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 Music Director Monty Sharma returns with his second soundtrack, “Chamku” and a chance to move out from under the shadow of uber director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Saawariya”. The promising newcomer, who happens to be the nephew of famed composer Pyarelal (of the classic duo Laximikant-Pyarelel), is all set to explode on the Bollywood scene. After the blockbuster music of “Saawariya”, critics were looking forward to his next release as being a true litmus test of his talent. Will he leave an impact on the audience? Or will he fade away, like another of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s music directors, Ismail Darbar, who made a stellar impact with “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” and “Devdas”, but was then unable to sustain that level of creativity and popularity? Only time will tell, but if “Chamku” is any indication of Monty Sharma’s talent, then it seems like he will have a long and successful career ahead of him.
“Chamku” on the surface, seems like a movie that wouldn’t give much scope for a proper musical soundtrack as it deals with Naxalites, political assassination, and a smidgen of romance thrown in to get wider mass appeal. The movie is produced by Dharmendra’s production house Vijayta Films and the actor himself has gone on record to say that they wanted the kind of emotional soul stirring music that only Monty could provide among the current crop of music directors. The film is written and directed by Kaveer Kauship and features Bobby Deol (in what could be a career defining performance) as well as Priyanka Chopra (who hopes to recover from the debacle of “Love Story 2050”) For a movie that deals with the darker side of humanity, music for most Bollywood films would be comprised of an item number (that could be included in promos), and a bunch of throwaway tracks. I’m happy to say that Monty avoids all that with “Chamku” and instead provides a soul stirring set of tracks that have a bit of a dark foreboding feel to them. The music is a perfect complement to the dark themes of the film, and is a showcase of how a talented music director and background scorer like Sharma is able to deftly create music that is seemingly timeless. The result is one of the freshest and most unique soundtracks of 2008. Sharma’s greatest influence is his grandfather Pandit Ram Prasad Sharma, and it shows with this soundtrack, as Western sounds are gently overlaid over a strong classical Indian foundation to create a pleasing fusion sound. Nowhere is this more evident than in the first track, “Aaja Milke” which is hands down one of the most romantic tracks of 2008. The fragile vocals of Shreya Ghoshal complement the vocals of Shail Hada in conveying the sensitive love that is blossoming between the two lead characters. Melody is the prime moving force within this song and that melody is backed by soft dhol influenced percussion and use of saxophone in all the right places. Lyricist Sameer, provides the very well written lyrics. A perfect fusion of eastern melody and western melody, this is one that you’ll be hitting repeat on over and over again. It’s Chamkutastic! Next up, we have the hypnotic, “Kithe Jawan” with the welcome sound of singer Richa Sharma who really elevates the track to another level with her vocals. Starting out with some violin and a slow lounge percussive beat, this one is in a style that the Delhi group Midival Punditz is most well known for. It’s perfect for that time between dusk and twilight, and is very atmospheric. I especially like the use of electric guitar and arrangement of the instrumentation/synths. Sameer scores again with lyrics that have a haunting effect on the listener. The music has an almost fragile quality to it. Another excellent and moody track…. it’s Chamkerrific! Track three, “Gola Gola” could be considered the item number of the film and if you close your eyes, you could almost picture this song in “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”. Maybe it’s the use of the word dola and the beat, but I think that this track is a tad bit less creative than the others. The dhol beat, combines with electric guitar to give a nice rustic feel to the song. Singers Abhijeet Bhattacharya (who returns after too long a hiatus to the Bollywood scene) and Vaishali Samant have a nice echo effect to their voices and the instrumentation combines with their vocals to give a very organic feel to musical ambience. It’s very enjoyable and would be perfectly at home on any Sanjay Leela Bhansali soundtrack. It’s Chumkulicious!
Whew…from the sweat inducing “Trance” we move on to another trance/lounge track that’s similar in style to the second track, “Kithe Jawan”. A tablatronic track is given almost equal volume to the vocals by Richa Sharma. Once again Sameer, provides some sensitive and thoughtful lyrics. A very straightforward track that will probably be relegated to the background in the film itself, its sort of Chamkamazing! The sixth and final track, “Dukh Ke Badri” has an almost A.R. Rahmanesque feel to it. Starting off with a foreboding flute, and then a looped tablatronic beat. What really stands out are the excellent vocals by Kalpana (Parthiv Goel and Shail Hada are in there somewhere too). It has that Punjabi-Techno influence that we hear in most of the tracks on the album. A very situational song, that I am sure will meld beautifully with the visuals of the film. Dark and foreboding, it’s perfect for some brooding thoughts, Chamkunizingly painful and beautiful music to stir your heart. Monty Sharma has composed music for “Chamku”that is most definitely Indian classical raga based without giving into the overt Westernization that characterizes most Hindi music today. Like A.R. Rahman, he realizes that the best melodies are ones that are grounded in the reality of classical music. Sharma builds upon the foundation and adds western beats and instrumentation in a way that doesn’t dilute the Indian sound. I give him much credit for that. The soundtrack to “Chamku” is something different than the standard Vishal & Shekhar and Pritam brand of music that is ruling the charts. What kind of chance does “Chamku” have musically to be a breakout hit? Sadly, it seems like most listeners would prefer the latest flavor of the month, rather than listen to music that makes you truly feel and explore the depths of our emotions. I applaud Monty Sharma for not taking the easy way out, and anxiously look forward to his next release. Do yourself a favor, and add all of the album’s tracks to your playlist, you won’t regret it.
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We move on to a track simply titled, “Trance”. This is a complete winner, and hopefully some smart DJs will begin adding this to their playlist in clubs all over India. A hard driving techno-trance drum machine beat is programmed very well. Singers Saleem Shahzada, Soumya Roah and Anaida (who provides the middle eastern Arabic vocals), give it their all. Pump up the volume way up and blast the windows with this one. Dance Chamku…Dance!