RMIM Puraskaar 2007  

Top Albums

Rank
Album Music Director(s) Lyricist(s)
1
Taare Zameen Par Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Shailendra Barve Prasoon Joshi, Amol Gupte
2
Saawariya Monty, Sanjay Leela Bhansali Sameer, Nusrat Badr, Sandeep Nath
3
Guru A R Rahman Gulzar
4
Khoya Khoya Chand Shantanu Moitra Swanand Kirkire
5
Om Shanti Om Vishal-Shekhar Javed Akhtar, Vishal Dadlani
6
Water A R Rahman Sukhwinder Singh
7
No Smoking Vishal Bhardwaj Gulzar
8
Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. Vishal-Shekhar Javed Akhtar
9
Aaja Nachle Salim-Sulaiman Piyush Mishra, Jaideep Sahni
10
Life In A Metro Pritam Sayeed Quadri, Amitabh Verma

Other notable albums: Jab We Met, The Blue Umbrella, Chak De India, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Anwar 

Back to 2007 Puraskaar Home

Top Songs

Rank
Album Song Singers Music Director Lyricist Jury Comments
1.
Taare Zameen Par maa.N Shankar Mahadevan Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Prasoon Joshi

This song really brings tears to the eye. The lyrics are simple yet touching! Everyone can relate to them. -Aditya

A wonderful example of intimate micing (popularized in recent times by Shantanu Moitra!). Very touching words. -Chetan

'par a.Ndhere se Darataa huu.N mai.n maa.N' - How can anybody not be moved by these words? -Karthik

A child's emotional insecurities superbly depicted by Prasoon. -Manish

2.
Taare Zameen Par taare zamii.n par Shankar Mahadevan, Dominique Cerejo, Vivienne Pocha Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Prasoon Joshi

The lyrics are extremely evocative. They have Gulzar like abstractions, but still strikingly original. The chorus sections are heart warming. -Aditya

One of the most apt title songs in a film last year. -Karthik

Simple flowing, meaningful lyrics. -Manish

3.
Water aayo re sakhii Sukhwinder Singh, Sadhana Sargam A R Rahman Sukhwinder Singh I feel strongly that it is one of the best album of the year. This particular song has more 'music' than some of the other songs in the album, but vocals are always at the forefront. It might seem monotonous in terms of the same line repeating endlessly, but the subtle variations get revealed everytime i listen to this song. Awesome! -Aditya
4.
Khoya Khoya Chand kyuu.N khoye khoye chaa.Nd Swanand Kirkire, Ajay Jhingran Shantanu Moitra Swanand Kirkire

Amazing lyrics - a clever tribute to Majaaz - the poet. -Aditya

The mukha.Daa for the track is one of the most refreshing things to come out of 2007. -George

5.
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom dhaage to.D ... bol na halke halke Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Mahalaxmi Iyer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Gulzar

Good packaging. Decent tune and singing. Nice progression and finishing. -Chetan

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan gets a wonderful song to exercise his vocal chords. -George

As good as Mithoon's Tose naina laage. SEL dig amazingly into a raag that I could identify in Carnatic as 'Reetigowlai' - lovely work! -Karthik

I think I like Mahalaxmi's voice as much as SEL themselves do. -UVR

6.
Life In A Metro in dino.n Soham Pritam Sayeed Quadri

Despite a small 'inspiration' from a pakistani song, Pritam has added a lot of his own touch to make this one of the best songs of 2007. The antaras are absolutely mindblowing. Soham's singing is top notch, so are the lyrics. -Aditya

Great tune. Could be a case of over-arranging, but still carries through. Wonderful singing. Words are also good and fit the tune nicely. -Chetan

One of the best song of the year in all aspects. -Yunus

6.
Guru tere binaa beswaadii A R Rahman, Chinmayee A R Rahman Gulzar

The 'dam daara' refrain is the highlight of this song. Add to that Gulzar's penchant for using unusual words like be-swadi. -Aditya

