Naye Manzar (New Vision) is a collection of eight ghazals, which are poetic, melodic and rendered emotionally by Anurag Sharma.
To really appreciate a ghazal one has to understand the structure of this Persian poetic form. The ghazal does not have a title. The end phrase of the two lines of the first couplet rhyme. In all the subsequent couplets, only the end phrase of the second line rhymes with the first couplet. This can be best illustrated by the first ghazal in this album: Tumhe dekhe zamane ho gaye hain/ Naye manzar purane ho gaye hain (It is ages since I saw you/ Even new visions have become old).
In this couplet, ‘zamane ho gaye hain’ and ‘purane ho gaye hain’ rhyme. In the rest of the couplets, only the end phrase of the second line rhymes. Thus, in this ghazal, we have ‘suhane ho gaye hain’, ‘diwane ho gaye hain’ and ‘bahane ho gaye hain.’ There are many other poetic elements to the ghazal, but for a start this would suffice. Ghazal as an art form is a powerful medium of conveying emotions, which are a part of everyone’s lives.
This is Anurag’s debut album, but he is no greenhorn. He trained at a young age under late Ustad Jameel Ahmed Khan in Hindustani classical singing for 12 years. While completing his engineering from IIT Roorkee, Anurag was also singing ghazals for All India Radio Delhi, in the mid-nineties. In 2000-01, Anurag won Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma.
Anurag is supported by moving music on the flute by Ninad Mulaokar and Milind Sheorey, violin by M Rashid Khan, guitar and rabab by Chintoo Singh, sarangi by Farookh Latif Khan and sitar by Sunil Das. The album ends with a nazm (a free form of modern poetry), Tume mujhe yoon na pukaro, which is a tribute to dear departed friends.