CD Reviews: East Blends West: Greatest Oldies, Tushar Bhatia

East Blends West: Greatest Oldies, Tushar Bhatia
Rating: 2/5
For: Rs 295

Ah, Tushar Bhatia. You clearly mean well. You wanted to do the right thing, and introduce a new generation weaned on Rakhi ka Swayamwar to the joys of Sir Cliff Richard. And, being the optimist you clearly are, you thought a sitar would bridge this massive gap with its beautiful, unwieldy frame.

It could have been a worthy thought, but for two things. Firstly, it's been done before, and very well at that. Way back in 1970, in fact. That is when Ananda Shankar released a self-titled LP on the much-respected Reprise label, using his sitar to create instrumental versions of The Doors' Light My Fire and The Rolling Stones' raucous Jumpin' Jack Flash. The album became belatedly, to be honest a classic. Your effort may, at best, survive the next season of Navratri.

A second point: This may have worked a lot better if your team had picked better tracks to apply The Bhatia Treatment to. Bringing in the sitar, flute, sarod and table are all very well, except while using it to recreate the sounds of Summer Holiday.

The big surprise here is Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music. On paper, this ought to work like magic. After all, Indian classical music, like the Western, divides an octave into 12 semitones, with the 7 basic notes Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa or, Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do. It should be perfect. And yet, there's no magic here. At best, this album is interesting for its novelty. It fades quickly.