Love the tune. Singing could have been better. -Chetan

Rahman's second ace in Guru - delightful music. -Karthik

'tere bina sonaa peetal, tere sang keekar peepal!' Gulzar at or near his best! :) -UVR

8.
Guru ai hairat-e-aashiqii Hariharan, Alka Yagnik A R Rahman Gulzar

The best song of the album. Hariharan sings very well, interspresing the song with interesting murkis every now and then. -Aditya

The lovely opening refrain and the break into festive guitar-backed dance make this song work; Alka Yagnik seems like a weak choice given Hariharan's presence, but she passes muster; the accordion works wonderfully in the interludes. -George

Awesome combination of Rahman's resonant music, Harihran's vocals and Gulzar's words. -Karthik

A combo of Ghazal and Qawwali. Nice composition, amazing singing. -Yunus

8.
No Smoking jab bhii sigareT Adnan Sami Vishal Bhardwaj Gulzar

A jazzy number, the base guitar in the background and the brass pieces that punctuate the vocals are out of this world. Lyrics are top class - typically Gulzar and go well with the surreal nature of the film. -Aditya

Appropriate singing, though a bit overdone. Adnan is a lot better than his usual low-complexity stuff! -Chetan

10.
Taare Zameen Par kholo kholo Raman Mahadevan Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Prasoon Joshi Another song with a Pink Floyd feel. The lyrics are top class, especially "baarish kaa ghar bhii paas hai" or "zindagii to hai bataashaa"?what ineterstingly abstract metaphors. -Aditya
10.
No Smoking kash lagaa Sukhwinder Singh, Daler Mehndi, Vishal Bhardwaj Vishal Bhardwaj Gulzar

Composed almost like a qawaali, but the orchestration (especially the violin pieces in the interludes) is very different. The songs takes time to get used to but after a few listenings hooks you on hopelessly. What lovely lines - 'ye jahaan faanii hai, bulabulaa hai paanii hai' -Aditya

Good elements in the song. Starts a little weak but the "qawwali" type - yet original - setting picks up and gets quite groovy. Vishal's singing is blah. The other 2 rock. -Chetan

Vishal and Gulzar manage a coup yet again as they explore the dark, hypnotic world of the smoker where shards of light are drawn through curtains of smoke. -George

Lyrics that only Gulzar can conceive, handled incredibly by Vishal's music and the vocal trio carry it brilliantly. -Karthik

10.
Water piyaa ho Sadhana Sargam A R Rahman Sukhwinder Singh

Beautiful composition that captures the longing for love. Minimal orchestration. -Aditya

Haunting melody. Good re-interpretation of classical. Liked the chorus refrain. -Chetan

10.
Water nainaa niir bahaae Sadhana Sargam A R Rahman Sukhwinder Singh A lament beautifully captured by Sadhana Sargam. Sounds like a simple melody, but the subtle variations are great. -Aditya
14.
The Blue Umbrella niilii aasamaanii chhatarii Upagna Pandya Vishal Bhardwaj Gulzar

Minimalist composition in terms of orchestration, the violin pieces have an operatic touch. -Aditya

Great singing considering they are kids! Good composing and arrangement. Liked the imagery. -Chetan

15.
Jab We Met aaoge jab tum Ustad Rashid Khan Sandesh Shandilya Irshad Kamil

Although relegated to just one song on the soundtrack, Sandesh Shandilya employed Ustad Rashid Khan's trained voice in a soft ballad that bathes in a fusion of styles and sounds, but unfortunately doesn't seem to exploit the classical stalwart as much as it should have (it seems reminiscent of a similar exercise in 'Kisna', the film that marked the first appearance of Ustad Rashid Khan on a Bollywood soundtrack) -George

Rashid Khan is a better singer than this, but it's still the best song from the film. -UVR

