Songs of Paradise review: A sweet, simple musical tale of a singer who never set out to start a revolution but sparked one anyway

Danish Renzu’s Songs of Paradise, starring Saba Azad, takes us into the valleys of Kashmir that is laced with soulful music, steeped in Sufism and offers a new outlook!

Beauty, when caged, loses its essence yet people often trap it for their own pleasure, fearing that left free, it might be too powerful, too dangerous, too alluring. Women have long been caged for this very reason, their beauty treated as both, a gift and a trap. Kashmir is no different because as breathtaking as it is, its valleys have been bound, its soul restrained, until its beauty itself became a burden. But it wasn’t always so. Once celebrated as the Switzerland of India, Kashmir’s landscapes echoed romance and poetry, immortalised in countless Hindi films. Then, as tensions rose and curfews shut its gates, the narrative shifted. The valley was no longer seen as a muse of beauty and freedom, but as a site of terrorism, violence, and radicalisation almost as if its azaadi rewritten. If anything, Songs of Paradise, through its musical tale,seeks to restore that original ruhdari meaning of azaadi where not just the land alone but the beautiful soul itself is liberated.

The film borrows from the life of Raj Begum, Kashmir’s first female singer, called the Nightingale of Kashmir, who rose in the 20th century to become a Padma Shri awardee. It takes us back to the 1950s, when freedom itself was still freshly brewing in the air, and shows how one simple woman from Kashmir found the courage to use her voice at a time when women behind burkhas rarely had one. Director Danish Renzu frames this story through Rumi (Taaruk Raina), a young man searching for life’s purpose, who finds it in Noor Begum's music. Noor, unafraid to take ownership of her story, entrusts him with it but only after ensuring it be told her way. Hence what unfolds is not a portrait of a revolutionary waging wars, but of a caged beautiful girl, Zeba Akhter (Saba Azad) who simply has a blessed voice and a love for singing, lipstick, and life’s small charms. Who doesn’t aspire to freedom as much as she craves it!

Discovered and pushed by her masterji, Ustad Ghulam Nabi Ji (Shishir Sharma), supported by her forward thinking father, and later encouraged as well as empowered by lyricist Azaad Maqbool Shah (Zain Khan Durrani), who even marries her, Zeba’s journey avoids easy tropes. She is neither the naïve girl at men’s mercy nor a loud, aggressive feminist. Instead, she is both innocently unaware and aware, living in her own dreamland yet conscious that as a woman in Kashmir she will always face obstacles. That awareness have a sweet way of coming up into her hesitations whether it is about staying longer for an hour to train, signing a contract with a radio station, or being photographed. It’s not singing she fears, it's about being seen, hence, the pseudonym Noor Begum becomes perfect for hiding her yet never letting her stop from singing on the radio or live.

As it's her story, Zeba's personality becomes the tone of the film too as her innocent boldness carries quiet revolution. She isn’t looking to be a revolutionary yet becomes one! As some of the most radical moments in the film arrive gently, often as simple questions - why is she paid less than a junior, why aren’t all musicians credited, why isn’t an artist's hard work protected? Where will she go if there’s no ladies’ toilet? Even Zeba’s one-liners on double standards hit softly but sharply on how singing at a radio is an opportunity for men but an excuse for pursuing a hobby for women, how speaking the truth in women is labeled as arrogant confidence, while in men it is praised as honesty. At times, the film even underplays crucial dramatic moments, staging them as softened versions of what they could have been. But perhaps not all revolutions need to shout. Sometimes, change begins with curiosity or the innocence of asking why.Zeba’s journey reflects exactly that.

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Her acquired resilience grounds the story as she sings through slander, her father’s beating, her mother’s anger, hail, storm or even fire, making her voice an act of survival and inspiration. And Saba Azad, a singer herself, infuses Zeba with a natural charm and authenticity that make you forget you are watching a performance. She disappears into the character anchoring the film even when its momentum wavers. Sheeba Chaddha, Soni Razdan, Taaruk Raina,Zain Khan Durrani and others lend strong support with pitch-perfect Kashmiri accents enriching the texture.

Yes, the film could have benefited from a more clearer story, nuanced telling of a biopic, a longer run time, and a less rushed ending. But Zeba’s simplistic journey to becoming Noor Begum is not about loud proclamations; it's about the poetic strength of a voice that refuses to be silenced. To trap beauty is to wound it; to free it is to let it sing. Kashmir’s songs longs for that freedom and so do its land and women. Songs of Paradise if not perfect, still makes for a praiseworthy attempt in its own sweet way! With an earthy charm, it shifts the radicalised narrative around Kashmir to honour its musical history, and brings back its long-lost ruhaniyat and made me want to add Begum’s songs to my playlist. For now that's enough! 

Songs of Paradise is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video!