The song opens with the sound of Ghunghrus. There are a few songs which construct the narrative of the film adding to the theme. The song opens with the melodious voice of Shreya Ghoshal singing 'Aami Je Tomar' which is what Avni as Manjolika has been struggling for most of the film.
The film followed a comedy tone until then, however, here in this song, we see a completely romantic side of two lovers craving to unite with each other. As the taal, in the beginning, moves forward we get closer to Avni with every movement and finally by the end of the taal we have a close-up of Avni, who looks considerably scary. Film songs are mostly based on a variety of Ragas. The chorus of the song is based on Raga Jaijaiwanti and the stanza goes in Raga Rageshree, while the Sargam sometimes follows Raag Bhimplasi following the teen taal for the whole song.
In Indian classical chaturanga is a song which is divided into four parts, Khayal, Sargam, Tarana and Trivat. This song is a perfect blend of all these and hence is chaturanga. The instruments used for the major part of the song are Ghunghroos, Dholak, Sitar and Tabla. Pritam has turned uncharacteristically classical with Mere Dholna and has done a splendid job in weaving a beautiful composition around Sameer's lyrics.
There are a lot of moments where Avni directly addresses the camera or points at it while singing. This creates a psychological disturbance in the viewers. The first verse depicts the madness of her love. The verse ends on a very high note at which she is calling her beloved. This is the turning point of the song and this is where we enter into the second act.
When you are almost into 3 minutes of the song it is hard to expect a lead singer joining in. MG Sreekumar proving himself no lesser than Shreya Ghosal picks up the song with a beautiful Sargam. Now, passion is achieved from both sides. Building a song around Sargam is often difficult, however ‘Mere Dholna' is entrancing in melody and flows effortlessly. Also, there is a shift in the scene from present-day to a time where Manjolika along with her lover performed for the King. Avni as Manjolika might be reliving all this which also gives a better understanding to the audience of actually what happened with Manjulika in the past.
Creating a set with so many actors could be a costly and tedious task. The smaller details along with the classical dance make the scene much more beautiful. Both the singers together lift the chorus of the song. From the music to the visual Mere Dholna' speaks to us about love and passion. The brilliant choreography of action and music as Avni madly dances for her lover has stupified many.
Now in the interlude, the king enters the scene and everyone in the court welcomes him by bowing down. Both the dancers pay their respects to the King by joining their hands while dancing. As Manjolika sings a few lines expressing her love, her lover follows her by singing the same lines which are an acknowledgement of his love towards her. Two voids are filled here in this song when they sing for each other, one is their immense love for each other and the other is the hate which they receive from the King.
Before the ultimate liberation, comes one final Sargam followed by both the singers with fierce beats on Tabla. As MG Sree Kumar reaches the end of the song with an Aalap, which almost leaves him breathless. What follows this is a superb director-composer-lyricist moment. Priyadarshan recognises what this means to Manjolika. She looks at her lover, who is dancing around her as if she is overawed by just his presence.
The camera movement supplements the sentiments flowing with the lyrics of the song. The climax takes place in a fierce way where the male counterpart of Avni, after almost completing a breathtaking Sargam where everyone including the audience is mesmerised by him is killed by the King. Here we cut back to the present day. Avni with a frightening response on her face is destroyed to witness this.
Comments