Afreen Afreen ...

In 1996 a rare thing happened. Two great personalities from two countries India and Pakistan came together to produce an album which would gladly be named as Sangam. A confluence of music talents from both countries. And it produced a gem of Afreen Afreen.

Afreen Afreen has a great poetry of Javed Akhtar. He is one of the important lyricist from India. Afreen Afreen means the beautiful one. It's a song of praise to that beautiful one who has the divine beauty. The first stanza praises impeccable body (Jism), the second stanza praises the alluring face (Chehra), the third stanza tells the story of those enchanting eyes (Aankhe), and the final stanza praises pristine silky black hair (Zulfen). The whole structure is just Afreen - very beautiful. Javed Akhtar, in his poetry, paints an attractive and exquisite picture of this beautiful one that has captured the imagination of the poet. Is it real, or is it just a mirage ? It doesn't matter because it's really beautiful.

And Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan has done the real justice to this poetry with his euphonious voice and music. He has sung this song with great passion. He guides you to observe the beauty of that lyrical painting. He has produced two versions of the song, an extended version with harmonious music and the more famous remix version with only two stanzas. The music video was made only for the remix version which featured Lisa Ray. It was one of the famous videos in 1996. Very recently Rahat Fateh Ali Khan sang a modified version for Coke Studio. And is sounded melodious with the soothing voice of Rahat. I am adding all three versions here. Compare and see which one is your favorite.


Original Album Version




Extended Version




Coke Studio Version





Enjoy !

Kannathil Muthamittal - Nenjil Jil Jil

Some songs are enchanted! When you listen them, when you see them they  perform the magic on your mind and your eyes start watering. These songs are special and very few songs get this status. Kannathil Muthamittal - Nenjil Jil Jil is one of such songs - when I start listening I become emotional.

Maniratnam and A. R. Rahman  duo made some great songs together. Some of them reached Hindi and some of them didn't. Nenjil Jil Jil did not get translated in Hindi so you have to listen it in Tamil. But the song and voices are so powerful that event though you don't understand the language, you will still find it very touching.

This is a two part song. One song is in female voice and picturized on Simran and  child artist P. S. Keerthana. Chinmay has sung this version. Maniratnam shows relationship between a mother and her daughter. They play on sandy beach, they play in water, they play in abandoned boat, they are very happy together. But there is still something in mother's mind - lyrics explain that something is hidden there.

Male version opens in Sri Lanka where daughter is sitting under a waterfall and then you see a big lake with Buddha statue. In this whole song Maniratnam shows the other side of relationship - a father daughter love. At the same time daughter's journey to find her roots. P. Jayachandran made this version magical with his soothing voice. His voice touches your heart and makes you feel loved.

Enjoy!