Songs and musician credits at the end.
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
While the soundtrack for Anandi Gopal is a period one, set as it is in the later 19th century (Anandi Gopal Joshi lived between 1865 and 1887), it is only in one song where the retro feel is conveyed in an obvious filmi fashion. Waata Waata Waata Ga is a cheery folk-flavoured song set to a horse-cart rhythm, punctuated by a familiar marching band tune (interestingly generated on shehnai and tabla, made to sound like a pipe band!) and delivered spectacularly by Priyanka Barve – one of the many highlights of the Anandi Gopal’s soundtrack is its splendid assortment of singers. Composers Hrishikesh Saurabh Jasraj have apparently drawn a lot of inspiration from natya sangeet, which has its roots in the same era, for the songs. The effect of which can be seen in the delightful abundance of classical and folk elements throughout the album. And the best of the lot is Ranga Maliyela – a song where the composers and lyricist Vaibhav Joshi employ the genre of ovi (a form of poetry similar to doha, as I understand) to build a beauty of a song that takes us through Anandibai’s early-age wedding. While the melody itself is a beautiful one (top singing job by Ketaki Mategaonkar, who has featured in the composers’ past works too, and Sharayu Date), composers do even more brilliantly with the arrangement. Ethnic percussion that keeps changing mode in each verse (in line with the tune change – love the fact that every verse is set to a different melody, has become such a rarity these days), Yogesh More’s shehnai adding that auspicious touch at the right moments, and the chorus voices rendering those ovi-styled refrains seemingly layered in accordance to the call-and-response format of the genre.
Hrishikesh Saurabh Jasraj take a more classical-flavoured route for Anandghana that talks about the protagonist’s relationship with her husband, and we get another fab melody in the process, that traverses the ragas shuddh sarang, saraswati and bhinna shadja. The talented Aanandi Joshi and Hrishikesh Ranade lead the vocals here, and once again the chorus is wonderfully employed, cutting across the dreamy soundscape with a refrain that marks the song’s switch to classical-heavy mode. Majhe Mauli is a gondhal sung by Jasraj Joshi and follows the traditional percussion-heavy arrangement (interesting shift in rhythm pattern through the song) – while the genre is conventionally an ode to the goddess, here it also carries the overtone of celebrating Anandibai herself. Finally, there is Tu Ahes Na, a salute to the spirit of womanhood, that checks all boxes of an anthemic piece – a pensive melody, orchestral grandeur highlighted by splendid use of strings, and a competent chorus. Adding to the song’s appeal in a big way is its raagamaalika structure – the melody keeps flitting between multiple ragas (durga, kalavati, bageshri, asavari, jaijaiwanti), all chosen for their apparent general association with the female vocal scale (lovely touch, that). While Pt Sanjeev Abhyankar presents a fine delivery in the song’s solo version, I like the song better in the multi-vocalist version (featuring Jasraj Joshi, Avadhoot Gupte, Rahul Deshpande, Adarsh Shinde & Rohit Raut – supposedly the makers’ attempt to produce something akin to Mile Sur Mera Tumhara), the song gains immensely from the way the singers play off each other’s improvisations, especially in the crescendo.
Hrishikesh-Saurabh-Jasraj, Vaibhav Joshi and director Sameer Vidwans apparently worked on this soundtrack for 1.5 years. That effort clearly shows – this is easily the best soundtrack to have come out from the team!
PS: Thanks a lot to co-composer Saurabh Bhalerao for agreeing to a phone conversation and giving me some valuable insights into the song-making, those helped immensely in the review.
Music Aloud Rating: 4/5
Top Recos: All of them!
