The music of Kisna

Probably the only reason I purchased the Kisna CD was to get hold of the Rahman tracks. For I'm not much of a Subhash Ghai fan (though he does manage to get decent music for most of his films) and don't adore Ismail Darbar's work though I have my respect for his productions (my opinion being that "Devdas" wasn't as special as "Hum dil...").

Overall, I came away disappointed. The two Rahman vocal tracks are excellent: Hum Hai.n is pal yahaa.n" is melodious and haunting, though very simple. But the repeated appearance of this tune in the form of other instrumentals is a litte monotonous. Sunita Sarthy makes a name for herself in "My Wish Comes True", an English number whose type I have not encountered in Indian films before. The choral part towards the end is especially good on the ears.

The disappointment then stems from the rest of the album. Apart from "Woh Kisna Hai" and parts of some songs, the Ismail Durbar contribution is below par, though of a certain basic quality. I yawned through some of them, though I'm willing to listen again without reservation to see if they grow on me.

VFM-wise, the CD turned out to be a box of complaints. There are hardly any lyrics, the composition credits aren't very clear and the instrumental credits are not available. Instead of a contest to rank 6 out of 12 songs to be judged by a jury consisting of the director & MDS (!), they could've done a better job on the inlays. I've heard that the cassette at Rs 55 has only 5 tracks which is really crib-worthy (the 12 track CD is 145, and there is a 16 track "Deluxe" version of whose price I am unaware of).

Overall, the album is a "could-have-been", only if ARR had had the time. Though music reviewers everywhere seem to have given the album a big thumbs-up, so perhaps you shouldn't listen to me and just judge for yourself.