Year: 2005
Label: SONY
Genre: Drama,Patriotic
Director: Rakesh Mehra
Music Director: A. R. Rehman
Leading Cast:  Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Waheeda Rehman, Kiran Kher, Om Puri, Anupam Kher, Atul Kulkarni, Kunal Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Madhavan 

Aamir Khan has shed his Mangel Pandey locks and mustache and reverted to his earlier cute lover boy look for his new project Rang De Basanthi. While not his best work, Rehman does not disappoint. Great orchestration along with tunes that evoke a variety of moods makes this a wonderful soundtrack.

The album has a touch of originality from the beginning. It opens with the  Japji Sahab , a Holy prayer of the Sikhs, something never before heard on a Hindi film soundtrack.  Harshdeep Kaur’s rendition of Ik Onkar  is wonderful and conveys a sense of spirituality that touches the soul.
From Gurudwara, Rehman moves to the “Punjab Ke Keth” with a very earthy bhagara-based song rendered by Daler Mehendi. Unfortunately Chitra’s thin nasal voice does not match with Daler’s rasping powerful voice.  While the tune has a good rhythm one expects a more powerful title track from the great Rehman.

The best combination of music and lyrics is the hummable and well written Paathshala, sung quite well by Naresh Iyer and Mohammed Aslam. Prasoon Joshi excels in the fun lyrics that could well be the idiom of the College youth of today, and that’s a high point of the song. Rehman brings a fifties touch to his next track, Tu Bin Bataye.   Madhushree delivers an impressive performance along with Naresh Iyer. The song showcases her beautiful voice and immense talent.

Khalbali  by Rehman, Aslam and Nacim is   a very average melody; nothing great overall.

Khoon Chala   by Mohit Chauhan is a perfect backdrop for a battle scene. Rehman’s use of the snare drum in the middle of the track sets a victory note.  The lyrics are powerful  and one can almost smell blood or feel the cry of a tortured soul. Paathshala, with its funny, clever, urban Hinglish poetry in very cute. 

The queen of melody, Lata Mangeshkar and A.R. Rehman present a duet in Luka Chuppi, a song that talks about a hide and seek game between a mother and her son. While the song is very cute, one feels now it is time for Lataji to retire. The emotions are great but the voice quality is not quite there.

Next comes a very unusual creation Lalkar, which features Aamir Khan and Chorus. Aamir is competent as ever, and this track’s  obviously a very situational song, and should definitely be a  high point of the film. One  awaits the visual treatment it has received at the hands of the accomplished  director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.  Roobaroo is a light number that brings the album to a close. 

Considering this is an Aamir Khan production one expects a lot of attention to details. The music seems to have been created by paying a great deal of attention to music and lyrics to suit the scenes. The album makes for great listening and one suspects that along with the visuals it could potential be a huge hit!

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