Rahman the musical genius has given us several memorable tracks. This year opened with his fabulous Jodha-Akbara and now we have ADA..A Way of life.  This took a long while to release. Apparently it has been on the back burner since 2002. Lyrics for this are provided by Raqueeb Alam (Water) and Nusrat Badr (Devdas).

Rahman’s genius is visible from the get go where in Ishq Ada I (male version)I he creates a melodious number while packing a punch with some instrumental rhythms. The guitar, Arabic percussions, and even the little harmonium interlude makes for a beautiful orchestration where Rashid Ali’s rendition of Raqueeb Alam’s reflections on love stands out in the ocean of a peppy rhythm.

The next piece the duet Hawa Sun Hawa has the great Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik delivering one of their finest duets. Yet another beautiful romantic creation by Nusrat Badr who is at his romantic best dwelling on the theme of undiscovered love.  Tabla, Bansuri, Piano and all other instruments add the right touch bringing an old time feel to the piece while Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik’s chemistry creates a romantic duet that can become a valentine day special. Unfortunately the next number Gum Sum which is also a Sonu-Alka duet pales in comparison to this one though the Santoor does adda touch of class to the presentation.

In Gulfisha Rahman has Sonu Nigam  paired with Sunidhi Chauhan creating some magic.The song has a Italian touch to it with nice lyrics by Nusrat Badr’s .

Meherbaan rendered by Rahman himself is a class number as usual. Rahman’s moving vocals set to Raqueeb Alam’s fine lyrics amidst  is a peaceful number and certainly has an other worldly feel to it. Meherbaan (instrumental) is also brilliant. Although the song maintains the same sound as the vocalized version, the acoustic riffs and improvisations fit the composition beautifully. In addition to the acoustic guitar, we also hear the electric guitar throughout the stanzas, which adds to the sound value immensely. We now go to the very happening Tu Mera Hai.  Rendered by Chitra and supported by Naresh Iyer’s and Sukhwinder Singh makes for a powerful performance.  Lot of nice rhythms .

In contrast Hai Dard  is a quite melody rendered by Udit Narayan. Unfortunately nothing much to write home about. Ishq Ada (Female Version)  with Parul Mishra is brilliant. Rahman lightens up the background with a higher octave play of the rhythmic guitar and adds lighter bass lines. Milo Waha Waha, rendered by Alka Yagnik and Jayachandran, is a soft-spoken semi-orchestral love duet..

Nothing to compare to Jodha-Akbar but Ada.. A way of life does have some nice offerings.

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