Music Review: Bandish Bandits (Hindi)
Composer(s): Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Listen to the songs online here: JioSaavn
Close on the heels of Tansener Tanpura comes yet another classical-indebted soundtrack, this time from composer trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, who bridge pop and Hindustani classical elements for a rich, layered jugalbandi that's both experimental and entertaining. It's a genre of music left criminally unexplored in Bollywood and films, and SEL, who have Mirzya and Katyar Kaljat Ghusali to their credit in recent years, seem to be best equipped to handle the demands of moulding music that marries the traditional with the contemporary. After all, what could be better than an amalgamation of Indian classical music and electro-pop?
It's doubtless ambitious and the effort shows, although the fusion doesn't always land. Mastiyaapa, Chedkhaniyaan, and Couple Goals are perfectly cromulent upbeat pieces, but it's the opener Sajan Bin that emerges one of the album's early highlights. An ebullient tune along the lines of Uff Teri Adaa, it's an electrifying classical-meets-club medley, complete with guitar riffs and propulsive techno beats that's well rendered by Jonita Gandhi and Shivam Mahadevan.
Bandish Bandits comes to its own once it veers towards the classical. Labb Par Aaye sets the tone with a qawwali-like soundbed that finds its match in Javed Ali, whose excellent singing is shadowed closely by an assortment of harmonium and tabla. The traditional Rajasthani folk song Padharo Maare Des (Kesariya Balam) is a showcase of Shankar Mahadevan's vocal prowess, as are Virah and Dhara Hogi — the former fashioned as a haunting exploration set to melancholic textures, and the latter working well as a vibrant folksy stunner that embellishes his voice against a profusion of strings and percussion.
Garaj Garaj's rain motif comes through shining in Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty's incredibly nuanced rendition of the classical composition, but it's the jugalbandi version of the song that's easily the album's pièce de résistance. Featuring a dexterous interplay between singers Farid Hasan and Mohammed Aman, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy blend their vocals in a fine musical concoction that's at once exquisite and sublime. After Panga, the composers return with a brilliantly orchestrated fare in Bandish Bandits.
Listen to the songs online here: JioSaavn
Close on the heels of Tansener Tanpura comes yet another classical-indebted soundtrack, this time from composer trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, who bridge pop and Hindustani classical elements for a rich, layered jugalbandi that's both experimental and entertaining. It's a genre of music left criminally unexplored in Bollywood and films, and SEL, who have Mirzya and Katyar Kaljat Ghusali to their credit in recent years, seem to be best equipped to handle the demands of moulding music that marries the traditional with the contemporary. After all, what could be better than an amalgamation of Indian classical music and electro-pop?
It's doubtless ambitious and the effort shows, although the fusion doesn't always land. Mastiyaapa, Chedkhaniyaan, and Couple Goals are perfectly cromulent upbeat pieces, but it's the opener Sajan Bin that emerges one of the album's early highlights. An ebullient tune along the lines of Uff Teri Adaa, it's an electrifying classical-meets-club medley, complete with guitar riffs and propulsive techno beats that's well rendered by Jonita Gandhi and Shivam Mahadevan.
Bandish Bandits comes to its own once it veers towards the classical. Labb Par Aaye sets the tone with a qawwali-like soundbed that finds its match in Javed Ali, whose excellent singing is shadowed closely by an assortment of harmonium and tabla. The traditional Rajasthani folk song Padharo Maare Des (Kesariya Balam) is a showcase of Shankar Mahadevan's vocal prowess, as are Virah and Dhara Hogi — the former fashioned as a haunting exploration set to melancholic textures, and the latter working well as a vibrant folksy stunner that embellishes his voice against a profusion of strings and percussion.
Garaj Garaj's rain motif comes through shining in Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty's incredibly nuanced rendition of the classical composition, but it's the jugalbandi version of the song that's easily the album's pièce de résistance. Featuring a dexterous interplay between singers Farid Hasan and Mohammed Aman, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy blend their vocals in a fine musical concoction that's at once exquisite and sublime. After Panga, the composers return with a brilliantly orchestrated fare in Bandish Bandits.
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