Paanch Adhyay – Music Review (Bengali Soundtrack)

You can listen to the soundtrack here.

Ash King sounds confident in his debut (?) Bengali song, the lazy Latino flavored Phire Paoar Gaan – he is a Bengali after all. Helped by the inherent charm of the genre, Shantanu Moitra does a neat job at the arrangement with particularly good use of guitars.  But it is Usha Uthup, sounding in her yesteryear elements with that sultry rendition, who creates a real winner out of the tune in its English version, You and Me. Moitra may not have given Shubha Mudgal a song in his Coke Studio episode, but he gives her Ure Jaay here that pretty much follows the folksy line he employed so well then. And the results are equally impressive here, as Shubha renders the pensive tune in her trademark style. The highlight of the arrangement is the flute solo that appears in the second interlude. There is also a Hindi version of the song, Uda Jaaye, sung by Swanand Kirkire. Nice  by the composer, using a male chorus to accompany the male version and a female chorus for the Shubha version.

Kaushiki Chakraborty comes in to render Rahoon Tere Peechhe and owns the melancholic piece the way she usually does with classical-flavored songs. And like a reprise to Phire Paoar Gaan, the title motif keeps appearing in the interludes, on sax. Baavri bears a faint Aparajita Tumi hangover in its overall feel, but that is not to say the song isn’t engaging. The feel goodness of the song and Shreya Ghoshal’s sprightly rendition are enough to have you playing this over and over. Agontuk continues on a similarly breezy pop route, but with classical touches from the singers Shaan and Shreya Ghoshal. And the song provides a nice end to a nice soundtrack.

Paanch Adhyay. Third winner this year from Shantanu Moitra in as many works. 4/4, if you count Dewarists that happened late last year. Interestingly, all four have been outside of Bollywood.

Music Aloud Rating – 8/10

Top Recos – You and Me, Rahoon Tere Peechhe, Ure Jaay, Baavri