An attempt to throw a light on some underrated gems created by National Award winning music composers Ajay-Atul.

Siblings Atul and Ajay Gogavale, popularly known as Ajay-Atul, have been in the music industry for more than 20 years. Despite no music training, they manifested their passion for music by absorbing Maharashtrian folk music. Starting their career with Marathi stage plays, television soaps and devotional album; they soon caught the attention of filmmakers like Mahesh Manjrekar and Ram Gopal Varma, and then there was no turning back.

Looking at their discography, one might easily think that the quantum of their work is pretty less for the time they have been active. However, no can disagree that the quality of their work has almost always been exceptional. This is why I thought of speaking about 5 of my favourite Ajay-Atul songs which show their prowess as music composers and arrangers.

Shree Ganeshay Dheemahi

This song from the 2001 album Vishwavinayaka might be the first glimpse of Ajay-Atul's grand vision of music arrangement. The blend of the Western instruments and chorus with the Sanskrit verse and traditional tune was a complete revelation for me when I first heard this song. I wouldn't really call this song underrated in terms of popularity, because it became an integral part of cultural programmes in school. This song also became the gateway for Ajay-Atul into the film industry, as the song was used in the 2004 Hindi film Viruddh directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, starring Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham.

Lallati Bhandar

This song sung by Ajay Gogavale from the 2009 Marathi film Jogwa is an excellent example of Ajay-Atul's music elevating the intended effect of a film to the next level. The movie explores the love story of a Jogta and Jogtin, individuals from a community in rural Maharashtra far removed from the realities of modern urban life and stuck in discrimination and oppression. The song is inspired by the traditional songs sung during a "jagar" in the Hindu calendar month of Shravan, when there is a festival organised at Goddess Yellamma's temple in Saundatti, a place in the Belgavi district in Karnataka.

The film won 5 National Awards with Ajay-Atul winning the award for Best Music Direction. Singers Hariharan and Shreya Ghoshal also won the Best Male and Female Playback Singer awards respectively for the song Jiv Rangala, another complex yet brilliant composition from this film.

Adhir Man Zhale

Shreya Ghoshal is my favourite playback singer across industries, and most of her collaborations with Ajay-Atul have produced memorable songs. This song from the Marathi film Nilkanth Master starring Pooja Sawant could be in my top 3 songs from the Ajay-Atul and Shreya collaboration, and it definitely is the most underrated one when compared to other more popular songs like Aatach Baya Ka Bawarla from Sairat or the aforementioned Jiv Rangala from Jogwa. Shreya imbibes the mood of the song while the arrangement places it firmly in the period where the film is set. Shreya is a versatile singer and her strengths really come out pretty well in this song.

Morya Morya

This song from the 2008 Marathi movie Uladhaal has reinforced my opinion about Ajay-Atul being second best only to A. R. Rahman when it comes to devotional songs. This is probably of the last songs written by legendary Marathi lyricist late Jagdish Khebudkar (who hailed from the village where my paternal grandparents stay). While the rhythm is created using the dhol taasha used in processions during the Ganesh festival, the lyrics clearly bring out the emotion of surrendering to Lord Ganesha and requesting Him to empower us in an amazing fashion.

The signature of Ajay-Atul's music which reflects in this song and many others is their long-drawn interludes where the rhythm pattern and the notes change from the base composition at the beginning but meet again at the end. Of course interludes are used in a lot of songs, but I haven't been impressed by any other music director's interludes apart from "Isaignani" Ilayaraaja.