I don’t have strong feelings about much of this CD—I do like it, however—but the closing track, “Aradhana,” I do find I connect with for its very nice “crossover” nature: we get a mix of Indian and British/“Western” idioms with a gorgeous and un-Western lyric in English delivered not by Najma herself but by one of her musicians (is this a Chandra/Coe arrangement?). As for the album’s intended purpose as a tribute to the film music of S D Burman, I’ve not encountered any the films in question, not being much of a fan of Indian films (every time I’ve looked at one it seemed to be generic Bollywood or unapproachably pedantic Satayaghra kind of stuff), so I really have no relevant comment.
Comments © 2005 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted, and no claim is made to the images and quoted lyrics.