Mr. Singh Mrs. Mehta!

Oh yes! You remember something like this title. Not able to recall completely? Well to help you, this is a Bollywood movie released in 2010. Yes now you are recalling something. Mr. Singh Mrs. Mehta – a movie, which made news for the nude scenes by its leading lady, Aruna Shields. However there was not only this, what was offered by the movie. The movie had a very nice and unusual storyline backed up by a few good performances (Prroshant Narayanan, Naved Aslam), along with some awful too (Aruna Shields). But still hats off to the director Pravesh Bhardwaj for making such a bold yet mature movie. Though I feel that the movie was quite slow and becomes dull at some times, but still it has got few moments which were nicely scripted and shot. Things like a man painting the toe nails of a woman are brilliantly portrayed. Another notable thing is that though the title is Mr. Singh Mrs. Mehta, the main protagonists of the movie are Mrs. Singh and Mr. Mehta. Now it is unsaid in the movie that the story revolves around these two only because of their respective spouses. This justifies the unusual title for me. Both these characters start off as the cheated victims but later on, they find themselves as the cheaters. But the most notable and appreciable aspect of the movie is the music. It has got some excellent ghazals which do not hold back the already slow movie but actually contribute to the move and mood of the movie. I had not listened the songs before watching the movie but when I encountered them in the movie I pitied on them. Scored by Grammy-nominated sitarist Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan and Shaarang Dev Pandit, son of Pandit Jasraj, the soundtrack of Mr. Singh Mrs. Mehta joins the list, where some very good music did not get its deserved acclaim because the movie went unnoticed. The album comprises of 6 vocals tracks and 4 instrumentals and anyone will be hooked to it, at least I am. Add to that the lyrics by Amitabh Verma doubles the delight.

 

• Ai Khuda – Sung by Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan himself, this ghazals reminds of 80s. sung with ease and in a very sophisticated way. Very smooth and once you listen to it 4-5 times you will not realize when it captured your lips. Nice lyrics too. My pick of lyrics is ‘deewangi ki yeh intehaa…tanhaa bhari mehfil mein hain…’

• Baarhaan Dil Mein – This has two versions, male and female. The female version, carrying the melodious voice of Shreya Ghoshal, immediately grabs the liking, while it takes some time and repeated play for the male version, sung by KK, to make its way into your heart. Both versions have very less use of instruments to bring up the effect of vocals and lyrics. My pick of the lyrics is ‘dil hai bezaar jism bejaan hai, koi ehsaas hi nahi baaki…na ye aankhein ye soch ke hui nam, humsafar to naa they kabhi tum hum…’

• Fariyaad Hai – A good blend of folk and Sufi. Richa Sharma has sung this kind earlier too and this one is no different but still its a good listen.

• Behoshi Nasha Khushboo – Aaaah a familiar voice! Is that Udit Narayan, along with Shreya Ghoshal? So good to hear him after a long time. A lovely breezy melody, with the signature voice and style of Udit Narayan. My pick of the lyrics is ‘bheege hain paseene mein…thandi si jalan hai, saanson mein…’

• Ajnabi Aankhein – starts with flute in a haunting manner, and then it goes to another league of songs known as ‘Roop Kumar Rathod Songs’. His mature and soothing voice, along with the flute takes the song to a completely different level. The use of guitar just after the mukhda also takes you by surprise but adds only to the goodness of the song.

 

This is not a movie/music review and frankly speaking I am not expert at it too. This is just a small effort to make people aware of some very good movie/music which got lost due to insufficient promotion and unawareness. Do watch this movie for the director Pravesh Bhardwaj, who took the courage to break the ice and made such a bold and sensuous movie on infidelity. Do watch the movie for Prroshant Narayanan, who gives yet another brilliant performance. Imagine a husband who knows that his wife is cheating on him but yet he loves her so much that he find himself helpless and cannot discuss this with her. Such complexity of the character is essayed simply by Prroshant Narayanan. And above all, do watch the movie for its background score and perfectly timed and equally brilliant songs. An album you can just listen on and on and on for its melody, lyrics and the effect it creates when you are listening to it…alone!