15.
Anwar maulaa mere maulaa Roopkumar Rathod Mithoon Sayeed Quadri

My favourite song in 2007. The sufiana feeling is so well captured by the tune and the azaan-like call of "ishq hai" in the backdrop, and the chant of "maula mere maula" in the foreground. I absolutely love the sarangi in the second interlude, which seamlessly blends into flute. -Aditya

Mithoon snags a coup with these meditative songs aided by some fine singing. -George

One of Roop Kumar Rathod's best in 2007. Incredibly beautiful imagination by Mithoon. -Karthik

15.
Salaam-E-Ishq yaa rabba Kailash Kher Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Sameer Best song of the album. Great lyrics, and sung very well. -Aditya
18.
The Blue Umbrella meraa Tesuu yahii.n kha.Daa Upagna Pandya, Sahiti, Aparna, Sneha Vishal Bhardwaj Gulzar

When it comes to "nonsense" children songs, there is no one who can match Gulzar. -Aditya

It would seem that the Vishal/Gulzar combination can do no wrong when it comes to songs for films for children. -George

18.
Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd halke halke ra.ng chhalake Neeraj Sridhar Vishal-Shekhar Javed Akhtar Nice tune. Little over-arranged, but a good effort from the MDs. Good singing. -Chetan
18.
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom jhuum baraabar Shankar Mahadevan Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Gulzar Very catchy (and hence popular). High energy track. Great packaging and singing. -Chetan
18.
Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd sajanaa jii vaarii vaarii Sunidhi Chauhan, Shekhar Ravjiani Vishal-Shekhar Javed Akhtar

Spunky singing from Sunidhi. Tune is decent and has come together well with the arrangement etc. Quite a rage. -Chetan

AWESOME singing by Sunidhi! -UVR

22.
Chak De India maulaa mere le le merii jaan Krishna, Salim Merchant Salim-Sulaiman Jaideep Sahni

Sounds dangerously close in tune and feel to 'laaka.D' from Omkaara. Otherwise an evocative song. -Aditya

All departments deliver. Krishna is a revealation although the "sufish" genre has become quite a fad these days. -Chetan

The lyrics get splendid treatment from Salim-Sulaiman's arrangement and Krishna's impassioned vocals. -George

22.
Life In A Metro alavidaa K.K. Pritam Amitabh Verma

Great song, very rockish in composition, sung expertly by KK. The guitar work is amazing. -Aditya

Pritam at his best. -Karthik

22.
Om Shanti Om ajab sii K.K. Vishal-Shekhar Vishal Dadlani Vishal and Shekar return to ballads with this gentle dulcet song that doesn't sound mawkish or drenched in romantic arrangements thanks to interludes that employ Naveen's flute, African-inspired chorus melodies and a lovingly mastered guitar. -George
22.
Eklavya: The Royal Guard cha.ndaa re Hamsika Iyer Shantanu Moitra Swanand Kirkire

Nice texture. Interesting new voice - slight tendency to overemote. Overall effect is good. -Chetan

The vocal channels S. D. Burman in the lyricless refrain and the percussion strongly echoes 'meghaa chhaaye' from Sharmilee. -George

For some reason, I LOVED this song! -UVR

22.
Anwar tose naina laage Khsitij, Shilpa Rao Mithoon Sayeed Quadri

Another brilliant song that takes one to the spiritual level. Borrows a line of tune from the maula mere maula but to great effect. -Aditya

Very atmospheric song. Kshitij alone might have earned a better score from me. -Chetan

