#8 Aandhi: Top 100 Bollywood Albums

Music: R.D. Burman

Lyrics: Gulzar

Label: Saregama HMV

Director: Gulzar

Directed by Gulzar, Aandhi was plagued with controversy over the alleged similarity of its central character (performed by Suchitra Sen) with Indira Gandhi. The movie even got banned, weeks after its release. Of course, none of this stopped the movie from garnering a cult following, thanks to the master lyricist's superlative direction, top performances from the lead cast and of course the songs, created by RD Burman and Gulzar. Burman's soundscape here was solemn for most part, providing the ideal canvas for the composer to display his adeptness with classically-inclined melodic pieces. The only vocal track that deviated from the pensive mood were Gulzar's cutting satire aimed at politicians titled Salaam Kijiye; composer set this to a qawwali-based arrangement.

Best Song of Aandhi: All three of the soundtrack's best songs were Kishore Kumar-Lata Mangeshkar duets, and my favourite among them is Tere Bina Zindagi Se; Gulzar is in sublime form here, both as lyricist and director – the fact that he does not make Suchitra Sen or Sanjeev Kumar mouth the words of the song, rather letting their expressions do the talking, is a touch of genius. Musical highlights of the song were Pancham's haunting melody, the singers both being on top of their game, and Jairam Acharya's sitar that makes a prominent appearance in the backdrop.

1. Tere Bina Zindagi Se (Singers: Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar)
2. Tum Aa Gaye Ho (Singers: Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar)
3. Iss Mod Se Jaate Hain (Singers: Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar)
4. Salaam Kijiye (Singers: Mohammed Rafi, Amit Kumar & Bhupinder Singh)
5. Title Music (Instrumental)

Listen to the entire album of Aandhi here:

(With contributions by Praveen VR, co-founder of musicaloud.com; information party sourced from myswar.com)

#9 JEWEL THIEF: TOP 100 BOLLYWOOD ALBUMS