Gadar: Ek Prem Katha is the soundtrack to the 2001 film of the same name directed and produced by Anil Sharma and stars Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel. Released through Zee Records on 9 April 2001, the nine-song soundtrack features compositions from Uttam Singh with lyrics written by Anand Bakshi and features vocals by Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Preeti Uttam Singh, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, Parveen Sultana. The soundtrack was the fifth-highest selling soundtrack of India during the time of its release.
| Gadar: Ek Prem Katha | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.webp) Soundtrack album cover | ||||
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 9 April 2001 | |||
| Recorded | 2000–2001 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 38:19 | |||
| Label | Zee Records[a] | |||
| Producer | Uttam Singh | |||
| Uttam Singh chronology | ||||
| ||||
Development
editGadar: Ek Prem Katha features five songs: "Udja Kale Kawan", "Musafir Jaane Wale", "Main Nikla Gaddi Leke", "Aan Milo Sajna" and "Hum Juda Ho Gaye", In addition, a traditional marriage song played in the background was also conceived for the soundtrack.[1]
As the film was set before 1947, composing music for the film was "challenging" for Singh, as it has to cater the modern audience while being authentic to the storyline. "Udja Kale Kawan", according to Singh was the "hardest" song he had composed. He could not fix a particular tune in mind, and after a month he thought of a tune that lasts around 16–17 seconds. He then met Bakshi for developing a song within this tune and gave him a week's time, but eventually wrote the entire lyrics for the song in 3 days. The song has four different versions that appears in each situation. When the full song was composed, Yash Chopra's wife Pammi Chopra contacted Singh to check that if the song was adapted from a folklore or not, to which Singh replied that it was originally curated.
Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik perform the vocals for Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, respectively. Lata Mangeshkar was the initial choice for the female vocals of "Udja Kale Kawan", according to Singh as she previously worked on Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), but due to Mangeshkar's unavailability as she was on a concert tour, Singh later brought Yagnik for the song. The thumri song "Aan Milo Sajna" was composed within fifteen minutes.[2]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Udja Kale Kawan" (Folk) | Udit Narayan | 03:11 |
| 2. | "Musafir Jaane Wale" | Udit Narayan, Preeti Uttam Singh | 05:47 |
| 3. | "Main Nikla Gaddi Leke" | Udit Narayan | 05:26 |
| 4. | "Udja Kale Kawan" (Marriage) | Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik | 05:01 |
| 5. | "Hum Juda Ho Gaye" | Udit Narayan, Preeti Uttam Singh | 06:04 |
| 6. | "Udja Kale Kawan" (Search) | Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik | 04:34 |
| 7. | "Aan Milo Sajna" | Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, Parveen Sultana | 05:22 |
| 8. | "Udja Kale Kawan" (Victory) | Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik | 01:20 |
| 9. | "Traditional Shaadi Geet" | Preeti Uttam Singh | 01:30 |
| Total length: | 38:19 | ||
Reception
editSukanya Verma of Rediff.com described the music as "unconventional" and not the "regular commercial fare" concluding "if you're of the hip crowd, you might not hop for Gadar".[3] Writing for Bollywood Hungama, Taran Adarsh was more critical of the music describing as the "sore point" of the film, and "there is not one song that you recollect after the show has ended" excluding "Udja Kale Kawan" and "Hum Juda Ho Gaye" was "totally out of sync with the mood of the film".[4] In the re-review for The Quint, Pankhuri Shukla stated "even after two decades, the Gadar soundtrack still slaps."[5]
The soundtrack was the fifth-highest selling music album of India for the year with approximately 2.5 million copies being sold.[6]
Accolades
edit| Award | Date of ceremony[b] | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filmfare Awards | 16 February 2002 | Best Music Director | Uttam Singh | Nominated | [7] |
| Best Lyricist | Anand Bakshi (for "Udja Kale Kawan") | Nominated | |||
| Best Playback Singer – Male | Udit Narayan (for "Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe") | Nominated | |||
| International Indian Film Academy Awards | 6 April 2002 | Best Music Director | Uttam Singh | Nominated | [8] |
| Best Lyricist | Anand Bakshi (for "Udja Kale Kawan") | Nominated | |||
| Best Playback Singer – Male | Udit Narayan (for "Udja Kale Kawan") | Nominated | |||
| Screen Awards | 18 January 2002 | Best Music Director | Uttam Singh | Nominated | [9] |
| Best Lyricist | Anand Bakshi (for "Udja Kale Kawan") | Nominated | |||
