Music Review: Bajirao Mastani (Hindi)

Composer(s): Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Listen to the songs online here: Saavn

Incorporating a captivating string-based arrangement (comprising of mandolin and oud), Deewani Mastani seamlessly flits between Marathi folk, sufi and qawwali styles of music, and Shreya Ghoshal for her part stuns with an ethereal rendition of sorts. She is equally flawless in the fantastic traditional Hindustani piece Mohe Rang Do Laal, where she is joined by Pt. Birju Maharaj (for the Kathak bits), and the engaging Marathi folk number Pinga (let's keep aside the historical accuracy) alongside Vaishali Made, who gets to showcase her singing prowess in the similarly arranged part folk-part Hindustani Fitoori.

Arijit Singh's top-notch vocals come to the fore in the gorgeously tuned ghazal/qawwali Aayat, while Ganesh aarti Gajanana (Sukhwinder Singh) and the contemporary folk piece Malhari (Vishal Dadlani) are energetic and foot-tapping, masking any ennui associated with the percussion-heavy tunes in the process. Ab Tohe Jane Na Doongi's ghatam, kanjira and shehnai-laden melody is as beautiful as it can get, with singers Payal Dev and Shreyas Puranik lending pitch-perfect support to the beautiful track.

Yet another highlight is the traditional composition Albela Sajan. The orchestration is noticeably grander, featuring a lovely assortment of conchs, jhanjh/manjira, mridangam, ransingha, shehnai, sitar and veena, and is aptly complemented by an exuberant chorus. The sitar is a continued presence in Aaj Ibaadat too, a perfect, soulful mix of sufi and bhajan (especially that blissful outro), and dexterously handled by Javed Bashir on the mic. With Bajirao Mastani, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali gets everything right. It's opulent, classical, contemporary and if I may add, the best Bollywood soundtrack to hit this year.

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