If you graduated in the 2000s from a college with some percentage of North Indian crowd, there is a high chance you would be familiar with at least one of GMD, Sabka Katega and XL Ki Kudiyaan. The group that was behind these anthemic songs, the official band of XLRI called Bodhi Tree, has undergone a lot of changes since those songs first became a rage. The original bassist, Jishnu Dasgupta, is currently the most popular, playing the same role for the folk fusion band Swarathma. Two from that founding lineup, vocalist Satadru Bagchi and guitarist Abhishek Narain, have now reunited to create a single they have called Yeh Meri Poori Zameen.
In a sharp contrast to the cheeky nature of their past repertoire, Yeh Meri.. is the duo’s dedication to victims of sectarian violence across India. Which is a very commendable thing to do indeed. Except that while their intentions took a serious turn, their composing didn’t quite. The effort is sincere no doubt; there is some neat classical-tinged guitaring (I think I sensed the raga jog), and the overall arrangement seems decent. But the vocals seem amateurish, even off scale in places. Which went well with the lighter vein of the earlier songs, not much in this case. Same goes for the sound, making the song a pretty average fare.
In any case, good to see the band (albeit in part) back in action, and in a promising new direction. Hope there is more to come. With a better sound engineer please! For now, here is Yeh Meri Poori Zameen.
