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By Joginder Tuteja, May 28, 2007 - 12:46 IST
In the times when most films are set either as feel good entertainers or revolve around slice-of-life dramas, choreographer turned director Ganesh Acharya has decided to make a move against the tide and make Swami. A film that seems to be breaching upon art house cinema, Swami is quite a shift for Ganesh who has been known for his 'jhatka' dance moves for over two decades.
Roping in Manoj Bajpai and Juhi Chawla in principal roles, Ganesh has sent the message loud and clear that his film is performance oriented more than anything else. One hear at the music and the fact is further established as composer duo of Nitin Arora and Sony Chandy along with lyricist Sameer too have concentrated on class rather than delivering a massy score.
There are as many as 14 tracks in Swami but still the entire duration of the album is just around 30 minutes. Reason? Most of the tracks are used for background score purpose and last for just about a couple of minutes.
'Shubharambh' is an extremely soothing beginning to Swami and makes you glued to the music system at the very beginning of the album as the track lasts for a couple of minutes. Boasting of western classical arrangements, the theme piece has piano towering over other instruments and creates a classy environment.
First song to come in the album is the title song 'Swami' that takes a cool beginning with the sound of an electronic flute. Soon K S Chitra arrives on the scene as she sings in South Indian classical mode as an elaborate orchestra comes into picture to make way for Hariharan to take the center stage.
A slow moving track with a classical base to it, this duet between a husband and a wife is about living a content life with whatever resources being available and still be happy about the sheer pleasure of being together. The longest track of the album (around 5 minutes), it would be mainly picked by those who are fond of classical music based songs from South India.
There is a heavy A.R. Rahman influence in the way 'Naa Tin Dhinna (Child Of Joy)' begins. After the stage has been set with an assortment of instruments having come together to create a classical mood with a foot tapping effect, both Hariharan and Chitra croon the words 'Naa Tin Dhinna' for close to 3 minutes before a group of children come on the scene towards the end to make one find the Rahman effect again.
Built up of orchestra at the beginning of 'Mumbai Jaayenge (Dream) ' hooks you on before one hears Manoj Bajpai uttering his apprehensions about leaving the house and moving with his family to Mumbai. These are the only few words which are heard in this musical piece which comes with a sound of flute that remains even after the track is through.
The way 'Gullak (Treasure) ' begins on a dark note, one can make out that it is for a sad situation in the film. 45 seconds into the instrumental and an elaborate orchestra is on work again as a male chorus too arrives on the scene to create a haunting impact. Things settle down in a matter of few seconds and mood turns pensive once again to take the track to its closure.
The feeling of sadness continues with 'Aa Ri Ra Ru (Sorry) ' which moves on in a routine manner before Juhi Chawla utters a couple of dialogues from the film. Chitra's voice is heard at the very end as she croons 'Aa Ri Ra Ru' with the sound of piano concluding the track. Those who have watched the promos of the film would not have missed out one of the short teasers that focuses on a chair. A theme track around this chair, aptly titled 'Kursi (Chair) ' is also present in the album and is an easy on ears 80 seconds piece.
There is some more pain to arrive on scene as Hariharan sings 'De Jab Duaayen (The Loss) '. With just a couple of instruments in the background for the first one minute of the track's duration, it is almost an unplugged version for Hariharan before Chitra comes into picture with her crooning of 'Swami'. Ending is just right as the theme sound of flute makes an impression yet again.
It's back to piano and flute with 'Talaash (Search) ' which is yet another instrumental to arrive on the scene. This time around sitar is also used for a short while to bring on the sound of the theme piece before piano is reintroduced into the proceedings. 'Aankhon Ki (Memories) ' is a track by Chitra which is a sad version of 'Swami' and also has Hariharan joining in the latter half of the track.
Finally there is some sense of a happy mood in the album with the arrival of 'Ta Ra Ri Ra (Innocence) '. Piano and violins come together to create a feel good tune on the lines of the music of 60s while children come together to croon 'Ta Ra Ri Ra' to further give the track a push. The mood reverses soon with 'Vyakul (Agony) ' which, as apparent from the title itself, is a slow moving musical piece with large pauses in between. Longest musical piece in the album (3 minutes), it seems befitted for a situation during the film's climax.
Hariharan is heard after a gap with 'Radhe (Missing) ' where all he is required to croon is 'Radhe Radhe' with a feeling of sadness being imparted to the surroundings. The album ends with 'Dhyaan (Awakening) ' that has the soothing sound of a flute dominating the proceedings with violins joining in after a minute. Yet again, Chitra joins in to croon in a manner similar to 'Shubharambh' to give the track a classical touch.
Soundtrack of Swami proves yet again that Ganesh Acharya has looked for creative satisfaction than thinking much about the commercial aspects of making this film. The soundtrack carries a classical touch to it throughout and though it is easy on ears, it is a kind of album that has a miniscule audience for itself. An album which is mainly made of background theme pieces; it is a decent effort but mainly for the purpose of being heard during the film's screening.
 
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