Contributed by Mohammad Ali Ikram
ali@indolink.com

The superhit team who gave us 1995's unforgettable music for Rangeela is back with a bang. A.R. Rahman, Mehboob, Ramgopal Varma, Urmila Matondkar have collaborated once again to give us another knock-out score and hopefully another knock-out film. This music is cool and racy, complimenting the film's title; that is pronounced 'Daur', meaning 'Run' or 'Generation'. (No, the film is not a remake of 'Speed' the director reassures us.)

There is however one small thing lacking with Daud's music when compared with Rangeela. While Rangeela has music that sounds great regardless of the type of equipment you play the music on, Daud can only be appreciated using a good audio system. I tried listening to the tape on my dad's, mono, side table, radio, and it sounded real cheezy. But on my stereo, WOWZA! If you thought that Rangeela had erotically charged music, you're in for a massive surprise.

The album starts off with the title track Daud, sung by Remo Fernandes. There are two versions of this song in the album, the other Bhangra version sung by eighties disco queen Usha Uthup. (The lyrics are also different for the other version.) Frankly Remo's version didn't really overwhelm me; hopefully it wil have a great video. Usha's version on the other hand starts with gibberish in the form of lyrics, but quickly you want to get up and dance.

Zahreela Zahreela Pyar sung by Asha Bhosle and Deena Chandradass is mindblowing. Asha proves that her voice can transcend all types of geets with her hush-toned, whisper-like singing. What a legend! From what I hear the song also has an unforgettable video with sexy Urmila seducing apna Sanju baba in the film.

Shabba Shabba appears to be a jungle cum drunkedness song, sung by Sonu Nigam (this guy is really going places) and three newcomers, one of whom sounds like Shweta Shetty. Great usage of wind instruments, percussive beats and an amazing tempo.

Bhavre is the one song in the album that relies heavily on the lyrics, and Mehboob delivers them with expertise. Yesudas and Asha Bhosle sing the amazing romantic ballad where our lovers declare their love to the birds in flight.

Ye Jan starts off with an ingenious interlude of opera music. Hats off to A.R. Rahman for incorporating different styles of music in his scores. The bass instruments -I believe the tuba or french horn- outperform Kavita Krishnamurthy and Vinod Rathod's singing in this semi-sequel to Rangeela's Haye Rama.

Oh! Sai Yaiye is another success for Mr. Rahman, with S.P. Balasubrahmanyam competing with Asha Bhosle for our appreciation. Relax you two; both of you pass with flying colours.

The fun final track called The Thump of Daud, is essentialy an instrumental piece with A.R. Rahman and chorus providing a few small vocals. Each time they sing the word Daud, it sounds like Arabic. Is Urmila going to dance to this theme music also. If she does, it will be really interesting because the music is very different from The Spirit of Rangeela.

Actually the entire album is quite different from Rangeela. If someone says that A.R. Rahman is repeating himself after listening to this album, he/she is lying. Rahman is a genius, and that assertion in my books, is undebatable! And the composer is also very kind to new singers. There are plenty of newcomers in this album. (As a show of his appreciation Rahman has even had the names of the background vocalists credited on the jacket sleeve.)

THE VERDICT: Daud to your nearest store and pick up this tape (or preferably CD). And while you're at it, you could buy a decent stereo also.

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