The soundtrack of Umrao Jaan centers on the character of a female poet/tawaif (high class prostitute) from the1840's. She was born into a normal family but is kidnapped by her uncle and sold too a brothel. Never the less, she becomes highly educated, and also trained in dance (Kathak) and song. Throughout the movie the songs are mainly used too describe Umrao Jaan's her inner thoughts, mostly her sadness that she expresses trough her performances..JPG)
The poetess is praised for her lyrical genius and that is what, I find, stands out in the songs. Written by Shahryar, the language he uses is manipulated with great precision. Very interesting to listen too (if you can't understand Hindi or Urdu, like me, here are the lyrics).
The most popular songs are the classics,''Dil Cheez Kya Hai'' and ''In Ankhon Ki Masti'', here is the sample of the lyrics of the second.
...
There are thousands of legends attached to these eyes
There are thousands of legends
The lust of these eyes
You are not the only one alone
You are not alone in love with me, disgraced
In love with me, disgraced
In this city, like you
In this city, there are thousands of madmen like you
There are thousands of madmen
There are thousands intoxicated by the lust of these eyes
The lust of these eyes
Only I, only I
Only I serve liquor with my eyes
Serve with my eyes
To say it, in the world
To say it, in the world there are thousands of bars...
My favorite songs are actually the less known .''Kahe Ko Byahe Bides'' and ''Pratham Dhar Dhyan-Raag Mala'' in which Umrao Jaan learns too sing.This is definitely not an album that can get you out of the blues, but more of a romantic view of despair, love and hate. Great classical inspired music.
Tracks:
Side 1
1. Asha Bhosle: Dil Cheez Kya Hai
2. Asha Bhosle: Justuju Jiski Thi
3. Jagjit Kaur: Kahe Ko Byahe Bides
4. Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Shahida Khan & Runa Prasad: Pratham Dhar Dhyan-Raag Mala
Side 2
5. Asha Bhosle: In Ankhon Ki Masti
6. Talat Aziz: Zindagi Jab Bhi
7. Asha Bhosle: Yeh Kya Jageh Hai Dosto
8. Asha Bhosle: Jab Bhi Milti Hai
9. Shahida Khan: Jhoola Kinne Dala
Lyrics: Shahryar
Stella_1's score : 3.5/5
1 comment:
Ahh, this is such an amazing soundtrack. Some of the songs are even capable of making me cry just by listening to them - no small feat! Particularly Dil Cheez Kya Hai and Yeh Kya Jagah Hai Dosto... guh! Thank you so much for posting this.
Have you seen/heard Muqaddar Ka Sikandar? Rekha's song in that, Salaam-e-ishq, is very reminiscent of Umrao Jaan - it has the same type of melody, it's just beautiful!
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