Bol na halke halke...

"aaga moththam sangeetham unakku saapadu maadhiriya?

illa, sangeetham enakku swaasam maadhiri"

This is one of my favorite dialogues from Sindhu bhairavi. It totally struck a chord with me. I am obsessed with music. You cannot tell this by looking at my (non-existent) CD collection, or my humble 2gb walkman/SonyPod. Music is in my heart, my head and truly in my swaasam. Its presence is so powerful, its almost like a friend or a family member. Ofcourse, I have the same frustrations as with a real person - sometimes we are simply not in synch. And then, there are times when I truly fall in love.

And I did last week. Reading my cousin's not-so-glowing review of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, i had to watch it. Hey, seeing the final product, the producers should have really called it Doom Barabar Doom (in Su's words), marketed the whole thing as a very clever spoof, and they could have started their own scary movie style franchise! Anyway, after constantly ff-ing the movie (in both ways), i finally got to the Bol na halke song. OH MY GOD! It is truly one of the most brilliant numbers I have heard in a very long time.

The beginning of the song is slow, just a few tentative tabla beats, and then, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's golden voice goes "Dhaage thod laaon..." and you are transported. To the narrow streets of old Delhi in the 18th century. To the Taj Mahal. You can almost feel the swish of gossamer veils, inhale the fragrance of gulabs, and taste the pedas from Agra! The song just keeps getting better. Mahalakshmi's performance is a true revelation - Soulful, romantic, and simply brilliant. She pours emotion into every syllable - not just the brilliant lyrics by Gulzar, but even when she sings plain old swaras.

All kinds of instruments are used. There is a wonderful 10 second electronic guitar piece (immediately after the first time she sings Bol na halke halke). It is simultaneously modern, and wonderfully classical as well, and woefully short. I liked the picturization too, all fantasy, slow motion shots, and Abhishek is kinda cute!

So really, this movie has not been all doom. For the past five days, this wonderful 5 minute slice of heaven has truly made my heart Jhoom.