Music Album: Agent Vinod (T-Series)
Music Critic: Subho Das
Music: Pritam Chakraborty
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya & Neelesh Misra
Director: Sriram Raghavan / Producer: Saif Ali Khan (Illuminati Films)
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor
Saif Ali Khan’s Agent Vinod, the much publicized Bollywood whodunit written and directed by Sriram Raghavan, has been making news much before its release – for it music! This suspense-action film is about the adventures of an Indian agent before he gets killed in Russia. But the hoo-ha is around the inclusion of the all-time favorite Boney-M number “Rasputin” – which gets a new vehicle in this officially approved Bollywood adaptation – thanks to music director Pritam.
This is not the first time that “Rasputin” has inspired Indian film music. A long time ago, Jatin-Lalit used the tune for the song, “Sachchi Yeh Kahaani Hai” in Kundan Shah’s Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1993) sung in a nightclub and picturized on none other than Shah Rukh Khan. Fast forward 20 years, and Amit Kumar, Udit Narayan, Vijeta Pandit of that song are replaced by Neeraj Shreedhar, Aditi Singh Sharma, Shefali Alvares, and Barbie Amod for “I Will Do the Talking Tonight” in the Moscow nightclub sequence of Agent Vinod.
However, Pritam told the Press that his song is based on the Serbian folk song “Ruse Kose Curo Imas,” which originally inspired Boney-M’s “Rasputin.” He also cites a Turkish song “Uskudar’a Gider Iken” and a Bengali Nazrul Geet “Shukno Patar Nupur Paaye” that have shades of the same folk melody.
It is striking that there are as many as four versions of the same song – “Raabta” in this album. Here I am not talking about remixes and reprises but versions of the same songs sung by different singers. I have no idea which ones will get finally picked for the film, but it’s good for the singers of today that they at least get featured on the music CDs. Similarly, you have two great singers crooning the other good composition of the album – “Dil Mera Muft Ka.” Is it Pritam’s back-up tactics or a necessity for the film? I think it’s T-Series that wants to give you more music for your money!
There is crop of at least four fresh or relatively new singers that may need introduction here:
First, Nandini Srikar, who has done hundreds of ad jingles and recently sang for Ra.One (2011), and before that in Holiday and Chalte Chalte. Besides being a prolific and trained Indian and Western classical singer, guitarist and composer, Nandini is a Post Graduate in Math and holds a degree in Information and Systems Management. Hear her out in the superb “Dil Mera Muft Ka!”
Second, Hamsika, another trained Carnatic singer, who many of you may have seen in two of the most popular music reality shows of the 1990s from Zee TV – Close Up Antakshari anchored by Annu Kapoor and Sa Re Ga Ma hosted by Sonu Nigam. Her real break came with Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Eklavya (2007) in which she sang the popular song “Chanda Re.” Her most recent chart-topper is “Chhammak Chhallo” with Akon for Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One. She features in two versions of the best romantic number of the film – “Raabta”
Third, Joi Barua, an Assamese musician and lead vocalist of the band “Joi,” who has previously sang for Udaan and Dev D. He is one of the male voices of “Raabta” in Agent Vinod.
However, the real find of this album is the young Arijit Singh from Murshidabad, West Bengal – a top favorite singer of the Sony Entertainment Television’s music reality program Fame Gurukul (2005). His vocals in “Raabta” will tell you that he is a trained classical singer and a very gifted one. Arijit is one singer to watch out for in Pritam’s music in Agent Vinod.
How does the various tracks in this album sound? Let’s listen:
Music Critic: Subho Das
Music: Pritam Chakraborty
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya & Neelesh Misra
Director: Sriram Raghavan / Producer: Saif Ali Khan (Illuminati Films)
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor
Saif Ali Khan’s Agent Vinod, the much publicized Bollywood whodunit written and directed by Sriram Raghavan, has been making news much before its release – for it music! This suspense-action film is about the adventures of an Indian agent before he gets killed in Russia. But the hoo-ha is around the inclusion of the all-time favorite Boney-M number “Rasputin” – which gets a new vehicle in this officially approved Bollywood adaptation – thanks to music director Pritam.
This is not the first time that “Rasputin” has inspired Indian film music. A long time ago, Jatin-Lalit used the tune for the song, “Sachchi Yeh Kahaani Hai” in Kundan Shah’s Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1993) sung in a nightclub and picturized on none other than Shah Rukh Khan. Fast forward 20 years, and Amit Kumar, Udit Narayan, Vijeta Pandit of that song are replaced by Neeraj Shreedhar, Aditi Singh Sharma, Shefali Alvares, and Barbie Amod for “I Will Do the Talking Tonight” in the Moscow nightclub sequence of Agent Vinod.
However, Pritam told the Press that his song is based on the Serbian folk song “Ruse Kose Curo Imas,” which originally inspired Boney-M’s “Rasputin.” He also cites a Turkish song “Uskudar’a Gider Iken” and a Bengali Nazrul Geet “Shukno Patar Nupur Paaye” that have shades of the same folk melody.
It is striking that there are as many as four versions of the same song – “Raabta” in this album. Here I am not talking about remixes and reprises but versions of the same songs sung by different singers. I have no idea which ones will get finally picked for the film, but it’s good for the singers of today that they at least get featured on the music CDs. Similarly, you have two great singers crooning the other good composition of the album – “Dil Mera Muft Ka.” Is it Pritam’s back-up tactics or a necessity for the film? I think it’s T-Series that wants to give you more music for your money!
There is crop of at least four fresh or relatively new singers that may need introduction here:
First, Nandini Srikar, who has done hundreds of ad jingles and recently sang for Ra.One (2011), and before that in Holiday and Chalte Chalte. Besides being a prolific and trained Indian and Western classical singer, guitarist and composer, Nandini is a Post Graduate in Math and holds a degree in Information and Systems Management. Hear her out in the superb “Dil Mera Muft Ka!”
Second, Hamsika, another trained Carnatic singer, who many of you may have seen in two of the most popular music reality shows of the 1990s from Zee TV – Close Up Antakshari anchored by Annu Kapoor and Sa Re Ga Ma hosted by Sonu Nigam. Her real break came with Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Eklavya (2007) in which she sang the popular song “Chanda Re.” Her most recent chart-topper is “Chhammak Chhallo” with Akon for Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One. She features in two versions of the best romantic number of the film – “Raabta”
Third, Joi Barua, an Assamese musician and lead vocalist of the band “Joi,” who has previously sang for Udaan and Dev D. He is one of the male voices of “Raabta” in Agent Vinod.
However, the real find of this album is the young Arijit Singh from Murshidabad, West Bengal – a top favorite singer of the Sony Entertainment Television’s music reality program Fame Gurukul (2005). His vocals in “Raabta” will tell you that he is a trained classical singer and a very gifted one. Arijit is one singer to watch out for in Pritam’s music in Agent Vinod.
How does the various tracks in this album sound? Let’s listen:
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