#62 Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam: Top 100 Bollywood Albums

Music: Ismail Darbar

Lyrics: Mehboob

Label: T-Series

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

In my writeup about Khamoshi I mentioned that Sanjay Leela Bhansali movies have over time developed a distinctive musical sound. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was the beginning of that transformation – the songs were marked by grand orchestration, mostly infusing classical or folk (Gujarati, in particular) elements into a contemporary setting. Bhansali chose Ismail Darbar for the job, and the man made a National award winning debut out of it, working with lyricist Mehboob who was largely known for his work in A R Rahman soundtracks dubbed into Hindi. Darbar used a fine lineup of singers for the soundtrack, but one of the most significant aspects to me in this is the fact that he prominently employed Shankar Mahadevan in a classical fusion setting. Barring the odd song like Breathless until then, the singer did not become actively involved in the fusion scene until early 2000s to my knowledge.

Best Song of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam: The person other than Ismail Darbar who most benefited from the soundtrack was perhaps singer KK. The man had debuted in the industry a while back but truly arrived with Tadap Tadap Ke that would easily rate among his career best renditions.

1. Chand Chupa Badal Mein (Singers: Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik)
2. Nimbooda (Singers: Karsan Sagathia, Kavita Krishnamurthy)
3. Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyan (Singers: Kavita Krishnamurthy, Kumar Sanu)
4. Man Mohini (Singer: Shankar Mahadevan)
5. Jhonka Hawa Ka (Singers: Kavita Krishnamurthy, Hariharan)
6. Dholi Taro Dhol Bhaje (Singers: Kavita Krishnamurthy, Vinod Rathod, Karsan Sagathia)
7. Tadap Tadap (Singers: K.K., Dominique Cerejo)
8. Albela Sajan (Singers: Kavita Krishnamurthy, Ustad Sultan Khan, Shankar Mahadevan)
9. Kaipoche (Singers: Damayanti Bardai, Jyotsana Hardikar, K.K., Shankar Mahadevan)
10. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (Singers: Kavita Krishnamurthy, Mohammed Salamat, Dominique Cerejo)
11. Love Theme (Instrumental)

Listen to the entire album of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam here:

(With contributions by Praveen VR, co-founder of musicaloud.com)

#63 SAFAR: TOP 100 BOLLYWOOD ALBUMS