𝗚𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗮𝗹 : 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿.

Souhardya Pramanik

For all lovers of dark, gritty, hard-hitting Hindi cinema, Anurag Kashyap is a name that certainly needs no introduction. By the time his two-part gangster epic came out in 2012 that significantly altered the course of Hindi cinema and put Wasseypur on the global map, he was already quite a prominent name. Kashyap never aspired to play by the rules. Hence, he had a long-standing bitter relationship with the censors. While films like Black Friday, No Smoking and Dev.D had a tough time getting past the scissors of CBFC, his debut feature Paanch never got released.

If we look closely at his highly impressive body of work, Gangs of Wasseypur can be called the turning point or an axis around which his whole filmography revolves. Most of his pre-GoW films, though largely overlooked and at times widely panned (eg. No Smoking) upon release, have regained a sort of ‘cult’ following over the years. Gulaal, released in 2009, is one of them. Set in the backdrop of a fictitious Rajputana separatist movement, it revolves around student politics, greed for power, the ensuing corruption and hypocrisy of the powerful in present-day Rajasthan. Largely a compelling watch, thanks to its powerful, unforgiving, no-holds-barred screenplay and winning turns from the likes of Kay Kay Menon and Deepak Dobriyal, the real hero of the film is Piyush Mishra and his poetry moulded into memorable songs that become a character in Gulaal itself. Mishra as Prithvi Banna is as wacky as it can get. Like a jester, almost in the Shakespearean fashion, in a quirky ‘band party’ suit, a police cap on head and a ‘Rajput-ised’ John Lennon locket around his neck, he recontextualises Ram Prasad Bismil’s immortal ‘Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna’ for a new India.

“ Aaj ke jalson me Bismil ek gunga gaa raha.

Aur behron ka wo rela naachta mehfil mein hai

Haath ki khadi banane ka zamana lag gaya

Aaj to chaddi bhi silti englison ki mill mein hai

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil me hai…

….kya batayen kya hamare dil me hai…”

The album starts out on a tremendous note. “Aarambh hai prachand.” Sprinkled with the choicest of Hindi words as the large-scale percussive arrangement kicks in, preparing both sides for the battlefront, that is, General Secretary elections. The song is a resounding ‘war-cry’ for a nation plagued by corruption and deceit everywhere. The first song itself proves the calibre of Piyush Mishra, the singer-lyricist-composer, who is here at the peak of his powers.

Next up, Shilpa Rao is in a plaintive mood in ‘Aisi Sazaa’, a haunting melody that roughly translates to “sleep too has now gone to sleep, the nights don’t even care anymore.” At once soulful and painfully sad, this is bound to put you in a trance like a lullaby.

Gulaal cleverly uses the age-old Bollywood concept of a ‘mujra” song-and-dance sequence and takes it up notches higher. Mahie Gill as Madhuri, a beauty parlour owner who is proud of her striking resemblance to the popular actress, Tabu, gracefully dances in the two songs sung by Rekha Bhardwaj. While ‘Beedo’ is a fun, enjoyable song with which the film opens, ‘Ranaji’ is the song where the real magic takes place. A ‘mujra’ track that addresses themes like globalisation, Uncle Sam and his malicious ways, rivalling cola brands and also, 9/11. A bomb of a song quite literally, this should go down in the history of the most whimsically written songs ever.

Piyush Mishra pays homage to Sahir Ludhianvi and all other poets who had a vision for India in ‘Duniya’, namely Ghalib, Momin, Majaaz, Faiz, Firaakh, Sahir, Makhdoom, Mir, Zauk, etc. Paying a direct tribute to Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa, this song might just bring tears to your eyes for the sheer poetry it offers.

‘Raat Ke Musafir’ and “Yaara Maula’ go to Kashyap’s familiar Indian Ocean territory after Black Friday. Rahul Ram croons ‘Raat’ like a cautionary tale warning the midnight wayfarer to not stray too far and to not lose his way. Here, the midnight wayfarer is Dilip played by Raj Singh Chaudhary whose gradual descent into the deep, dark well of dirty politics is captured more powerfully in ‘Yaara Maula’, an energetic rock track. Sung by Rahul Ram, Aushim and Piyush Mishra, this is a song that recounts a violent past. Like a wake-up call, it leaves right after making us alert. A true masterwork.

The longest track in the album is ‘Sheher’. The soundtrack proves time and again that it is a lyricist’s heaven. Mishra takes the help of Swanand Kirkire for this sinister track with blood dripping from each of its words. The song begins right when the first major killing takes place in Gulaal, and everything goes haywire. The following lines sum up Gulaal, both the film and the soundtrack, which deserves a lot more attention than it receives.

“Sab oro gulaal put gayo, sab oro mein,

Hey sab oro gulaal put gayo, vipda chaayi re,

Jis raat gagan se khoon ki baarish aayi re,

Jis raat sheher mein khoon ki baarish aayi re!”

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