Most overlooked Indian Soundtrack albums of the past decade:- (One)
Bandit Queen OST
Label: Big B Music: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Roger White I believe this was Big B’s first release. Interesting story behind how I got the cassette. There was a Quiz I attended when I was a kid, a pretty swanky quiz and the QM was giving away free cassettes for every audience question answered. I got one, something to do with the Batmobile, and the QM calls me onto the stage and gives me a Bhupen Hazarika album. Ugh. So the next day I go to a music store and spin some C&B about my idiot-of-a-sister buying a cassette I already have, and that it hasn’t been opened yet, so could I exchange this one, please.
Maybe the “please” did it. He asked me to take my pick , and I asked him for Nusrat’s Sangam. “Hmmm.” he said, “Sangam might be little difficult for you to follow. Why don’t you try Bandit Queen instead?”
So Bandit Queen it was, and when I got home and listened to it and listened to it again and the goosepimples just wouldn’t go away, I decided he was right, after all.
The Indian version of the Bandit Queen soundtrack had four Nusrat songs, three on side A and one on side B. The rest of side B was background music, or rather, a part of the background music, with a song called Chottie Si that plays during the titles.
Ankhiyaan Noon Chain Naa Aawe – the most popular of the tracks, the only one that was aired on TV, with scenes from the movie. There’s a bass and synth line leading the tune, with synthetic drum-beats for the percussion.
More Saiyyan To Hai Pardes – very upbeat, almost frisky at parts. very passionate lyrics. the tabla complements Nusrat’s voice extremely well. a little long, though, with the female voices repeating the same choral line over and over. which is a complaint generally associated with Nusrat songs. I mean, c’mon, Dum Mast Kalandar is almost eight minutes long, with no variations.
Saawnrey Tore Bin Jeeya Jaaye Na – “Haunting” would be the word an average reviewer would use, and since I am not any better, I will do the same. A throbbing bass-line. Nusrat’s voice, with just the right amount of reverb added, sings the first part. The female voice sings the antaras, with Nusrat weaving aalaps, and yes, he does that in a higher scale than the female singer.
Sajnaa Tore Bin Jiya Mora Naahi Laage – A little kitschy. Uses the Sarod (or is that the Mohan Veena?) and something that sounds like a bad Casio keyboard. But the lyrics and the voice make up for the bad beginning. There is a line where Nusrat actually has to take a breath in the middle, and you can make out that part. Amazing composition.
The cassette mentioned that the female voices were Sunita and Humera Chana. A look at the credits of Bandit Queen shows that Sunita is the name of the kid that plays the role of the young Phoolan Devi in the film. Dunno whether it’s the same girl who sings in the OST,and even if she does, it’s just that bit of Chottie Si….
All four are, well, love songs. All about pangs of seperation and what not. Most likely it alludes to the doomed affair between Phoolan and the character played by Nirmal Pandey. None of them feature in the actual movie, of course, not even in the background – Shekhar Kapoor would have been a complete moron to use songs in that movie. So I kind of wondered if Nusrat had composed them specifically for the movie, or were they just add-ons for us song-loving Indians.
Once Big B went bust, I couldn’t find the cassette anymore. I specifically remember buying one for a friend, but that was a long time ago. The hiss on my cassette, of course, increased exponentially with time. And none of the mp3s could be found, except Ankhiyaan Noon. So I waited, and hoped….
Last year, something wonderful happened. I discovered the virtues of Amazon.com. Bandit Queen was listed there, with a very low “Used and New” prices. Thanks to nevermind1980 ( old friend and senior), it was delivered to me last December.
Now this was interesting. The cd had 26 tracks, all background music, and the credits read music by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan(with Roger White). Ah HA. So the dark, brooding background music wasn’t by Khan sahab alone.
Even then, I missed the songs, those three songs that came with the cassette and I searched high and low for them.
Recently, I was on a cursory trip to Music World with Mons. She was looking through the Nusrat cd stack, most of them 60 rupees reissues by this new company called Nupur music. My usual predictable ramblings about Bandit Queen and the lost three songs followed. She asked me the names of the tracks. I told her. And whoa! One of the albums, Ahista Ahista had them, the three songs together.
Thus, for sixty rupees, a major item in my Want List was ticked off.
Lessons learned:
1) Get Mons to accompany me to every Music Shop I go. (Which shouldn’t be too hard.)
2) Tell everyone about what’s on my Want List. Never know who might find what, and help me out.
P.S That’s exactly what I am doing right now.
whoa! u sure took time out to write this!!
I love the Bandit Queen soundtrack…but perhaps not as much as u do!;)
whoa! u sure took time out to write this!!
45 minutes on Monday night, actually. With Bandit Queen playing in the background. :-D
:D
Though my cassette is not as frayed, I still want the CD. I think I’ll go and look at these Nupur music stacks at Musicworld here. Maybe I’ll get lucky too, I still love the songs.
BTW, after Big B (the label) went bust, it sold all its acquired rights to T-Series, who came out with all sorts of compilation and combo cassettes with the relatively new Big B releases.
