Naushad saab returns with a score which tells us what film music is all about. None other than Naushad could have captured the Mughal era music in a way he had done earlier in Mughal-e-azam ,Baiju Bawra and now in Taj mahal which is a soul stirring mixture of classy poetry and soulful music.
Hariharan and Preety Uttam are their best. Apni Zulfien by Hariharan is by any standard a great Gazal. Ajnabi thehro zara is another haunting melody. Naushad Saab has beautifully used ragas like Puriya and Lalit in this album with ocassional sargam as interludes in some of the songs. It is a collector's item and a treat to music lovers since it reaffirms yet again that Indian music is a musical tradition par exellence.
"The music does not touch the eardrum and bounce back but penetrates and lives in the soul of people," said Akbar Khan. He was being honest. What he didn't mention is that in the process it will split your eardrums as well. The cacaphonic songs bring a sense of deja-vu, and not a pleasant one at that. The music launch was a crashing bore as well, with Akbar Khan introducing each member of his never-ending kist of cast, crew, wife, brothers, sisters-n-law and nephews with a long, boring speeches. BEsides, someone should tell him that he cannot hide his ineptness in English by putting-on a strange lalbagh-meets-London accent. The trailors of the film promise a bad-acting bonanza besides being another horrible case of history-mystery (where historic facts mysteriously disappear). All in all, Bank of Baroda couldn't find a great project to sink their investors money on. Chetna
Correct- the original Music of Pakeeza was composed by the late GulamMohamed, an assistant of Naushad. He died while the movie was still in the making and Naushad was asked to take over. He (Naushad) re-composed and re-recorded all the songs as well as couple of other songs. Naushad did not take the credit for this and asked the producer to keep the deceased's name as the Music Director, and his name only for the background and title music.