Naren's indie round-up/ April 2022, Ep 4

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Salman Ali & Paras Nath/ Kaise Sarkar

Label: Sufiscore 

Rating: ****

Salman Ali is definitely one of the most soulful male singers of the younger generation. His harkats are a treat, and his honey-drenched voice takes you to another zone. One still hums his Dabangg 3 number 'Awara'.

On 'Kaise Sarkar', he teams up with Paras Nath, otherwise known as a flautist but strictly on production, arrangement and back-up vocal duty here. The song uses a Sufi ghazal format and is based on a composition earlier written by Karamat Ali and Imtiaz Ali Khan. The strings and choruses are used perfectly.

Haider Khan's video captures hills, streams and boats. Myra Sareen (in picture) and Absar Habib look great. But the star is clearly young Salman. One looks forward to many more from him.

Asees Kaur & Abhijeet Srivastava/ Boli Tujhse

Label: VYRL Originals

Rating: *** 1/2

Asees Kaur and Abhijeet Srivastava coordinate wonderfully on this sweet love song, enhanced by Amit Trivedi's composition. Paras Nath's flute and John Paul's guitar add to the impact.

It's a small town setting, and the words by Raj Shekhar go well with the concept. Lines like "Naam tera jo mujhse jud gaya, lo shehar bhar ko kissa mil gaya" are representative of the song's mood.

Tahir Raj Bhasin (recently seen in the film Looop Lapeta) and Shivangi Joshi (in picture) make a perfect pair in the video directed by ADP. Shots of nosey neighbours lend a touch of drama.

Stebin Ben/ Dua Karo

Label: SK Music Works

Rating: ***

Here's another song about heartbreak and moving on. Despite the familiar theme, 'Dua Karo' works because of Siddharth Kasyap's pleasant composition and Stebin Ben's heartfelt vocals.

Kumaar's lyrics have typical lines like "Teri yaad saansein lene deti nahin mujhko, koshish bahut ki hai ke bhool jaaoon tujhko". The words go with Anshul Vijayvargiya's video.

The cast is led by Pratik Sehajpal, Sandeepa Dhar and Rahul Sharma (in picture). There are the predictable wedding scene, dancing-shancing and dil-toota lover looks. It's backed by a sweet tune, thankfully.

Abida Parveen, Salim-Sulaiman/ O Mere Maula (re-release)

Promoted by: Salim-Sulaiman 

Rating: ****

Five years ago, music directors Salim-Sulaiman had released the song 'Noor-e-Elahi' with Pakistani legend Abida Parveen. A video, blending live footage with a sub-plot featuring actor Pankaj Tripathi, was aired.

Now, to celebrate the spirit of Eid, the song has been put out again under the title 'O Mere Maula'. Though it's a plain and simple re-release, it merits a review even now because it's a great song which probably got lost earlier.

Abida, of course, has been one of the post powerful voices one could hear. Salim Merchant complements her well, and the orchestration blends east and west seamlessly. It's perfect for the festive season, and one hopes it gets played adequately this time.

Ravi Chary/ Raanjhanaa 

Label: Self-released 

Rating: ****

Ever-brilliant in the live sitar fusion genre, Ravi Chary gave us an album treat in 2012 with Crossing, an Indo-jazz collection featuring leading artistes. Last year, he released tunes from his Dhvanika project.

'Raanjhanaa' features Chary, vocalist Shreeya Sondur and drummer Gino Banks, who also handles programming and keyboards. The piece was released in audio format in February 2021, but last week, it's come out as a video featuring the three musicians playing in the studio.

Shreeya, who also appeared on Ravi's song 'Aahana' from the same album, sings Punjabi folk lines on this song. The words go, "Raanjhana ve main toh hui baawali, baawali". The interaction between Ravi's sitar and Gino's drums is spot-on. Clearly, Ravi has his own identity and style in sitar fusion.