The mesmerizingly lilting and vaudevillian Dil to bachcha hai is reminiscent of the Raj Kapoor era, but a more pronounced inspiration seems to be Webber’s Cats tune, Memories – the prelude, in particular, is shockingly uncredited, and similar. Ibn-e-batuta’s joyously unrestrained pigeon-call and the interesting duet featuring Sukhwinder and Mika is vintage Vishal-Gulzar material. Out of the two songs by Rekha Bharadwaj, Badi dheere’s subtle cross-over from its Farida Khanum’ish base is more evolved than the more conventional ghazal-like Ab mujhe koi, which, by that very nature is more approachable. Usual musical treat from Vishal barring that niggling Memories quibble.
Keywords: Vishal Bhardwaj, Gulzar, Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan
