Khwahish   Producer: Vivek Nayak Director: Govind Menon Starring: Himanshu Mallik, Malika, Shivaji Satam, Mahmud Babaai, Shahbaaz Khan Music: Milind Sagar Lyrics: Faaiz Anwar Singers: Asha Bhosle, Udit Narayan & K.K. Audio On: Crescendo    Number of Songs: 6 Reviewed by: Mandeep Bahra  - Rating: 8.0 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review Movie Review

"All songs by Asha Bhosle", boasts the CD jacket of Khwahish! In recent years Asha Bhosle has been singing a song here, a couple of songs there, but hasn’t really had an entire soundtrack to herself; The last one I remember was Zulmi. The relatively new music composer,

Milind Sagar, has come up with some varied numbers with which to showcase Asha’s talent and the result is certainly worth listening to.

Asha and Udit Narayan have a lot of fun singing the first song, "Hum Dono Hain Khoye". The chorus start the song by chanting enthusiastically, "Dhol bajaiyo, bhang chadaiyo, dhoom machaiyo re…" which should give you an idea of what the song is about. There is definitely an R.D.Burman influence as the song is similar to "Jai Jai Shiv Shankar" from Aap Ki Kasam. This enjoyable track is worth repeating, especially for the expressive singing from Asha and Udit.

"Sapnon Mein" expresses the heroine’s preference for living in her dreams with her loved one over reality. This ‘dreamy’ track is sung well by Asha Bhosle and Milind Sagar’s whimsical arrangements compliment the elegant tune.

Panpipes and a guitar introduce the next track, "Gungunati Hai". The choral arrangements are a little capricious but, once again, Asha Bhosle and Udit Narayan lift this ‘conversational’ song above average. The violins are used very effectively, almost becoming a third vocalist.

A "grateful acknowledgement" is given to Pt. Ramesh Jule on the cover for ‘Raag Malkauns’(?) in the track, "Rang Raliyan". This is a purely classical tune which Asha manages perfectly with her decades of training. Her singing in this track makes you realise that there is so much more depth to her voice than is apparent from all the recent ‘item’ numbers she’s been singing. What is odd about this track is the lyrics,

"Rang raliyan karath souten ke sang…". Huh? Is this supposed to be some kind of spoof song? I hope so because the lyrics made me laugh.

The love song, "Jaaneman" is an exquisite creation that will compel you to hit the ‘repeat’ button more than once. Asha teams up with K.K. this time and the result is magic. Beginning with a light guitar and moving on to a soft rhythm and violins, the music compliments the two singers’ voices, especially the backing saxophone. The song has an international sound to it rather than the conventional Bollywood sound. If Milind Sagar can compose songs of this calibre more frequently, he’ll certainly have a prosperous future.

The Latin rhythms of the final track give the soundtrack it’s obligatory dance number. Asha has so much experience singing these types of numbers that her rendition seems effortless. If you like to salsa and enjoy Latin music, you’ll enjoy this song which even has a Spanish title, "Baila Baila"!

This soundtrack is yet another example of a low key film having good music. Lets hope the masses take notice of this one and give it some much deserved attention!