Mychael Danna - Monsoon Wedding '2001

Tracks list

Monsoon Wedding director Mira Nair has described her beautiful family drama as a
Bollywood film, made on my terms. Its a pretty apt description, though on the
surface the subtly acted art house picture may seem to have very little in
common with the elaborately choreographed musical productions for which the
Indian film industry is famous. Whereas Bollywood products are generally
characterized by broadly painted heroes and villains, Nairs characters are among
the most three-dimensional and honestly realized in international cinema. They
are not the sort of people who populate Bollywood entertainments, but they are
the sort of people who pay to see them. They dont burst simultaneously into
song, but they do dance to Indian pop music in their living rooms. They do belt
out traditional celebratory songs at wedding parties. What Monsoon Wedding
shares with Bollywood is its appreciation of Indias deeply rooted cultural
enthusiasm for song and dance. The soundtrack reflects the delightfully broad
spectrum of the music that plays on middle-class stereos all over modern India.
There is a thumping electronic Hindi disco tune, a soaring orchestral romantic
ballad from the vinyl era, an infectiously melodious contemporary pop duet, and
a festive traditional spiritual performed by the internationally revered
Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn. But most impressive of all is the films
original music. Sukhvinder Singhs rousing theme song, Aaj Mera Jee Kardaa,
expertly weaves traditional folk elements with sleek pop rhythms and strings. In
a perfect alternate reality, it would probably be an Oscar winner. So would
Mychael Dannas score. A recent Hindu groom himself and one of the most
innovative composers in North American cinema, Danna elevates Nairs naturalistic
hand-held camera narrative to a transcendent spiritual plane. The mystical Fuse
Box almost single-handedly accomplishes the task of transforming the clownish
wedding planner P.K. Dubey from a hilarious marigold-eating Indian version of
Martin Shorts Father of the Bride character to a thoroughly credible and even
charming romantic lead. Unfortunately, that exquisite melody is hyped up to the
point of tedium in two pounding techno remixes at the conclusion of the
soundtrack album. They are a regrettable misstep in an otherwise brilliant
compilation.

Tracklist:
01. Mychael Danna - Feels Like Rain (0:29)
02. Mychael Danna - Aaj Mera Jee Kardaa (Today My Heart Desires) (5:12)
03. Mychael Danna - Baraat (2:13)
04. Mohammed Rafi - Aaj Mausam Bada Beimann Hai (Today the Weather Plays Tricks
on Me) (3:22)
05. Mychael Danna - Your Good Name (3:38)
06. Mychael Danna - delhi.com (1:41)
07. Mychael Danna - Fuse Box (2:31)
08. Madan Bala Sindhu - Mehndi / Madhorama Pencha (3:27)
09. Mychael Danna - Banished (0:52)
10. Mychael Danna - Good Indian Girls (3:41)
11. Midival Punditz - Fabric / Aaja Savariya (Come to Me, My Beloved) (3:02)
12. Mychael Danna - Allah Hoo (4:39)
13. Mychael Danna - Hold Me, Im Falling (2:57)
14. Mychael Danna - Love and Marigolds (2:46)
15. Abhijeet & Anuradha Sriram - Chunari Chunari (4:09)
16. Mychael Danna feat. Hans Raj Hans - Aaja Nachle (Come on Dance!) (3:40)
17. Mychael Danna - Aaj Mera Jee Kardaa - Zimpala Remix (4:57)
18. Mychael Danna - Fuse Box - Alexkids Dub Remix (6:14)
19. Mychael Danna - Fuse Box - Julio Black Remix (3:03)

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