Sagarika and Shaan had come to the limelight together. It was thought that the sister would go farther, thanks to the better talent that she had. But exactly the opposite happened. Perhaps what went in favour of the brother was that he got a good break in cinema.

But while she is heard less often, Sagarika too continues to do some very fulfilling work, as is proved by this album.

She had taken part in a music festival in 18 cities of Europe some years ago along with Talvin Singh, believed to be the architect of the Indian underground sound and his band Anokha. She decided to stay back in London, and collaborate with Mike McCleary, a leading young music producer, composer and singer. This album is the result of that collaboration.

What is remarkable is that six of these eight songs have been penned by Sagarika.

All of them carefully steer clear of the cinematic template. As such, there is a rare softness and sweetness about them which is becoming all too scarce in private albums. In fact, in some of them it seems that she is not singing but only talking to herself.

Music too (Sagarika and Mike McCleary) is in keeping with the gentle mood and is non-intrusive. The only song which has a slightly fast tempo is Bye bye baby, which has been made into a video track as well.

Songs penned by Sagarika are simplicity personified. Even those by Nida Fazli (Choti dadi) and Jaideep Sahani (Khushi ho) have an uncluttered feel about them.

As is the trend these days, the most promising of them all is right in the beginning, Tum raho aur main rahun.

The recording has been done in London and has resulted in an exceptionally clear sound.

Daler Mehndi’s kid brother Mika is learning on the job, and quite fast too. The nasal twang with which he used to sing initially is less pronounced now. He is also becoming more mature about the selection of lyrics. The results show.

That does not mean that he has actually arrived. It’s just that he has shed some of the irksome mannerisms of yore.

The title song figures thrice in the CD. Besides the normal version, there is a "club mix" and "unplugged". His co-singer in these is Bella.

Not all songs are in Punjabi. There is one in Haryanavi, Jattan ka Chhora, penned by Narinder Gulia and one in Hindi. Mere dil mein has been penned by Sanjeev Anand.

It is another thing that in all of them his pronunciation is typically Punjabi.

He is not trying to copy Daler in any way. At the same time, it will be quite some time before he can hope to catch up with Daler. That the latter is hardly coming up with anything new these days is another matter. —ASC