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Satte Pe Satta,
a Bollywood-ised version of the musical Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers boasted a fine assortment
of songs from the RDB/Bawra team. Each song exuded sheer
delight and merriment along with an infectious mix of
melody and rhythm. From the title song featuring mouth
percussion, to the situational jhukaa
ke sar ko, to zi.ndagii
mil ke bitaaye.nge
inspired
by the melody of the theme from The
Longest Day to the beach song mausam
mastaanaa, to the memorably rambunctious pyaar
hame.n kis mo.D pe le aayaa and pariyo.n
kaa melaa hai. As if indulging in percussive
experiments like a kid pleased with his toys was not
enough, RDB also snagged the services of a wide array of
voices from the familiar Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle and
Bhupinder, to familiars like Anand Kumar C and Dilraj
Kaur, to assistants Swapan and Basu and even lyricist
Bawra, besides lending his trademark vocals to four
tracks.
The
song for the fortnight, dilabar
mere while ostensibly the most harmless of the lot
boasts a catchy appealing melody set in a peppy jazz
waltz embellished with the usual RDB kitchen sink of
percussion. The lyrics have a lover telling the woman he
loves that her reciprocating his affections is
inevitable, that his love will fill her consciousness
every time she thinks of him. In otherwise simple
lyrics, Bawra manages a flourish with mai.n
aag dil me.n lagaa duu.Ngaa vo ki pal me.n pighal jaaoge.
The
first thing you hear on the song is a cowbell and then a
preluding turn from the tumba and the bass guitar. A
synthesizer plays out acid-toned chords as the drums
join in. The
string section joins in to exchange phrases with the
synthesizer. If you listen carefully, you can hear
chords played out on the guitar as well. Kishore begins
vocalising with a melodic phrase. The trumpet carries
the phrase forward, presents its response and closes the
prelude.
The
mukha.Daa begins in a minor key (Fm) and as Kishore goes
aise hii ta.Dapaaoge, RDB tosses in an outlier chord (F#). This excursion is
only momentary, however. The song switches to the key of
F major as Kishore begins with ik
din aayegaa, but we're back to Fm with pyaar
ho jaayegaa. All through this the bass guitar
accompanies the chord changes on the guitar, the strings
provide harmonic phrases, and the drums, tumba and
shakers provide percussive support.
The
first interlude is dominated by the string section. It opens with an exchange of phrases accompanied by the bass
guitar, acoustic guitar and shaker. This is followed by
a long melodic phrase played out by the string section
accompanied by the bass guitar, acoustic guitar, shaker,
tumba and the hi-hat. The section ends with a four note
return played out on the electric guitar complemented by
chords on the acoustic guitar.
The
harmonic and percussive components of the a.ntaraa are
just about the same as those in the mukha.Daa. While the
opening note of the melody (F) provides no hints, the
string harmonies accompanying the repetition of the
first two lines indicates that the a.ntaraa begins in F
major. The a.ntaraa returns to the minor key as Kishore
sings ghir jaaoge
aur bhii merii parachhaaiyo.n me.n. No surprises
during the turnaround to the mukha.Daa.
The
second interlude begins with a descending 1-5
progression (Fm/Eb/C#) pizzicato accompanied
by the shaker and chords on the acoustic guitar. The
strings play a rising swirling phrase whose peak is
followed by a percussive slap fed with reverb and
delayed echo whose decay is the only thing heard for
about a measure. Then Annette's ethereal voice begins
humming a melody accompanied by the shaker, acoustic
guitar and bass. A short fragment plays in response on
the flute before a bass slide introduces a continuation
played on the trumpet. The strings take up the baton and
end the fragment, joined by the synthesizer in the last
four measures.
The
second a.ntaraa follows the pattern of the first one.
The final rendition of the mukha.Daa ends with the
melody of pal me.n
pighal jaaoge being whistled out as the song fades
to a close.
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