Because I'd been kind of busy lately, I'd not actually got around to listening to the Aladin soundtrack -- I've heard what snips there are in the trailer, and a bit of the "Genie Rap" (which I love), but it took a post by Aspi of Aspi's Drift, in which he discussed Vishal Dadlani, who along with Shekhar Ravjiani composed the soundtrack, to actually get me to head over to the Bollywood Hungama site to listen to it on streaming.
And I was struck by something.
Okay, first of all, I love the whole soundtrack. Love it. I am so buying it when my next DVD order goes in.
But while most of it is fun and funky, there's the one track that Aspi singled out, the song "You May Be", sung by Vishal Dadlani (and also featuring Shekhar Ravjiani).
"You May Be" is a love song, and as such, it's got a kind of sweeping ballady feel. Yet, as Aspi points out, it also has Vishal's voice, which is an interesting voice. Not interesting in the way Sukhwinder Singh's voice is, perhaps, but it's got....something...
And frankly, the song immediately reminded me of one by Charles Aznavour, "For Me Formidable". What I love about "For Me Formidable" is how effortlessly it switches back between French and English, often mid-phrase, and yet is so skillfully written that it all sounds perfect and makes perfect sense. I can't help wondering if the song works best if one is bilingual (which I am). But there are other songs that do this, that throw English in, and that sound, frankly, dorky. "For Me Formidable" does not; Aznavour was and is too skillful a songwriter for that.
I'm reminded, too, of the fact, that Aznavour -- today considered one of France's finest composers and vocalists -- well, early on, Aznavour was told he'd be better off doing something else, that his physique and his voice would never allow him to go very far.
How wrong that was.
And that comment about Aznavour's voice is what struck me when I read Aspi's post about Vishal Dadlani and the realism in his voice -- because it's that realism, that ability of a voice to reflect all sorts of reality from the gritty to the romantic -- it's precisely that quality that allows us, as listeners to feel the full sweep of that. Perfect voices are lovely to listen to; but it's intersting and unusual and simple voices like those of Aznavour and Dadlani that go to the very heart of us.
"You May Be" gave me chills -- because of the emotion Vishal projects, because of the connection I made with Aznavour, because of the effortless way the song tips back and forth between Hindi and English. And the way that the song is sweeping and emotional and yet simple and sweet and not treacley (though I'm basing that more on the sound of the music than on the lyrics, because as we know, I'm still taking baby steps with translations here).
And I think it's going to be beautiful in the film.
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