If I scrounge around the T-series mega mall type thing here in Delhi, maybe I can get the Indian CD of Bandit Queen…
Saturday is going to be search and acquire day!
it sold all its acquired rights to T-Series
Hey, I didn’t know that. How come T-series isn’t marketting any of the good stuff like BQ, Tere Mere sapne, Sazaa-e-kaalapani? Do tell me if u get the indian Bandit Queen cd.
I guess thats because film music is mostly fickle, and only the calssics and the yekdum latesht maal ones sell.
I’ll try finding BQ this saturday.
I have the album “Sweet Pain — Volume 4” (a wedding gift from BIL#3 USA; aptly named? well, where’s the sweet, I ask) which contains:
Aahista Aahista.mp3
Alaap.mp3
Crest.mp3
Diya Jale Sari Raat.mp3
Jab Tera Hukam Mila.mp3
Kuchh To Hawa Sard Thi.mp3
Mera Sohna Sajan Ghar Aaya.mp3
More Saiyan To Hain Pardes.mp3
Ni Sewan Assan Nena Lada Ke.mp3
Night Song.mp3
Sajna Tere Bina.mp3
Sanware Tore Bina.mp3
Tere Bine.mp3
Splendid songs. I didn’t know any of the names until I saw your post and rummaged through my Winamp playlist.
Will let you know when I get DSL and set up an FTP server.
What I am looking for: “Yeh Joh Halka Halka Suroor …” I have two versions, but both of very poor quality.
Oh. Yeh Jo Halka… is another great Nusrat song. I have the live version, just His voice, claps, a harmonium, and the Qawwali chorus – pretty good quality version.
Is the song Sajna Tere Bina the same song that starts “Sanu Ek Pal Chayn na Aave, Sajna Tere Bina”? If so, then the best version of the song that I have heard is the one in the MichaelBrook/Nusrat album “Musst Musst”. it’s a qawwali, with an acoustic guitar strumming along and a bass guitar and tabla. Bliss!
Or is it the one that starts “Sajna tere bina jiya mora Naahin laage”? That’s the Bandit Queen song.
Both of them are essential Nusrat songs. :-)
I checked.
“Sajna Tere Bina.mp3” starts Sajna tere bina jiya mora naahin laage …
“Tere Bine.mp3” starts Sanu ek pal chayn na aave, sajna tere bina … (minimal accompaniment)
Good stuff.
Bhupen Hazarika
Bhupen Hazarika…Ugh ??? How can yaaa relegate someone who is responsible for elevating Assamese Folk Music to the World Stage with an Ugh ?? This is a bit dark coming from you….
Bhupen Hazarika falls in my category of “skunk-musicians”.
Most of his “compositions” are rehashes of his late brother, Jayanta Hazarika’s works. His famous tracks are copies of old American folk songs – for instance – “Ganga” is an out-and-out copy of “Ol’ Man River”, from the movie Showboat.
Hence, the “Ugh!”
:-)
Folk music is a common heritage of a people.No individual musician can lay claim to his/her being the fountainhead of folk compositions.Hazarika has not committed this cardinal crime.
All that Hazarika has claimed is the fact that the world has been exposed to hitherto hidden Assamese music and culture through his folk compositions.In MY opinion, this is an incontrovertible fact.
If such personalities fall under the class of “skunk-musicians” in YOUR view, then I am sorry, but I stand corrected in my belief about your ability to judge music and musicians.
Enuff Said…:o)
Well, I guess I didn’t make myself clear.
You will notice that I haven’t made any comments, derisory or otherwise, about Assamese folk music. And i don’t believe my comment about BH being a skunk-musician reflects on my opinions about Assamese folk music.
You comment:-
All that Hazarika has claimed is the fact that the world has been exposed to hitherto hidden Assamese music and culture through his folk compositions.
How many people do u think have actually heard Assamese folk music or seen the traditional dance forms of Assam? Has Mr Hazarika done anything to forward Assamese music? I don’t think so. Composing film songs with slight folk tinges does not make him an ambassador of folk musicand that does not warrant the fact that anytime you say “Assamese music”, you equate it with one individual. And as i pointed out, his compositions, most of the well-known ones, are plagiarised anyway.
The kind of clout he has ( in assam) and with the kind of recognition he has got ( in india and abroad), he could have done a lot of things. he isn’t, apart from composing for obscure films. he never has. Have you heard Gaja Gamini? Or the latest Bhupen Hazarika compositions in Kalpana Lajmi’s film Kyon? They suck. If you would have heard him sing “Desh ka Salaam” in ARR’s tribute album Jana Gana Mana, and you were an Assamese, you would realise that instead of improvising, he chose the easy way out, namely, humming a traditional Assamese Bihu tune with the lyrics “Desh ka Salaam”. Ridiculous!
By the way, my definition of “skunk musicians” include the following criteria:-
1) plagiarizing. BH satisfies this part perfectly..
2) misuse of influence and opinion. Mr Hazarika has become a catchphrase, almost like “Assam Tea” or “Assam Oil”. And there is nothing he’s doing to capitalize on his fame for assamese Folk music.
3) stagnation. is there anything lasting/memorable he has done in the past decade? Rudaali was in the distant past, and even that was a rehash of old assamese songs.