Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Sukoon is a modern-day masterpiece

Promise yourself one thing. You will enter the world of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Ghazal album Sukoon without prejudice. I did it. And if I can do it, so can anyone. I’ve never listened to any voice closely except one. To me, music begins and ends with Lata Mangeshkar. But of course, I am aware that Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle too were great in their own way. In present times, I find Arijit Singh overrated, and monotonous. Shreya Ghoshal is okay when she is not busy showing off. She has sung two Ghazals for Bhansali’s breezy but never lightweight album Sukoon. Of them, she is better in Tujhe Bhi Chand, which has a playful lit and an evocative hook line recalling those imperishable songs by Lataji like Chanda ja chanda ja re ja (composed by Madan Mohan). Shreya’s interpretation of Momin Khan Momin’s immortal Ghazal Woh jo hum mein tum mein qaraar tha is laborious. That vocal effortlessness which the intricate words and compositions require is heard, surprisingly, in the voice of Armaan Malik in the Ghalib Hona Hai (references to Ghalib are fragrantly strewn across the album), a deceptively breezy beguilingly contemporary and yet intrinsically traditional composition, Armaan hits all the right notes with his surprisingly even singing. But the real star of the Ghazal Ghalib Hona Hai is the poet A M Turaz. He has written for Bhansali’s cinema in the past, in _Guzaarish_ and _Padmaavat_ . In Sukoon his poetic sensibilities rival that of some of the greatest Urdu/Hindi poets of Hind cinema.

Love and magic is about to breakthrough!❤️✨

Embrace this melody and piece of art #GhalibHonaHai by the talented @ArmaanMalik22 and @sharminsegal from #SanjayLeelaBhansali’s first- ever original music album #Sukoon 😌@AMTURAZOFFICIAL@shreyaspuranik@rutvxk pic.twitter.com/ZuQh22n8n9

— BhansaliProductions (@bhansali_produc) December 7, 2022

In the tandem Siva Tere sung in two separate versions by Madhubanti Bagchi and Shail Hada (I prefer Hada’s Jagjit Singh-tinged version) Turaz writes, “Meri aah sunkar tu bechain hoga/Dua hai tujhe kuch sunayi na de.” These are two of the finest lines of self-annihilating love I’ve heard in recent times. The poetry of all the Ghazals is heavily influenced by Ghalib. The legend Mirza Ghalib himself shows up in new singer Pratibha Baghel’s Har ek baat pe kehte ho tum ke tu kya hai. Baghel’s version of Ghalib’s Har ek baat pe will be compared with Ghazal greats like Ghulam Ali who have sung the same poetry.

Sukoon is an album of endless discovery. The accomplished, sometimes raw but never inarticulate voices tell us that Hindi/Urdu music as we know it is not finished. Not yet. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s composition for all the nine Ghazals gives a nod to the compositional greats in the past while forging an entirely new idiom for today’s generation to enjoy. Sukoon makes the Ghazal accessible to the Gen-X without compromising on quality. Jagjit Singh had done the same with his album The Unforgettables released in 1977. I think Jagjit would have liked what Bhansali has done to the Ghazal in Sukoon. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.