Sukanya Verma
Dark, haunting, mystical.
The music of Aks - The Reflection, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Raveena Tandon, Manoj Bajpai and Nandita Das is a high.
Inspired by John Woo's Face Off (John Travolta, Nicholas Cage) and Fallen (Denzel Washington), a sombre note hovers prominently throughout the album.
The credit goes to Anu Malik and Gulzar's stark poetry that seamlessly blends with Anu's tunes. Ranjeet Barot's cool acoustics and instrumentation are another plus point in this album.
Yeh raat is a sensual, aggressive number sung by the husky-voiced Anupama. This one is poised to go down well with the listeners.
Bhala boora is an eerie rap number laced with black humour. Rendered by the voice: Amitabh Bachchan. Some of its strains are reminiscent from the theme music of Being John Malkovich. Indrajit Sharma has composed this number.
Shubha Mudgal leaves you spell bound with the enchanting Raat aati hai.
Rabba rabba is a fusion of folksy and Arabic tunes with electronic instrumentation by Sukhwindara Singh and actress-turned-singer Vasundhara Das (Hey! Ram).
Hariharan's Hum bhool gaye falls in the category of some of his earlier heartbreak songs -- Tu hi re (Bombay), Nahin paas main (Taal). Nice touch of violins in this composition. There's another version of this song by Chitra.
K K and Vasundhara Das in Aaj gufaon mein are superb. It's a bewitching, seductive track.
Ramleela is the outcome of an imaginative modern day jugalbandi between Amitabh Bachchan, Nandita Das and Kavita Mundra. And in this version, Ravana (Amitabh as Ravana) wins hands down.
Banda bindaas is a Jamaican-style track with a difference -- it sounds remarkably like the tune of the Bacardi commercial on air than a songtrack.
All in all, Aks is a captivating album with funky, experimental, new age music. Go for it.