| Best Playback Singer – Male | Udit Narayan (for "Udja Kale Kawan") | Nominated | |||
| Zee Cine Awards | 11 January 2002 | Best Lyricist | Udit Narayan (for "Udja Kale Kawan") | Nominated | [10] |
Use in sequel
editThe sequel to the film, titled Gadar 2 (2023) featured music composed by Mithoon who recreated two songs from the original—"Udja Kale Kawan" and "Main Nikla Gaddi Leke"; the former as "Udd Jaa Kaale Kaava".[11] Singh criticised Sharma for reusing those songs without consent,[12] though Sharma replied that the label Zee Music Company had owned the record rights to the franchise and therefore obtaining permission from the original artists were not necessary.[13] But Sharma wanted Singh to be credited for the recreations as well. After formally contacting Singh, Sharma ended the controversy, saying the former was misquoted.[14]
Notes
edit- ^ The rights to the film's music were later acquired by T-Series in 2009 after Zee Records being defunct, and later reverted back to Zee Entertainment Enterprises through its newly formed record label Zee Music Company which currently has its rights
- ^ Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.
References
edit- ^ Singh, Uttam (15 June 2001). "Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes. Apple Music. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024 – via Zee Music Company.
- ^ "डेढ़ महीने लगे थे गदर के सुपरहिट गीत उड़ जा काले कांवा को बनने में...संगीतकार उत्तम सिंह ने खास यादें की साझा". Prabhat Khabar. 8 June 2023. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
- ^ Verma, Sukanya (19 May 2001). "The music review of Gadar-Ek Prem Katha". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Adarsh, Taran (15 June 2001). "Gadar – Ek Prem Katha Music Review". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Shukla, Pankhuri (10 May 2019). "Millennial Review: Sunny Deol's Hyper-Nationalism in 'Gadar'". TheQuint. Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Music Hits 2000–2009 (Figures in Units)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ Filmfare Awards:
- "Hold back the night". Filmfare. April 2002. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- Dhirad, Sandeep (2006). "Filmfare Nominees and Winners" (PDF). Filmfare Awards. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ International Indian Film Academy Awards:
- Waheed, Sajahan (6 April 2002). "Battle of the megahits". New Straits Times. p. 27. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- Kumar, S. R. Ashok (5 April 2002). "IIFA awards presentation on Saturday". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- "IIFA Through the Years – IIFA 2002: Malaysia". International Indian Film Academy Awards. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ Screen Awards:
- Bhattacharya, Roshmila (25 January 2002). "Dil Chahta Hai, Lagaan make a clean sweep". Screen. Archived from the original on 21 February 2002. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- Bhattacharya, Roshmila (25 January 2002). "Magic — Part 1". Screen. Archived from the original on 24 February 2002. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- Bhattacharya, Roshmila (25 January 2002). "Magic — Part 2". Screen. Archived from the original on 6 March 2003. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- Bhattacharya, Roshmila (25 January 2002). "Magic — Part 3". Screen. Archived from the original on 6 March 2003. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- "8th Annual Screen Awards – Nominees & Winners for the year 2001". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 18 January 2004. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ Zee Cine Awards:
- Dubey, Bharati (11 January 2002). "Lagaan sweeps the FairGlow Zee awards". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- "5th Zee Cine Awards – Year 2002". Zee Cine Awards. Archived from the original on 26 April 2005. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ "Mithoon on Gadar 2 success: I have seen the success of Aashiqui 2 and Kabir Singh, but I have never seen this kind of mass connection | Exclusive". The Times of India. 16 August 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Gadar Ek Prem Katha composer Uttam Singh on not being approached for Gadar 2: 'They have used two of my songs… should at least have the etiquette to ask me once'". The Indian Express. 24 August 2023. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ Entertainment, Quint (27 August 2023). "Gadar 2: Anil Sharma And Mithoon Respond to Uttam Singh's Allegations". TheQuint. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "Anil Sharma says he didn't need Uttam Singh's permission to use his music in Gadar 2: 'Does anyone get permission from the original composers?'". The Indian Express. 30 September 2023. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.