Year end reviews are never a piece of cake especially when we have a year as great as 2006 to sum up. The Bollywood Film Industry has not seen such a successful year in quiet a long time and maybe this is a sign of the good times ahead. The quality of movies and music this year have been tremendous and to pick out a favourite amongst a list of favourites is simply impossible but we here at BollySpice dared to take on such a task. Join us as we countdown ten of the most ear pleasing soundtracks of 2006.
1. Bas Ek Pal
Bollywood music was suffering from a lack of originality and uniqueness but the music of Bas Ek Pal has completed that very need. It is definitely not your predictable Hindi movie album and that is the very reason why it works. What you will discover in this album are very modern and distinctive rhythms, soulful voices and emotional lyrics that tell a story through the songs. Vivek Phillip, Pritam, Mithoon and Amitabh Verma gave us a refreshing album and introduced a new form of progressive Indian music.
2. Woh Lamhe
This album was a consecutive success for the Bhatts’ and Pritam after Gangster. Pritam weaved together music and melodies of various flavours and recreated them beautifully; it would have added to their success if the original composers were credited. In the recent years, Bollywood music has somewhat drifted from the tuneful and touching pieces and have been overcomed by various remixes, meaningless lyrics and unoriginality but we are pleasantly surprised by albums such as Woh Lamhe as it seems that the true meaning of music is re-emerging.
3. Fanaa
Old is gold! This phrase hold true for the composer duo of Jatin-Lalit. At a time when new composers are doing the rounds in the music scene, these veterans do not fail to provide a truly melodious soundtrack and outshine the rest. The album lived up to all the hype that surrounds a Yash Chopra release and Prasoon Joshi’s sweet lyrics produced a beautiful end-product. It is a pity that this is the last work of the composer duo but it is rightly said that they have saved the best for the last.
4. Rang De Basanti
A.R. Rahman; associate anything with that name and expectations are above the roof. So it is not surprising then that high expecations surrounded the album of Rang De Basanti. The music of Rang De Basanti was experimental thus very distinctive and this is very much a Rahman style. It has often been said that Rahman’s music takes time to grow on listeners and this holds true for this album. The album was a genuine and quality product and will appeal to many music lover.
5. Gangster
Gangster was a sure fine winner of 2006 providing some of the chartbusting songs such as ‘Bheegi Bheegi’ and ‘Ya Ali’. It received tremendous response from the majority of listeners because of its unique charm, flavourful tunes and introduction of fresh new singers. One would have appreciated the album to a greater level if the original artist of few of the songs were given their due credit.
6. Dhoom 2
After giving us a hit soundtrack for its prequel Dhoom, Pritam lets us down in providing the same quality in its sequel, Dhoom2. Being one of the year’s most awaited releases, the album lacked the characteristics of a high quality soundtrack. On one hand Dhoom2 worked because of its musical arrangements and on the other hand it did not work due its poor lyrics. Pritam undoubtly had a great year but this was his weakest soundtrack to date. However, the poor quality had no effect on its sales because success was inevitable and thus it makes our list.
7. Omkara
In the album of Omkara, composer Vishal Bharadwaj introduced Bollywood music at its newest and most distinguishing form. The rustic classical score was anything but filmi which is why the album did not appeal to the masses. At a time when catchy tunes, dance numbers and remixes were doing the rounds, Omkara chose the classical route giving more importance to lyrics and musical instruments. Gulzar Saab was in excellent form providing some distinct lyrics that complemented the rural setting of the movie. Omkara was different, it was original and it was not liked by all, nevertheless the album shined in its own style and genre.
8. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
The music of KANK was definitely a winner amongst Bollywood music lovers due to it’s creative approach in mixing together various musical flavours be it romantic, bangra, hiphop or classical. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy does not disappoint their fans as they provide a fairy good quality album filled with original and consistent compositions.
9. Jaan-e-Man
Being one of Anu Malik’s anticipated albums, this album had high expectations especially after the trailer of ‘Humko Malum Hain’ started airing on TV. Did he succeed? Well, ofcourse he did. Anu Malik provides a winning score weaving together some soulful tunes and beautifully crafted lyrics by Gulzar Saab.
10. Don – The Chase Begins
Rounding up our top ten list, we have the chartbusting score of Don – The Chase Begins. The team of Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy had a lot of pressure riding on their shoulders as they were re-mastering one of Bollywood’s most successful albums. Knowing the trio by their previous masterpieces, we surely were not disappointed. The album of Don takes full advantage of modern technology and creatively re-creates some old tunes as well as some new ones. Surely, nothing beats the originals but these were not bad either.
Our top ten lists surely does not mean that every other album produced this year are not worthy of a listen because music is one of those medium that attracts various different people in various different ways. Rajest Roshan entertained us this year with melodious ‘Pyar Ki Kahani’ from Krissh, Pritam gave us the sentimental ‘Ek Pal Ke Liya from Ankahee, Anu Malik filled the classical gap with ‘Salaam’ from Umrao Jaan and we are not complete without mentioning Himesh Reshammiya’s numerous successes this year from ‘Jhalak Dikhlaja’ to ‘Humko Deewana Kar Gaye’. There you have it ladies and gentlemen, the musical round-up of 2006.
