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Chords & Notes
Bombat Hasya
(Savigannada Balaga, Rs. 32)
This tape promises some "clean" humour, which is in itself unusual when the Kannada humour cassettes are, more often than not, characterised by double entendres and digs at women. Adding to this tape's tag of "respectability" is the impressive list of writers and artistes it ropes in, directly or indirectly — from the legendary T.P. Kailasam, G.P. Rajarathnam, B.Chi. and Ra.Shi. to the present-day favourites of the genre such as Dundiraj and P.S. Ramanujam.
The tape begins with Aa. Ra. Mitra presenting a series of jokes — his own as well as those popularised by others. He also drops an interesting bit of information in passing: That Malayalam-speaking N. Kasturi, a big name among humour writers, learnt Kannada when he was 25!
Hasyagana Vaividhya (by A. Sathyanarayan Rao and M. Subba Rao) is the rendering of G.P. Rajarathnam's famous nursery rhyme, "Nayi mari, nayi mari" in various styles. The take-offs on pop singing and on Bhimsen Joshi's famous Dasara Pada, "Nambide ninna", do induce some laughter.
The other presenters include, M.S. Narasimha Murthy (of the serial Pa.Pa. Pandu fame), Yamuna Murthy, H.S. Lakshminarayan Bhatta, M.H. Srikantiah, A.S. Murthy, and Mimicry Dayanand.
While most others sound rather trait (including the usually-vivacious Dayanand), A.S. Murthy is one presenter who sounds fresh. He dons his time-tested role of Eeranna (which made him immensely popular in his Akashavani presentations). The earthy humour and the rather convincing speaking style of a villager that he adopts add to the appeal.
The programme has been conceived by K. Rajkumar, and has music by B.V. Srinivas.
Tum Aaye
(Sony Music, Rs. 55)
This is a sequel to (though brought out six years later) Javed Akhtar's Tum Yaad Ayee. While the first album featured songs of separation, Tum Aaye has songs that celebrate togeth-erness. This venture brings together three big figures of Hindi filmdom: Hariharan, Alka Yagnik, and Javed Akhtar.
The tape is characterised by minimal and subtle use of instruments. Soft drum beats and guitar, a few strains of flute, and some mild string instrument phrases form the backdrop for the songs.
The absence of jarring and overbearing sounds, in itself, is a refreshing break from the noisy tapes the music shops are inundated with.
This minimalism is clearly meant to foreground the voice and the lyrics. Unfortunately, with both the rendering and the lyrics proving disappointing, the intention seems simply wasted.
In an effort to give the tape a "soothing and soft" feel, the singers (specially Alka Yagnik) seem to be always labouring to sing under the breath.
One gets to hear a few flourishes and delicate embellishments that one typically associates with Hariharan, while Alka Yagnik steers clear of improvisations.
And one is most disappointed as one strains one's ears to catch a phrase or expression that breaks away from the hackneyed and syrupy language of love from film songs, and finds none. Except in "Meri yaadon me ab tak" (which talks of a bitter past) togetherness is portrayed as an unadulterated state of joy.
But isn't this "joy" constantly complicated and tested by the trials and tribulations of everyday existence? Alas, Javed Akhtar makes no effort to explore the complex negotiations that no relationship (least of all a man-woman relationship) can escape from!
Friends
(Anand Audio, Rs. 20)
This successful film (still running) is called a film for those "young at heart". So, peppy songs in colloquial `lingo' dominate this tape.
When Hamsalekha pioneered the use of colloquial language in the early Eighties (with no apologies for the use of English words), he gave a refreshing break from the cliched language of film lyrics. But in the years that followed, this style was carried to an extreme, often resulting in the use of completely offensive language (targeting women, specially). In fact, this has come to be another cliche in itself.
This tape is an illustration of this trend (lyrics by Kalyan). Lines such as "Sixteen years Urvashi, Kanda kudle dil khushi" and "Ultra modern Madonna figure, Swimming suitina vaiyyari" are in abundance in this tape. One even finds an absurd line that includes the name of the audio company that has brought out the tape in the description: "Kaiyya hidiyo preethiye, Namma Anand audio."
This tape brings together some of the big names in South India as well as Hindi films such as Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, and Suresh Peters.
But these names do not, unfortunately, help elevate the essentially insipid music by G. Krishna. Even the surprisingly popular "Devaru varavanu kotre" (sung by Udit Narayan) lacks any musical imagination.
The only song that draws one's attention is "Thirupathi Thirumala Venkatesha". The youngster in the song asks: "You are not the one to study/ You are not the one to work./ Yet, how do you make all the money, Govinda" The folksy, though familiar, tune (based on the song in the Tamil film from which Friends is remade, like many other songs in the film!) and the irreverence of the lyrics are refreshing in an otherwise inane tape.
Top albums of the week:
1. Dil chahta hai
2. Kabhie khushi kabhi gham
3. Na tum jaano na hum
4. Raaz
5. Hum tumhare hain sanam
6. Jagjit singh - Samvedna
7. Alka Yagnik / Hariharan - Tum Aaye
8. Yaaron
9. Jagjit Singh - The real story
10. Jagjit Singh - Khwahish
BAGESHREE S.
Courtesy: Music World
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