Mithoon's best in 2007 - and just about beats any composer last year. -Karthik

27.
Taare Zameen Par jame raho Vishaal Dadlani Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Prasoon Joshi Very Pink Floydian in composition, the starting almost reminds me of 'Time' by Pink Floyd. The point where the songs changes its mood (yahaa.N alag andaaz hai.n) gives me goosebumps. -Aditya
27.
Taare Zameen Par meraa jahaa.N Adnan Sami, Auriel Cardo, Ananya Wadkar (backing vocals: Suraj, Shailendra Barve) (kids choir: gleehive) Shailendra Barve Amole Gupte Cute singing from the little girl (Suresh Wadkar's daughter). -Chetan
27.
The Blue Umbrella parbato.n pe barfaa.N barfaa.N Sukhwinder Singh Vishal Bhardwaj Gulzar A good song, falls short of being a classic. The complex tune is rendered well by Sukhwinder, but Gulzar's poetry is the highpoint. -Aditya
27.
Guru baraso re Shreya Ghoshal, Uday Mazumdar A R Rahman Gulzar A complex tune negotiated well by Shreya Ghoshal. -Aditya
27.
Water ba.ngarii marorii Sukhwinder Singh A R Rahman Sukhwinder Singh This is how a thumri should appear in films. Virtually no orchestration, only sukhwinder's voice shines through all the inctricacies of the composition. I personally feel zora-zori should have been replaced by jora-jori given the language of the song. -Aditya
27.
Guru mayyaa Maryem Toller, Chinmayee, Keerthi A R Rahman Gulzar

The Arabic feel is well captured by the music. The singer is good, but her pronunciation makes Gulzar's lyrics difficult to follow. -Aditya

Quite the rage. Interesting middle-eastern touch blending into Indian folk. Singing could have been better. -Chetan

An interesting mix of Turkish music and Gujarati folk. -George

Outstanding song! The odd diction makes it that much more interesting :). -UVR

This is an underrated song. It's not just an item number. Beautiful lyrics and brilliant singing. -Yunus

27.
Saawariya jab se tere nainaa Shaan Monty Sameer Pleasant composition. -Chetan
34.
Manorama Six Feet Under tere sawaalo.n ke wo jawaab Roopkumar Rathod, Mahalaxmi Iyer Jayesh Gandhi Manoj Tapadia

Interesting composition, stretched the (male) singer a tad too much. -Chetan

Jayesh Gandhi dresses Manoj Tapadia's lyrics in an aurally soothing pop ballad mix complete with the passing dominant seventh, a major seventh and a diminished seventh; Roopkumar Rathod and Mahalaxmi Iyer trade vocal finesse; the interludes are delicious. -George

Small film, big song. Impressive. -Yunus

35.
Black Friday ba.nde Indian Ocean Indian Ocean Piyush Mishra

Song fits perfectly with the theme of the film. Structured like a rock song with elements of Indian classical music well integrated. -Aditya

It's a pity that so much time (more than two years) passed since the soundtrack's release before the film hit the marquee; Indian Ocean's uniquely eclectic music blends jazz and Indian classical idioms (among other elements) to lend Piyush Mishra's dark lyrics an ineluctable pitch black texture of sombre mood. -George

35.
No Smoking phuu.Nk de Sukhwinder Singh Vishal Bhardwaj Gulzar

The opening lines 'peele peele se jungle me.n?' are wonderful. Very surreal but so vividly visual. -Aditya

A slightly weak beginning. Picks up well later. -Chetan

35.
Jab We Met tum se hii Mohit Chauhan Pritam Irshad Kamil

Liked the singing, decently composed song. -Chetan

This is one of the most beautifully written songs this year. Mohit's singing is great. -Yunus

35.
Saawariya saa.Nwariyaa Shail Hada Monty Sameer

Nice composition, sung very well by Shail Hada. -Aditya

Impressed with the new entrant singer. Should rate him higher but for some rough edges! -Chetan

The arrangements are pleasant for this catchy melody, Shail Hada threatens to be a Kunal Ganjawala clone and the appearance of Bb as an accidental chord for colour in the a.ntaraas jars a bit. -George

39.
No Smoking ye aish Tre Deva Sen Gupta Vishal Bhardwaj Gulzar

Starts of with operatic vocals, before the rich baritone of the singer takes over. The faint echoes in the song gives it an ominous feel. Lyrics are flat-out classic. -Aditya

