Music Review: 'Kahaani' focuses on nostalgia

New Delhi: The association of music directors Vishal-Shekhar with the director Sujoy Ghosh is not new. They are complementing each other's work since 2003 when Sujoy turned storyteller for the first time in 'Jhankar Beats'. The collaboration continued in 'Aladin' and 'Home Delivery' but no song made any impact on the audiences. 'Jhankar Beats' was received well but a major part of the album's success went to RD Burman's style of music.

The team has again come up with a new album 'Kahaani'. The film has six songs with the title song 'Kahaan' featuring twice. KK and Vishal Dadlani have sung the male version while Shreya Ghosal has given voice to the female version.

Simple lyrics and soothing voice of Shreya Ghosal form the backbone of the title song. Vishal Dadlani has used the guitar as the base and that is where the trick lies. It seems that the motive of this song is to provide the nostalgic feel. Dadlani's 'aalap' superimposes Shreya's voice and he has also not tried to explore Ghosal's range. She is good at such slow tracks but this one is nowhere close to 'Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai'.

An entirely female-centric film, Kahaani shows a pregnant Vidya Balan in search of her husband in Kolkata.
The search for her husband takes Vidya from London to Kolkata.
The trailer of Kahaani was released on January 5, 2012.
Seven months pregnant and alone in a festive city, she begins a relentless search for her husband.
With nothing to rely on except fragments of her memory of him the search seems in vain.
Everyone tries to convince Vidya that her husband does not exist.
She realises that nothing is as it seems in the city.
Trapped in a mesh of lies, she is determined to unravel the mystery for the sake of her unborn child.
Kahaani will hit the screens on March 9, 2012.
The film is directed by Sujoy Ghosh.
This is Vidya's next in a long list of women-oriented films.
Fresh after the success of her hugely successful Dirty Picture, Vidya is riding a wave of acclaim for her portrayal of Silk Smitha.
Actor Parambrata plays the role of a police officer in the film.
The story of Kahaani has been written by Advaita Kala and Sujoy Ghosh.
Dhaval Jayantilal Gada and Sameer Suresh Nair are the co-producers of the film.
A distraught Vidya plays the role of Vidya Bagchi.
The city's landscape is caught in fine spendour as it prepares for the Durga Puja festival.
The film stars Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Vishal and Shekhar have composed the music for the film.
Vidya's favourite designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee has draped her again in the film.
No One Killed Jessica, Dirty Picture and Paa all had Vidya playing strong roles.
Vidya is seen heavily pregnant in this film.
Vidya made her movie debut with the Bengali film Bhalo Theko in 2003.
She made her Hindi film debut with Parineeta in 2005.
Her first commercial success with Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munna Bhai.
Vidya also appeared in Guru, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa.
In the film 'Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love' Vidya was praised for her portrayal of Tehzeeb Raina, a woman who loses her memory.
The city's lanes and bylanes come alive in the film.
Her film 'Eklavya: The Royal Guard' was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars for the 80th Academy Awards.
In 2009, Balan played the role of Vidya, a young independent gynecologist who is also a single-mother struggling with her 12-year-old son's Progeria syndrome, in Paa.
Known for taking up challenging roles, she played a woman suffering from Multiple Sclerosis in Mani Ratnam's Guru.
She won a Filmfare Award for Best Actress and a Star Screen Award for Best Actress for Paa.
The Durga idol is seen in this still.
The film is a suspense thriller and is sure to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
Vidya was recently honoured with a retrospective of her work by Australia's Indian film festival, Bollywood & Beyond.
Her makeup in the film accentuates the Bengali look.

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$Music Review: \'Kahaani\' focuses on nostalgia$

\'Kahaani\' may not be a collector\'s item but it features right voices as per the overall mood of the album.

The male version is certainly better with Dadlani giving the additional vocal. KK is one singer whose strength lies in taking the air out at high pitch and still taking the voice to a higher pitch, and Vishal-Shekhar have focussed on it. Your lips may like humming it in the moments of solitude.

'Aami Shotti Bolchi' not only has interesting lyrics but also conveys the feel of Kolkata. The song is successful even if it expresses about only 20 percent of the local feel of Kolkata. Wordings such as 'Kolkata armaano ka achar hai' and 'Strong hai powerful hai fir bhi lachar hai' actually communicate the mood of the city. The impression of RD's style is quite evident on the song. Good lyrics and apt music give a retro feel. Nobody could have been better than Usha Uthup to sing this song. It's the highlight of the album, aami shotti bolchi.

Can anything be better for an album than Amitabh Bachchan singing for it? His 'Ekla chalo re' brings star value to the album. His quite apparent and intentional regional accent wins the heart. The song continues the string of melodies. Big B has sung a really good song which suits his style and poetic sensibilities.

Next in the list is 'Tore Bina' by Sukhwinder Singh. Normally, we expect 'Chak de' kind of song from Sukhwinder but this time he has switched to a song with classical touch. This also follows the basic mood of the film, nothing exceptional about it.

Javed Bashir's 'Piya tu kahe rootha re' is the last song of the film. Again a raga based song. The fusion is noticeable but somehow it doesn't evoke the emotions 'Shotti bolchi' generates. Javed's husky voice compliments the music but it seems like an overdose of heavy strings.

'Kahaani' may not be a collector's item but it features right voices as per the overall mood of the album. 'Shotti bolchi' and 'Ekla chalo re' have the potential to fetch your attention.