Beatstreet
The Hindu : BeatstreetKhoya Khoya ChandBig Music, CD, Rs. 150The moment you hear that here is a movie with a story about the Hindi film industry of the 1950s and early 60s, is directed by Sudhir Mishra, inspired by the life of Guru Dutt, has music director Shantanu Moitra and lyricist Swanand Kirkire teaming up again for a period film after Parineeta, you expect something. In fact you expect a whole lot of things from Khoya Khoya Chand.You expect period music, yet you expect it to be fresh and new; not a rip off of old tracks. Yet you hope that it will revive and rekindle all those myriad sepia-tinted and black-and-white nostalgic associations of those times, and make references to musical hits of the era. After all this was the Golden Age of Hindi cinema when there was a prolific pouring in of talent into the industry.The opening song – the title track – is the gem of the album. Lyricist Swanand Kirkire and Ajay Jhingran’s raspy voices take you through this racy masterpiece that combines a qawwali style with a sort of shaayari recital and desi rap. The rollercoaster “Kyoooon” gives the whole song a spirited twist. Of course music director Shantanu Moitra goes ahead and loads it with quite a heavy musical arrangement I wouldn’t essentially associate with the 50s, yet the final effect is grand. The lyrics are as intriguing as the ways of the heart are mysterious – the crux of the song. The separation, the sadness, the angst and the heart’s anger at its own self have been nuanced poetically by Kirkire. (It also had me scurrying to an Urdu dictionary!) And Kirkire has gone one step ahead and paid his respect to one of the progressive Urdu poets of the time – Majaaz – ingeniously weaving him into the lyrics.It’s a great beginning and nothing after this number in the album…More