Deva Sen Gupta's 'ash tray' is the quiet winner with a chorus (dhuaa.N dhuaa.N) that rises from the dark recesses of the song's ambience in what is probably the most compelling metaphor for smoke ever arranged in 2007. -George

39.
Khoya Khoya Chand o re paakhii Sonu Nigam Shantanu Moitra Swanand Kirkire Starts with a beautiful piano piece before Sonu's soulful vocals take over. The rabindra sangeet influences work well for this song. But the highlight are Sonu's soulful vocals, probably his best ever. -Aditya
39.
Water shyaam ra.ng bhar do Richa Sharma, Naqeeb Alam, Surjo Bhattacharya A R Rahman Sukhwinder Singh

A Holi song that is adequate but pales in comparison with other songs in this album. Somehow, it feels very contemporary and lacks the period feel. -Aditya

Didn't quite capture the festive mood of Holi! Decent song nevertheless. -Chetan

39.
Khoya Khoya Chand chale aao saiyaa.N Shreya Ghoshal Shantanu Moitra Swanand Kirkire Very well composed Thumri. Shreya really shines through, however she should have been a little careful about how she pronounces the word "paruu.N"?.she starts with "paruu.N" and later switches to "Pa.Duu.N". While the correct Hindi word is "Pa.Duu.N", in a thumri like this 'paruu.N" is more appropriate. -Aditya
39.
Khoya Khoya Chand ye nigaahe.n Sonu Nigam, Antara Choudhury Shantanu Moitra Swanand Kirkire

Nice retro song. Singing is good in spite of some rough edges. -Chetan

Like it, despite the 'jingle bell rock' inspiration. -UVR

39.
Khoya Khoya Chand sakhii piyaa Pranav Biswas, Shreya Ghoshal Shantanu Moitra Swanand Kirkire

There's not much by way of lyrics, but this song is meant to be a classical bandish, rendered well by the singers, esp. Shreya. -Aditya

The composition does not come together as well as it should have. Singing is decent. -Chetan

39.
Cheeni Kum chiinii kam hai Shreya Ghoshal Ilaiyaraaja Sameer

Illaiyaraja's music comes as a breath of fresh air. Though this version of his original song from Mouna Ragam is very 'electronic' it has the same charm. In typical Illaiyaraja fashion, while the mukhra is designed to be catchy, the antaras are extremely involved in their composition. Shreya as always adds that extra sweetness to this song that is ironically called "cheenii kam". The lyrics, however, are disappointing. -Aditya

The maestro reuses his old tunes, but casts them into a new electronic offering; the saxophone and the percussion add to the appeal of the melody of chiinii kam. -George

39.
Jab We Met maujaa.N hii maujaa.N Mika Singh Pritam Irshad Kamil High energy song. Delivers. -Chetan
47.
Guru jaage hai.n Chitra, A R Rahman A R Rahman Gulzar Very evocative lyrics. When Rahman starts singing, first in a whisper then at a very high pitch, the song gets lifted to a highly emotional level. -Aditya
47.
Taare Zameen Par bam bam bole Shaan, Aamir Khan Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Prasoon Joshi  
47.
Guru shauq hai Sowmya Rao A R Rahman Gulzar

A very 'western' song in structure, but the music never overshadows the singer or lyrics. -Aditya

Sounds like something else (?). Very soothing sound. Good composition. -Chetan

It's a pity this song got left out of the official soundtrack release. -George

47.
Life In A Metro rishte James Pritam Sayeed Quadri James serving a classic in his inimitable vocals again with pritam. -Karthik
47.
Nishabd rozaanaa Amitabh Bachchan Vishal Bhardwaj Munna Dhiman

Sung with great feeling by Amitabh, the rawness in his voice works well in the song. Well-composed by Vishal. -Aditya

