Bollywood projects and each one of them have the uniqueness to it. Ever since a teaser of her new song “Farz Karo” has come out, everyone is excited about the song’s release.
“Farz Karo” is performed by Zeb along with her band Sandaraa (means “song” in Pashto language). The tune is very addictive. This song speaks about promises and assumptions in a relationship between two lovers. Sound arrangement especially violin has been used to a greater effect.
Sandaraa is one of a kind band blending Eastern Europe and Central Asian music sensibilities co-founded by Zeb and Brooklyn based klezmer clarinet virtuoso Michael Winograd. Band also have some talented musicians of different origins – Turkish violinist Eylem Basaldi, Accordionist Patrick Farrell, critically acclaimed guitar and bass player Yoshie Fruchter, Bass player David Lizmi and Percussionist Richie Barshay.
Zeb Bangash – She is part of one of the first generation of Pakistani musicians. Her first album “Chup” with her sister Haniya was loved across Pakistan as well as India. She rose to fame with her Coke Studio Pakistan performances which was produced by Rohail Hyatt. Her Coke Studio performances are still loved across the world specially in India and Pakistan. She also did vocals for A. R. Rahman in Highway film for a beautiful melodious soothing song “Sooha Saha”. She also sung for Fitoor and composed for Lipstick under my burkha movie which was very well received for experimentation and unique feel to it.
Much awaited and talked about film “Padmavat” finally released its first trailer. The trailer is nothing short of magnum opus and promises commendable performances from the cast. Ranveer Singh looks fiercy as a Alauddin Khilji, the ruler of Delhi Sultanate hailing from Turkish and Afgan soil. Shahid Kapoor looks promising as a last Rajput ruler of Guhila Dynasty named Ratan Singh. Most talked about lady from the movie Deepika Padukone is looking beautiful and a strong lady playing a lead character. Aditi Rao Hydari will also be seen in this movie as a wife of Alauddin Khilji
Amidst all the controversy regarding the historical inaccuracies as claimed by members of Rajput communities, CBFC cleared the film on December 30 after suggesting few changes to the story-line and lyrics/dialogues. A suggestion was also provided to modify to title of the film to “Padmavat”.
Even after CBFC clearance, the movie might still not hit theaters in few of the states –
Gujrat – Chief Minister Rupani announced that the ban on the movie will continue due to the same fact that people feel that history has been distorted in the movie.
Rajasthan – Vasundara Raje, chief minister has said, “Rani Padmavati’s sacrifice is a matter of honor and pride for the state and we won’t allow defamation of her honor.
Madhya Pradesh – MP Chief Minister S. Singh continue to be firm on the decision not to release the film at any cost
A. R. Rahman turns 51 today. The journey that started with Roja has been a gift to the millions of listeners worldwide. In his 25 years of his journey, Rahman has always experimented and composed music well ahead of his time.
We look back at A.R. Rahman’s most underrated work of all time.
Marhaba Ya Mustafa
A. R. Rahman composed this song for a 2008 multilingual film Al Risalah. It is referred to as a Na’at which means a poetry in praise of Islamic prophet Muhammad. Rahman composed and sung this beautiful Na’at himself. After listening to this you are sure to get into a spiritual feeling.
Naina Neer
In 2005, Deepa Mehta approached A. R. Rahman for her movie named Water. This movie was set in 1930s and showed lives of widows (Daasi) during that period. Rahman had his genius written over all the songs that he composed for this movie. Already lyrically rich Naina Neer song is beautifully composed with a Sitar, synth flute and on the top of that sweet voice of Sadhana Sargam adds a magic.
Piya Ho
Rahman almost brought the tempo down to minimum for this song. Piya ho is rendered by Sadhana Sargam with a backdrop of slow and soft rhythm. When you feel you have transported to a different world with Sadhna’s voice, Sukhwinder Singh makes an entry at the end of the song which makes you crave for more.
Shaam Rang
A. R. Rahman has always managed to get the best out of even the new voices. Richa Sharma, even before she became famous with the Maahi Ve and Jag Soona Laage, she recorded this song alongside Naqeeb Alam and Surjo Bhattacharya. Rahman brought the festive colors of Holi in his music relying predominantly on Indian classical instruments
Ye Jo Zindagi Hai
Deepa Mehta might be the only director for whom Rahman has given his best yet underrated songs. 1947 Earth had some brilliant compositions by the maestro. This song has that mystic feeling thanks to the melodious voice of Sujata Trivedi, soft beats and brilliant chorus.
Aarti
There seems to be some kind of spiritual connection A. R. Rahman has with god which makes him compose such magical songs. This Aarti of Goddess is hardly over 3 minute piece but leaves a lasting impression on the mind even after it finishes.
Ay Hairathe
As always Rahman saves his best for Mani Ratnam. This song starts with a Rahman’s voice and then Tabla, Strings take over the song with a beautiful poetry of Gulzar. Hariharan and Alka yagnik renders this song beautifully.
