MUSIC REVIEW: Aamir's Ghajini

AR Rahman has a knack of hitting just the notes you want to hear, and the tendency to make music that is slightly ahead of its time. The genius' work was last heard on the soundtrack of Subhash Ghai's ambitious Yuvvraaj, which had a couple of memorable songs.

There are six tracks on the music CD of Aamir Khan's Ghajini, and one can't help but notice that many Bollywood soundtracks nowadays have only half a dozen songs or less.

The opener Guzarish is very good modern Bollywood music, very AR Rahman. Javed Ali has sung this (very well!) and Sonu Niigaam is the 'guest vocalist'. Operatic vocals by Kavita Baliga and mandolins add the required weight to Guzarish. Little wonder then, that this tiny gem from Ghajini is getting heavy rotation on all music channels.

Rahman has made good use of the electric guitar on Aye Bachu. Sung by Suzanne, it has English words inserted in Hindi sentences. The music sounds fresh, but there isn't anything that makes you come back to the song for a second round.

Kaise Mujhe is an excellent track! Not something that'll hit you instantly, this song is one of those that grow on you after a few listens. Benny Dayal sings well, and Shreya Ghoshal is even better. Rahman displays tremendous control here, he lets the song spread over time and it's definitely good to let things settle down on their own instead of being anal about them.

Karthik gives the 'south Indian film music' feel to Behka with his vocals, but even the innovative music does not ensure any kind of repeat value to this.

Latoo is alright...Shreya Ghoshal sings this decent but forgettable number.

The instrumental version of Kaise Mujhe is even better...no words being sung here, but Shreya Ghoshal's vocals are the perfect layer for this thoughtfully-crafted piece.

The thing with Rahman is the music is always good, but he often fails to hold your attention, and this could be because of his work coming across as half-hearted at times. His control over his art is undoubtable, and his genius undeniable. With Yuvvraaj and now Ghajini, fans of the maestro will just have to wait a bit for him to come up with yet another few masterly pieces of music that'll blow us away.

Rahman's score for Aamir's Ghajini has fresh, innovative modern music and quite a few moments, but it's not something that will stay in your CD player for too long.

RATING: 2.5/5

Listen to the music of Ghajini here l MUSIC REVIEW: Gurus In Collaboration