Musician Credits
Song – Ranga Maliyela
Singers – Ketaki Mategaonkar & Sharayu Date
Music – Hrishikesh, Saurabh & Jasraj
Lyricist – Vaibhav Joshi
Music Arranged By Hrishikesh, Saurabh & Jasraj
Tabla – Vikram Bhat
Indian Percussions – Shashank Joshi
Shehnai – Yogesh More
Chorus – Darshana Jog, Amita Ghugari, Pranjali Barve, Bhagyashree Abhyankar
Recording Engineer – Tushar Pandit & Adwait Walujkar (Dawn Infotainment)
Assisted by Sanket Dhotkar & Ishan Devshtali
Mixed – Vijay Dayal (YRF)
Mastered by Donal Whelan at Hafod Mastering (Wales)
Song – Aanadghana
Singers – Aanandi Joshi & Hrishikesh Ranade
Music – Hrishikesh, Saurabh & Jasraj
Lyricist – Vaibhav Joshi
Music Arranged By Hrishikesh, Saurabh & Jasraj
Tabla – Vikram Bhat & Sameer Puntambekar
PAKHAWAJ – Omkar Dalavi
Indian Percussions – Shashank Joshi
Shehnai – Yogesh More
Sitar – Ravi Chari
Sarod – Sarang Kulkarni
Flute – Sandeep Kulkarni
String Section:-
1-Neville Franco – Violins
2-Lavine Da Costa – Cello & Double Bass
3- Abhijit Mazumdar – Violins
4-Chander Makwana – Violins
5-Raju Padhiyar – Violins
6-Sanjay Varma – Violas
7-Dharmendra H Jawda – Vviolas
Chorus : Darshana Jog, Amita Ghugari, Pranjali Barve, Bhagyashree Abhyankar, Poonam Godbole, Yash Gokhale, Hrishikesh Kelkar, Ajit Vispute, Saurabh Daftardar & Sandeep Ubale
Recording Engineer – Tushar Pandit, Adwait Walujkar (Dawn Infotainment) & Kittu Mayakkal (Soundideaz)
Assisted by Sanket Dhotkar & Ishan Devshtali
Mixed – Vijay Dayal (YRF)
Mastered by Donal Whelan at Hafod Mastering (Wales)
Song – Waata Waata Waata Ga
Singer – Priyanka Barve
Music – Hrishikesh, Saurabh & Jasraj
Lyricist – Vaibhav Joshi
Music Arranged By Hrishikesh, Saurabh & Jasraj
Tabla – Vikram Bhat & Sameer Puntambekar
Indian Percussions – Shashank Joshi
Shehnai – Yogesh More
Flute – Sandeep Kulkarni
Violin – Ishan Devsthali
Recording Engineer – Tushar Pandit, Adwait Walujkar
(Dawn Infotainment) & Kittu Mayakkal (Soundideaz)
Mixed – Tushar Pandit (Dawn Infotainment)
Mastered by Donal Whelan at Hafod Mastering (Wales)
Song – Anthem – Tu Ahes Na
Singers – Jasraj Joshi, Avadhoot Gupte, Rahul Deshpande, Adarsh Shinde & Rohit Raut
Music – Hrishikesh, Saurabh & Jasraj
Lyricist – Vaibhav Joshi
Song – Ghondal – Majhe Mauli
Singer – Jasraj Joshi
Music – Hrishikesh, Saurabh & Jasraj
Lyricist – Vaibhav Joshi
Music Arranged By Hrishikesh, Saurabh & Jasraj
Sambal – Haridas Shinde
Dholaki & Indian Percussion – Nagesh Bhosekar
Sanai – Yogesh More
Chorus – Yash Gokhale, Hrishikesh Kelkar, Swapnil Kulkarni & Sandeep Ubale
Recording Engineer – Tushar Pandit & Adwait Walujkar
(Dawn Infotainment)
Assisted by Sanket Dhotkar & Ishan Devshtali
Mixed – Tushar Pandit (Dawn Infotainment)
Mastered by Donal Whelan at Hafod Mastering (Wales)
Song – Tu Ahes Na
Singer – Pt. Sanjeev Abhyankar
Music – Hrishikesh, Saurabh & Jasraj
Lyricist – Vaibhav Joshi
Music Arranged By Hrishikesh, Saurabh & Jasraj
Pakhawaj – Omkar Dalvi
String Section:-
Neville Franco – Violins
Lavine da Costa – Cello & Double Bass
Abhijit Mazumdar – Violins
Chander Makwana – Violins
Raju Padhiyar. – Violins
Sanjay Varma – Violas
Dharmendra H Jawda – Violas
Chorus – Darshana Jog, Amita Ghugari, Pranjali Barve, Bhagyashree Abhyankar, Poonam Godbole, Yash Gokhale, Hrishikesh Kelkar, Ajit Vispute, Saurabh Daftardar & Sandeep Ubale
Children Chorus – Kedar Achyut Jog, Kanaee Nimishe, Tejas Pingale & Devi Lavekar
Recording Engineer – Tushar Pandit, Adwait Walujkar
(Dawn Infotainment) & Kittu Mayakkal
(Soundideaz)
Assisted by Sanket Dhotkar & Ishan Devshtali
Mixed – Tushar Pandit (Dawn Infotainment)
Mastered by Donal Whelan at Hafod Mastering (Wales)
