Tuesday 22 November 2011

Bappi Lahiri: Kamla (1984)

22.11.11    7 comments

Kamla

And another. This one's a very different sounding score from what is usually expected from Bappi Lahiri though; there's nothing bombastic or cheesy or even loud to be found on 'Kamla'. Perhaps it was decided that for a film dealing with modern-day domestic slavery, a more subdued tone would be appropriate. To his credit, Bappi pulls it off just fine - it's a soundtrack well worth a few listens.

There are only three songs, of which Salma Agha's beautiful 'Aaj Phir Aaine Ne' is the one I keep coming back to. The rest of the album is made up of short and sparsely arranged instrumentals. My favourites are the intriguingly titled 'Urban Flesh Market', 'Ego Trip' and 'Rural Flesh Market' (all variations on the same theme) and the Gypsy jazz flavoured 'Ecstasy'.

On the cover, special credit is given to the instrumental tracks' respective soloists, so for anyone interested I'm including that bit of info here.

Track listing:
1. Salma Agha: Aaj Phir Aaine Ne
2. Pankaj Udhas: Kaisa Ye Karam
3. Tribal Theme (Flute by Kunwar Rajendra Singh)
4. Welcome Home (Sitar by Ashok Sharma)
5. Urban Flesh Market (Sarod by Zarina Daruwala)
6. Kamla's Theme (Happy) (Santoor by Ulhas Bapat)
7. Pankaj Udhas: Insaanon Ko Neelam Kare
8. Melancholy (Violin by Kunwar Rajendra Singh)
9. Ego Trip (Synthesizer by Ronnie Monsarate)
10. Ecstasy (Guitar by Tabun)
11. Devotional Theme (Dilruba by D.M. Tagore)
12. Rural Flesh Market (Violin by Surendra Singh)
13. Kamla's Theme (Tarshehnai by D.M. Tagore)

7 comments:

  1. MFT3F22 November 2011 at 14:41:00 CET

    http://lix.in/-a9653f

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  2. litlgrey22 November 2011 at 17:34:00 CET

    I don't get it... why get Lahiri as music director and then tell him... not to be Lahiri?

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  3. MFT3F22 November 2011 at 18:12:00 CET

    Yeah, that struck me too. Maybe he asked to do it; maybe he was tired of being Lahiri? Don't know though. But still a good album, and there are funky touches here and there.

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  4. Anonymous22 November 2011 at 23:53:00 CET

    Interesting!
    Checkin out now...

    Harshi

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  5. deewani23 November 2011 at 04:44:00 CET

    Coolness. *often loves "non-Bappi" Bappi, lol!

    Thanksgiving approaches in the U.S. Happy Thanksgiving all to those who celebrate. I am thankful for the almost five years of goodies you've so graciously shared with us all. THANK YOU!! (Well actually more than five years if you count your first bollywood vinyl post on that other blog. ;)

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  6. MFT3F23 November 2011 at 09:08:00 CET

    Blimey, yeah it has been a while. You were one of the first people who commented, weren't you Deewani? Glad you've stuck around!

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  7. deewani23 November 2011 at 17:44:00 CET

    Yeah I remember commenting on the Teesri Manzil vinyl post at the other blog, how amazing the sound was, how it blew away my CD by far, how I had Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyar Tera on repeat that night. I think you were toying with the idea of this blog at the time, saying something like "this year it's got to be India", 5 years later still going strong. So glad you decided to share your journey with all of us. :)

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