Bombay Theme
In 1995, in his third film with Mani Ratnam, Rahman gave the world this piece of art which touches your soul so deep that would surely bring tears in your eyes. Backdrop of Strings with rhythms of constant bells ring, magical flute and orchestra giving it a magnificent feel. Just close your eyes and listen to this pure magic.
Aaromale
It’s just so hard to describe this song. It has Rahman’s own version of psychedelic feel to it. Lyrics have been blended with a Malayalam word “Aaromale” (beloved). No matter how your mood is, this songs is just perfect for any mood.
Jaage Hai
Chithra starts of this song in her melodious voice and Rahman keeps the instrumentation to the minimal. Chithra is then joined by Rahman himself before reaching crescendo when the whole orchestration reaches to higher level. Pure genius at work.
Liquid Dance
Liquid Dance is a testament of Rahman’s genius of creating and experimenting with blending eastern and western musical sensibilities. Who would have thought a hip-hop rhythm can be blended so perfectly with Classical Sargam. Listen this with your headphones on!
Mausam and Escape
Rahman, once again blends east and west in Mausam and Escape. Sitar, flute, Guitar, piano, violin programmed together in a musical piece which is 4-minute long but leaves an ever lasting impact.
R.I.P.
Harshdeep Kaur, does a brilliant job in this background piece of Rahman for 127 hours movie. Humming piece of Harshdeep with a brilliant orchestration by Rahman which gets even more psychedelic in the end is so soothing for the ears.
Dil Gira Dafatan
Rahman ropes in Ash King who sang this as his first song in the Bollywood. Continuous strumming of guitar and keyboard violin gives the feeling of ultimate joy to the listener.
Shauk Hai
Most underrated song of Guru which wasn’t even listed in CD. Song builds up in a slow strumming of guitar and piano backdrop with a beautiful poetry rendered by Sowmya Raoh so beautifully. Just sit back and soak this song in.
Dil Se Background Score
Dil Se is undoubtedly one of Rahman’s top scores of all time. All songs of Dil se were top notch. But even on top of that, Dil Se’s background score was certainly one of the best. Sukhwinder Singh reciting Allama Iqbal’s poetry with ethereal arrangements by Rahman is not only a treat to listen but also it transcends you to surreal world.
Warriors In Peace
Rahman in his maiden Chinese film composed for film score and featured Jolin Tsai, a popular Taiwanese singer. Though the song is made in Mandarin language, it has Rahman’s stamp all over it. Rahman experimented with Armenian Duduk, Japanese Taiko Drums, Chinese Erhu (Fiddle) and Dizi (Flute) for this song and the result is nothing short of brilliance.
There are many more underrated works of A. R. Rahman which can be added to this list. Please let us know in comments if you know any work of Rahman which is underrated.
On 18 October 2017, all of you might have seen the “Google Doodle” celebrating the 66th anniversary of Germany’s Studio for Electronic Music. It is a state-of-the-art studio for creating electronically synthesized sounds.
It makes us realize that how old the tryst of technology with music is. We have a separate genre of Music for that – Electronic Music. Over the years, technology has been an integral part of the Music industry. But yet, technology was involved only in the creation of music and very little in how we perceive music.
When somebody asks you “how do you perceive music?”, you won’t think twice before replying, “Well! I hear it through ears”. But hang on! there is certainly more to the music than just listening. We all might have felt at some or the other point of life that listening to a music actually affected our feelings. So, what is it in music that affects more than just our ears. There is lot of study and research going on about how the music affects the human body as a whole. Research has shown us that music affects the blood pressure, heart rate, depression, anxiety. But it is about what happens after we listen to the music. So, does it mean that ears are the only way we can perceive music.
Let me tell you a story about a woman named Evelyn Glennie. She is a percussionist and she is a three times Grammy Award winner and 15 honorary doctorates holder. A brilliant musician who can play more than thousands of percussion instruments. The most astonishing fact about this lady is that she has achieved all of these after turning profoundly deaf at the age of 12. Amazed at how did she create a music without even listening to it? It certainly shakes our belief that ears are the only way we can perceive music. As Evelyn speaks about her music, she constantly emphasize that we do not only listen music but also we experience it. We experience it through our hands, legs, our whole body. She speaks about her creation of music in this TED Talk.
Now that we have learnt that it is not necessary to hear music to experience the music, let’s dwell into the world of music through feelings. There have been many efforts of using this fact by different universities and researchers to bring the music to the deaf community. Coke Studio, one of the most popular live recording music show took the initiative in Pakistan where the deaf community constitutes around 9 million people. In season 9 of the Coke Studio, they took this step in order to reach out the every people of the community irrespective of disabilities. A combination of lighting and the couch with hundreds of vibration engines were used to create a experience of the music for the hearing impaired community. A setup was created with the video of song being played and lighting was in synchronization with the sound of the song to create an ambiance. The vibration engines were used to give the feel of the song to the participants of this “Coke Studio for the deaf” program.
