Kishore-da all the way!
That’s because you hear the gamut of Kishore Kumar’s genius in just a few songs. This is an otherwise great set of songs (nine in all), with all involved at or near the top of their respective forms. For that, I credit the talents of Kalyanji-Anandji. You’ll be hard-pressed to find albums on which every song is melodious on its own.
Arrangements and lyrics are good, not great. The melodies lift their status to make great songs. But I single out ‘Salaam-e-Ishq’ for fantastic lyrics. They invoke in your mind that full-moon night when all this is supposed to have happened, typified by {main sunnaoo tumhe baat ek raat ki…}.
‘Salaam-e-Ishq’ is also the stand-out song on the album for Kishore Kumar’s performance. He projects Sikandar’s feeling of loss in love through the intensity of his voice. His vocals are accompanied by minimal background music and when you listen to that, you understand the genius of his voice.
Finally, one of the main reasons the album works is Sikandar (Amitabh Bachchan). Even though he’s not the subject of every song nor is he present in them, his aura permeates throughout. Salute the lyrics and melodies for this. And Sikandar works because of Amitabh Bachchan. Now, you put Amitabh and Kishore together… my friends, this is an absolutely unbeatable combination!