Right from his debut film ‘Tum Bin’, director Anubhav Sinha has shown a penchant for good music. His collaborations with Nikhil-Vinay (‘Tum Bin’, Aap Ko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai’), Vishal-Shekhar (‘Dus’, ‘Tathastu’, ‘Cash’, ‘Ra.One’) and Ankit Tiwari (‘Tum Bin 2’) have resulted in winning soundtracks. Even his last film ‘Mulk’ had a solid soundtrack. His new film ‘Article 15’ has two songs by Anurag Saikia (who had composed the brilliant track “Piya Samaye” for ‘Mulk’) and a song each by Piyush Shankar and Devin “DLP” Parker – Gingger Shankar.
The album opens on a winning note with “Naina Yeh”, a mellifluous song which has a lovely ’90s hangover to it. The song is composed by newcomer Piyush Shankar, who has several popular cover versions to his credit on YouTube. He shows a lot of promise as a composer. The old-world charm comes across very well in this highly addictive number that warrants repeated hearings. The lyrics by Rashmi Virag are simple and nice. Yasser Desai, for a change, does not sound awkward behind the mic and Aakanksha Sharma, the female vocalist, lends a certain innocent appeal to the track.
One did not expect a film of this nature, which deals with a serious issue, to have many romantic songs in it but what follows immediately after “Naina Yeh” is another love song called “Intezari”. Just like “Naina Yeh”, this one, too, has a quintessential Indian melody in it but is more intense. Anurag Saikia puts together a very pleasant tune; the ‘antara’ has a lovely haunting sound to it. The song is in three different versions – same tune and lyrics but different singers. Armaan Malik continues to sing in an anglicised accent which is annoying. The two other versions, sung by Ayushmann Khurrana and Asees Kaur respectively, does not give one any reason to complain. The lyrics, by Shakeel Azmi, are very good.
Actress Sayani Gupta, who plays an important role in the film, gets behind the mic for “Kahab Toh”. This one is the kind of song which people sing/chant during protests. The track is very much in sync with the theme of the film and should make a good impression visually. Anurag adds some electronic beats in the track to make it a little more interesting. “Kahab Toh” is more of a commentary based piece than a musical piece and works pretty well in that space.
“Shuru Karein Kya” is a rap song performed dexterously by Slowcheeta, DEE MC, Kaam Bhaari and Spitfire. Rap songs have played an important role during important events wherein the artist expresses hiss/her angst through a rap. The same is the case here. If you listen to the lyrics (Slowcheeta, DEE MC, Kaam Bhaari and Spitfire) carefully, you will realise it aims to put across some important points.
Anubhav Sinha continues to prove that he, indeed, has a good ear for music. Though there are just four original tracks, you get everything from ’90s styled love songs to rap music to a dialogue driven techno based track. There are two songs (“Naina Yeh” and “Intezari”) which have the potential to become immensely popular and the other two tracks work well within the context of the film and should make a more lasting impact with visuals.
Rating: 3/5
