Amitabh Bhattacharya and Amit Trivedi - I

I have wanted to write this for a while now. Each time they showcased their work, I have been awed by their consistent brilliance. But I waited. To verify my gut feel. There is a price you pay for not trusting it. They have a much larger fan base now and everyone is talking about them. That is no reason for me to not write though. I am still a mad fan.

At a time when Munni and Sheila are ruling the marquee, there is a man who, like his music director counterpart, is quietly changing the language of our songs. Sure, they still talk about love and loss, hope and faith and all those clichés. But it’s the writing.

Oh man, it’s the writing - that incredible medley of words, a poetry so lingering, it makes you applaud. Amitabh Bhattacharya, take a bow. You have given us a reason to tell old, fat aunties that our music is also soul moving magic. And that our generation of songs will be remembered for much more than cheap-ass remakes of Jailhouse Rock.

Amitabh, with a mad mix vocabulary of earthy Punjab, colloquial Delhi, crass Bombay, and evocative Urdu takes you on a trip that is both contemporary and timeless – the artist’s zeitgeist.  

Take Udaan’s title track for instance :

"Nadi mein talab hai

Kahin jo agar, samandar kahan door hai

Damakti garaz hai, sone mein agar

To jalna bhi manzoor hai

Ik udaan kab talak yun kaid rahegi

Roko na chod do isse

Ik udaan hi sapno ko zindagi degi

Sapno se jod do isse"

or the raunchalicious Aali Re :

“Patloon mein junoon hai aye saala hatt 

Garm zara yeh khoon hai aye saala hatt 

Yeh thodi si kameeni, thodi namkeeni

Thodi si nasheeli, thodi zehreeli hai

Dhinchak dhinchak dhinchak dhinchak"

And this riot imagery from Band Baaja Baraat :

“Chai mein dooba biskut ho gaya,

 Che foot se dedh foot ho gaya,

Main toh ainvayi ainvayi ainvayi ainvayi lut gaya”

I could paste an album full of brilliant lyrics. Dev D deserves a dedicated post so I will make no mention. 

It was Aamir's haunting soundtrack which made me look up these guys. I was, like it usually happens, drawn to the music of Amit Trivedi and paid sparring attention to Amitabh.  The lyricist rarely gets his due. But after listening to Aamir's brilliant Ek Lau rendered by Shilpa Rao and Dev D, I realised that Amitabh's word play was the spirit behind Amit Trivedi's genius. 

It was only fitting to dedicate my first part to India's finest new find - Amitabh Bhattacharya.


Amit Trivedi can wait.

Trivia - Amitabh Bhattacharya harbours a burning desire to become a vocalist. Infact, he came to Bombay from Lucknow to become a singer and is still actively pursuing it.