13-07-08

Aye Zindagi Gale Laga Le

Movie: Sadma

Original Singer/s: Suresh Wadkar

'Ek Se Badhkar Ek' had a very retro feel on the sets this Sunday, when Raja performed 'Aye Zindagi Gale Laga Le' from the movie 'Sadma.' 

In regards to Raja's performance, well, I have to be perfectly honest with you...When I heard that Raja would be attempting; 'Aye Zindagi Gale Laga Le' I instantly thought; 'uh-oh...' and alarm bells started ringing.  I had listened to the original and had some serious reservations about it.  I think that at such a serious stage of this competition that it is unwise to choose a song which is too risky to fulfil.  I don't think that this particular song suited Raja's voice at all.  His vocal texture is such that when he picks the right song, he can literally blast the stage to pieces, but, when he picks the wrong song, we are all left wondering; 'What went wrong?'  I am not going to say that he sang it as bad as 'Jiya Dhadak Dhadak' (a few weeks back,) but, it wasn't a stunning performance either.  The spark of magic just wasn't there.  I was almost writing this performance off as mediocre until, suddenly, Raja unexpectedly surprised me with a variation, which threw me totally off guard...It was between 1:55 - 2:00 into this video.  It was amazing!!!  This one particular moment, gave Raja a few bonus points in my opinion.

Actually, this is one consistent quality, that I have noticed in Raja.   He has an unexpected way of surprising us with his own flavour.  I admit that sometimes, he can overdo it on the variations, but, generally he has a great feel for song compositions and what sounds good to the ears.  This is a phenomenal quality to have, in order to become a great composer...

At the end of this performance, special guest superstar; Vivek Oberoi, made a great comment about Raja being everyone's 'Dilo Ke Raja,' and I just couldn't help, but, think of this website!!!  Then swiftly moving onto one of the judges, Ahmed Khan, who was also brimming full of praise for Raja, but, the praise came to a screeching halt when Abhijeet decided to comment.  He chided Raja for singing a particular part of the song in a flat tone.  Raja's face turned from happy to deflated in a matter of seconds, it was reminiscent of when Himesh had berated him on the sets of SRGMP 2007, when he sang; 'Pardesi, Pardesi'...although Abhijeet's comments weren't as bad as Himesh's.  Even through this, I could see Raja forcing on, his champion smile, regardless...Bless him!