Producer: Lucy Star
Director: Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi
Cast: Urmila Matnodkar, Manoj Bajpai, Sanjay Suri, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Isha Kopikar
Music: Uttam Singh
Singers: Preeti Uttam, Jaspinder Narula, Wadali Brothers, Jagjit Singh, Amay Date, Nihar S, Sadhana Sargam, Udit Narayan, Suresh Wadkar, Roop Kumar Rathod, Uttam Singh

Filmmakers, like crooked businessmen, cash on your vulnerable side. Partition is the most painful thing that happened in Indian history and is the most selling subject in both written and celluloid form of art. This is a story every Indians can relate to. You may wonder why am I saying all these things now. Because we are going to look at another movie based on partition. ‘Pinjar’ is the celluloid adaptation of famous Punajbi writer Amrita Pritam’s novel on partition. We have already seen a lot of movies with the same theme like ‘1947-Earth’ and ‘Gadar- Ek Prem Kahani’. ‘Pinjar’, the directorial debut of  ‘Chanakya’ of small screen Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi talks about the life after partition. Manoj Bajpai and Urmila play the lead in this saga of separation.

A movie with such a moving subject deserves a touching music. Gulzaar and Uttam Singh assure the same. All the tracks in this movie have a sad undertone except ‘Shaba Ni Shaba’ and ‘Maar Udari’.

Let us start with the cheerful tracks first. ‘Shaba Ni Shaba’ is a folk inspired song well rendered by Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam and Kavita Krishnamurthy. This gidda track resembles the Rajastani number ‘Maare Hiwda Mein Naache Mor’ from ‘Hum Saath Saath Hai’.  The subsequent gidda song ‘Maar Udari’ is in the same vein. Jaspinder Narula and Preeti Uttam croon this track along with Amay Date and Nihar. Gulzar Saab’s meaningful lyrics and Uttam Singh’s authentic Punjabi music grace this song. On the whole a nice and enjoyable track.

With the next track the mood of the album suddenly changes from cheerful to mournful. ‘Haath Choote Bhi To’ is one of the most painful tracks in this album. This track says that distances can never break the bonds of the heart.  Famous Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh’s sober voice perfectly emotes the underlying pain in the words of Gulzaar. Preeti Uttam gives him company in this painful endeavor.
 
‘Vatna Ve’ has a man wailing for the loss of his homeland. Roop Kumar Rathod and Uttam Singh croon this Punjabi flavored track.

‘Charkha Chalati Maa’ is a slow moving track written by Amrita Pritam.  Preeti Uttam and chorus render this sad track well. This song talks about different stages in a woman’s life.

‘Sita Ko Dehke’ is about the mythological character Sita and her agnipareeksha. This is a situational track featuring the female lead Urmila who like Sita has to go through a test by fire for no fault of hers. Suresh Wadkar and Sadhana Sargam render this shorty.
‘Darde Marya’ comes as a relief after all those highly moving tracks. Wadali Brothers start the proceedings. Jaspinder Nerula joins them later. This is a traditional Punjabi song composed in authentic Punjabi style with dhol playing in the background. The pace picks up when Jaspinder starts crooning gidda. A lively track!

Next track ‘Ek Noor Te Sab Jag’ is another traditional Punjabi track. Preeti Uttam chants ‘Shabad’ which is a traditional hymn in the Sikh religion. Preeti and chorus render this soothing track well.

‘Waris Shah Nu’ is a poem by Amrita Pritam. Wadali Brothers and Preeti Uttam sing this raga-based track. This situational number is a bit lengthy. So the listeners lose their interest halfway through the track. But yet the effective singing by Wadali Brothers captures your heart.

To sum up, this album is an authentic representation of the classic Punjabi music. Songs go very well with the theme of the movie. Even though most of the songs are sad in nature it is sure to hold the listener’s heart. On the whole this album is a valuable addition to your music collection.