With a blend of U2 and Dire Straits, Vishal exploits the most famous baritone in Bollywood to trace an ambitious melody of highs and lows along with the dangling whispery strands of dissonance that are on their way to becoming a trademark of this talented composer; Munna Dhiman's lyrics manage to make the most of simplicity. -George

47.
Om Shanti Om mai.n agar kahuu.N Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal Vishal-Shekhar Javed Akhtar

Good words. Good singing. Decent tune. -Chetan

It's been a while since the 3/4 song, a staple of a lot of romantic movies in the 80s and 90s and Vishal-Shekhar usher it in with faithful flourishes reminiscent of Shankar-Jaikishen while mixing in the sa.ntuur, the guitar and lush strings. -George

47.
Saawariya tho.De badamaash Shreya Ghoshal Sanjay Leela Bhansali Nusrat Badr Sung very well by Shreya, but the tune has a heard-before ring to it. Seems like the basic notes of a raga with no variation. -Aditya
54.
Chak De India chak de chak de Sukhwinder Singh, Salim Merchant, Marianne D'Cruz Salim-Sulaiman Jaideep Sahni

What can one say about the song that became the Anthem for the country! It's not a great song, but it does succeed in drawing emotions of the people. Lyrics are very good. I also like the faint sounds of the sarangi at the start. -Aditya

Sukhwinder Singh's enthusiastic rendition and the foot-stomping arrangement lend colour to Jaideep Sahni's motivation song-cum-paen to the land. -George

54.
Just Married gudagudii kar ga_ii Sunidhi Chauhan Pritam Gulzar

Simple tune embellished with nice guitar and sax pieces. Gulzar's lyrics are the highpoint. Sunidhi does well in a soft number. -Aditya

Low-entropy song! Wish Sunidhi had been allowed more body in her voice. There are other ways of giving an intimate feel to the song! This is a clear blemish. -Chetan

54.
Om Shanti Om jag suunaa suunaa laage Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Richa Sharma Vishal-Shekhar Javed Akhtar

Richa Sharma sets the ideal mood for this song. Once Rahat Fateh Ali Khan starts, you know what to expect. The tune has a lot of ups and downs which Rahat Fateh Ali Khan negotiates well. I like the variations he brings to "jag soona soona laage". Honestly, I found the inclusion of the OSO theme in the interlude a bit of an overkill, because Richa sharma started with the same tune. -Aditya

RFAK delivers. -Chetan

Richa Sharma's throaty opening leads to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's anguished voice in a track backed by an electronic Dafalii, gentle touches of the electric guitar and the ghu.Ngharuu. -George

54.
Saawariya yuu.N shabanamii Parthiv Gohil Monty Sandeep Nath

Another intricate composition that sounds very easy, but the subtle murkis and other elements (like the extra softness while pronouncing the word shabnami) are nicely rendered by Parthiv Gohil. The change in pace from the qawwali like form to the antara sounds abrupt at first, but is perfectly in sync with the picturization. -Aditya

The build-up and the ending are good. The singing is also good from another "newcomer". -Chetan

54.
Om Shanti Om dard-e-Disko Sukhwinder Singh, Marianne, Nisha, Caralisa Vishal-Shekhar Javed Akhtar

Between the composition and the singing, the song comes out well. Lyrics are (deliberately?) corny. -Chetan

An enthusiastic unyielding beat with Middle-Eastern arrangements and Sukhwinder Singh's energetic vocals lend Javed Akhtar's nonsense lyrics the right fillip. -George

59.
Aaja Nachle aajaa nachale Sunidhi Chauhan Salim-Sulaiman Piyush Mishra Has a rustic feel, especialy with the iktara sound. Lyrics are good. Sunidhi's rendition surprisingly lacks energy. -Aditya
59.
Saawariya maashaa allaah Kunal Ganjawala, Shreya Ghoshal Monty Sameer Good singing from Kunal. -Chetan

Back to 2007 Puraskaar Home


Vinay P Jain. Send feedback to giitaayan at gmail dot com. March 2008.