Himesh Reshammiya's music is the flavour of the season. In "Ahista Ahista", he has done a good job as a composer, but disappoints as a singer because his voice lacks
freshness.
Soft guitar strumming and slow violin makes the title track "Ahista Ahista" somewhat pleasing to the ears, but sadly Reshammiya sings the song at a high pitch, which
reminds the listener of his tracks in "Humko Deewana Kar Gaye".
Irshad Kamil's lyrics are impressive and Himesh could have worked better on them, instead of repeating the rehearsed mukhda of his popular title track in "Humko Deewana
Kar Gaye".
However, "Ahista Ahista" (Unplugged) comes as a respite and Reshammiya sings this number sans the usual background musical instruments.
"Ahista Ahista" (Remix) by Akbar Sami livens up the soft original track, which at times is dull.
The next track, "Allah Kare", as the title suggests, is a song with a Sufi background. But again "Allah Kare" is a repetition of the title track of "Humko Deewana Kar Gaye".
What is commendable here are just the use of Hindustani musical instruments and Kamil's lyrics.
"Allah Kare" (Unplugged) version has been sung surprisingly well by Reshammiya.
Next in the album is "Love you unconditionally". For a change, Reshammiya sings it in a deep husky voice and the arrangement of the smooth and soft music throughout the
song proves to be a treat for the ears. In short, a good romantic track!
The remix of the same is not up to the mark because it loses its originality.
K.K. and Jayesh Gandhi combine superbly to render the best track of the album -- "Ishq ne tere". A simple, sweet and melodious track with lots of semi-classical tunes!
Good use of sitar and violin makes it an excellent track.
However, the remix version of "Ishq ne tere" is not so delectable.
"Awan akhiyan jawan akhiyan" is the second song in this album, which has a Sufi background. It is a qawwali sung by Reshammiya with his typical nasal voice. But he
shows his maturity as a 'qawwali' singer along with Jayesh and Hashim and Aftab, who complement his voice.
It is a relief to hear a female voice in the album. Sunidhi Chauhan sings a rare romantic duet "Tanha tere bagair" with K.K. The music of the song turns out to be mix 'n'
match of some of Reshammiya's old hits.
The next track, "Tum jo mile", starts with soothing violin notes and Kunal Ganjawala's silk smooth vocals. It can be classified as another title track as the words "Ahista
Ahista" are used many times in it.
High pitched melodramatic singing and haunting melody are the highlights of this classy track. Good enough to be a part of your collection.
Surprisingly, the album also features "Dil naiyyo maane re", sung by Himesh and Tulsi Kumar, from "Phir Hera Pheri". One wonders what was the need to include the song
when the album already has 15 tracks.
To sum up, "Ahista Ahista" is a good to decent album by Reshammiya, a departure from his usual commercially viable stuff on T-Series.
Friday, July 21, 2006 11:14 IST