Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Music: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Lyrics: AM Turaz and Vibhu Puri
Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Monikangana Dutta, Rajit Kapoor and Shernaz Patel

I must say that there is finally a soundtrack that made me sit down and listen to the nuances of fine poetry and music intrinsically linked, after a long time. Take my verdict; It’s going to be one of the best Bollywood soundtracks. Before I get into the beauty of each track, let me give you an introduction to Guzaarish’s incredible music.

Does music have to do with ragas and notes? No, music needs to have a soul. Being able to appreciate good music in itself is a great virtue; you are hurt with just that ability. These days, music has become sounds, lacking soul and aesthetics. Having good taste in books, art, dance and all other things can improve the ability to enjoy good music. Being a great director himself, Mr. Sanjay could also bring the same brilliance to his music. The melodies are as simple as it sounds; however, the end result is nothing short of magic.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a great director, at least when it comes to aesthetics. He is a multifaceted artist. We have seen that he has very good taste in beauty in general. He watches his movies, his larger-than-life sets, beautiful dresses and hairstyles, the unforgettable songs and dances. We even heard that he choreographed a song for 1942: A Love Story when he was an assistant director. In short, he was good at everything he did. However, he wasn’t too sure when I heard that he composed the Guzaarish songs; I thought it was his insistence on trying everything (yes, sometimes some creative people think they’re really good at everything…which is far from the truth in most cases, I must say). I also knew that he was instrumental in extracting good music from Jatin Lalit, Ismail Darbar and Monty Sharma in the past. But this was not enough to convince me that he could be a good music director.

Vishal Bharadwaj is another great music director and director and Sanjay Leela Bhansali joins the list of successful music directors and directors with Guzaarish. As I said, the melodies are simple, but there are other elements that take this to another level. There are few average melodies, but the arrangement, the pure passion and the classical touch make them special.

For the merit of their lyrics and music, I am going to award points to each of these 10 tracks and start from the 10th track.

10) Jaane Kiske Khwaab (7.5/10)

Singer: KK

This track conveys the soft vibe of the film. However, there isn’t much to go gaga about on this track.

9) Daayein Baayein (7.8/10)

Singer: KK

This song reminds us of KK’s songs on Kites. It is one of the positive songs on the album with a happy disposition. Although the melody is nothing extraordinary, the arrangement makes for a good track. The guitar is used in a really beautiful way throughout the song.

8) Cha and Ki Katori (8.2/10)

Singer: Harshdeep Kaur

Yes, indeed a beautiful track. There is this melancholy mood throughout this composition. It should be appreciated that Bhansali kept minimal instruments here.

7) Udi Udi (8.3/10)

Singers: Sunidhi Chauhan and Shail Hada

Well, this song has already become a hit on the charts since the song’s promo came out a few weeks ago with Aishwarya Rai dancing to the beautiful melody. We have also seen the making of the song where Sanjay Leela Bhansali composed the melody in the sets. The entire arrangement of the song is Western. It’s a wonderful good number.

6) Keh Na Saku (8.4/10)

Singer: Shail Fairy

Starting from this song, the album enters a very rare but beautiful musical field. The lyrics are painfully romantic and remind us of Mohammad Rafi’s old numbers. Shail fairy!! What a voice!! Well, Saawariya’s title song bled. But this time he rules this album even surpassing experienced singer like KK. The piano arrangement is really noteworthy.

5) Guzaarish (8.5/10)

Singers: KK and Shail Hada

The title track has an old world charm when it comes to instruments. KK is really soothing to the ears in this slow number. Shail Hada provides extensive support and the violin part! Fantastic!! The background dialogues add to the overall appeal of the song.

4) Dhundhli Dhundhli (8.7/10)

Singer: Shankar Mahadewan

First of all, fantastic arrangement!! This song reminded me of ‘Jaage Hai’ by ARRahman from GURU. Heartbreaking violin, once again! Shankar Mahadevan is top notch in adding poignancy to this beautifully orchestrated song. It also bears a resemblance to the 1942 fantasy score: A Love Story.

3) Sau Gram Zindagi (8.8/10)

Singers: Kunal Ganjawala

Well, this is one of the most innovative songs in recent times, although the tune is very Indian and has been inspired by many other songs; the orchestration is out of this world!! Beautiful lyrics too. The way the song progresses to the end is really brilliant. Yes, the ending will take your breath away!! Drop into soft rock mode towards the end and you’ll end up dancing to the beautiful music! Well done Sanjay Leela Bhansali sir! A masterful creation and Kunal Ganjawala lived up to the beauty of the song.

2) Saiba (8.9/10)

Singers: Vibhavari Joshi, Francois Castellino and Shail Hada

Well, amazing song. I wonder if Bollywood has ever tasted Latin style so well before. You will instantly fall in love with 2 things in this song, the guitar part and Vibhavari’s voice. It’s hard not to start spinning your body to the slow but lovely rhythm of the melody. After a point, you wish this song would never end!

And here comes the winner

1) Tera Zikr (9/10)

Singers: Shail Hada and Rakesh Pandit

Although Sanjay Leela Bhansali arranged the songs mostly in Western style, how can he forget the classical Indian touch? Yeah, he makes up for it with this song. Well, no other male singer could create such a lasting impression in recent times, Shail Hada is amazingly talented. Also, the song sounded very original to me, I don’t remember hearing something so unique in a long time. The deep spiritual touch will touch you instantly. This song is able to take you to a completely different world for a few moments. The beauty of the Sufi style is everywhere and there is something magical about this song. Bhansali very cleverly combined a lot of intrinsic elements in this song, making it an instant winner! This song is very Indian and invokes many beautiful feelings throughout. Nothing short of magical!!

Great album overall; the featured numbers are Sau Gram Zindagi, Saiba and Tera Zikr. Very well done Sanjay Sir. I really didn’t expect this…

Overall Rating 8.4/10