Roy, a film produced by music label T-Series did not make any impact at the box office but scored with its music and was, arguably, the most popular album of the year. M.M Kreem who does not compose for Hindi films very often, impressed with “Main Tujhse Pyaar Nahin Karta” which was his sole contribution to the short soundtrack of ‘Baby’. Debutante composer Khamosh Shah made an impressive debut with Hunterrr displayed his versatility by composing a variety of songs for the album. Sachin-Jigar delivered a brilliant soundtrack filled with love songs and different moods for ‘Badlapur’. Hope the rest of the year turns out to be better with old war horses like Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, A.R Rahman, Vishal-Shekhar and Pritam battling it out at the field.
1. Judaai
Film: Badlapur
Music: Sachin-Jigar
Lyrics: Priya Saraiya and Dinesh Vijan
“Judaai”, a song high on emotional quotient, tugs at your heartstrings and makes you shed a tear or two. The song talks about the grief of a person who has lost the love of his life. The arrangements, which include electronic beats accompanied by the sarangi, help in creating a melancholic mood for the song. Arijit Singh, with his heartfelt rendition, does complete justice to the composition. Rekha Bhardwaj ventures in a very low octave and although she does it flawlessly, she does not come across as the best choice for the song. Priya Panchal borrows a line from Saint Kabir’s ‘Jhini’ and writes some poignant lines.
2. Main Tujhse Pyaar Nahin Karta
Film: Baby
Music: M.M Kreem
Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir
Singer: Papon
Veteran composer M.M Kreem teamed up with Manoj Muntashir, one of the most talented lyricists to have arrived in the last couple of years, for the first time to come up with a gem of a number called “Main Tujhse Pyaar Nahin Karta”. The piece is a romantic number that captures the pathos of the relationship shared by Ajay (Akshay Kumar) and his wife (Madhurima Tuli). The song takes some time to grow but hear it for a couple of times and you will begin to appreciate its beauty. Manoj Muntashir deserves special mention for writing some simple yet novel phrases. M.M. Kreem is known for extensive use of violins in his compositions. He uses violins in this song brilliantly to create a somber mood. The song also has a female version called ”Main Tujhse Pyaar Nahin Karti” and although Ramya Behara does well as a vocalist, Papon seems to have an edge here.
3. Udd Jayega
Film: Hawaizaada
Music: Mangesh Dhakde
Lyrics: Vibhu Virender Puri
Singer: Sukhwinder Singh and Ranadeep Bhasker
Composer Mangesh Dhakde’s “Udd Jayega”, with its traditional sound and rich orchestration, reminds one of Ajay-Atul’s brand of music. The music inspires you and then moves you when it reaches its crescendo with the hook line ‘Udd Jayega Hans Akela’. The spiritual chants further help in heightening the impact of the song. Vibhu Puri seeks inspiration from Saint Kabir’s eternal poem ‘Udd Jayega Hans Akela’ and writes new lines based on that phrase. Sukhwinder Singh is fantastic and gets good support from Ranadeep Bhasker.
4. Bach Ke Bakshy
Film: Detective Byomkesh Bakshi
Music: Sneha Khanwalkar and Dibaker Banerjee
Lyrics: Sneha Khanwalkar and Dibaker Banerjee
Singers: Gowri Jayakumar, Big Deal, Thomson Andrews, Trevor, Rap by: Smokey the Ghosht and Craz Professa
“Bach Ke Bakshy” starts off with some thumping beats that sound very organic, almost as if some objects are being hit upon. Then, one comes across some interesting rap portions accompanied by some energetic beats. After that, one gets to hear some distinctive music pieces that have a haunting feel to them. The song moves back and forth between all these elements. The wonderful thing about the track is that there are so many layers to it and each of them complement each other and stand out as individual music pieces as well.
5. Le Chal Mujhe
Film: NH10
Music: Bann Chakraborty
Lyrics: Bann Chakraborty and Abhiruchi Chand
Singer: Shilpa Rao
“Le Chal Mujhe”, with its dreamy vibe and atmospheric sound, is exactly the kind of song you expect to hear in a road trip movie. Composer Bann Chakraborty has composed the song in a rock-jazz style and has used instruments like the piano, drums and electric guitars in a similar manner. The composition is reminiscent of a few songs composed by Vishal Bhardwaj like “Dekho To Aasman” from ‘Jahan Tum Le Chalo’, “Kaminey” from ‘Kaminey’ and “Khul Kabhi” from ‘Haider’. The haunting tone of the track complements the melancholic subtext beautifully. The song has three versions sung by Mohit Chauhan, Arijit Singh and Shilpa Rao respectively. Each of the three singers does complete justice to the song. However, it’s Shilpa’s version that stands out, as her rendition like a jazz singer, takes the song to new heights.
6. Sooraj Dooba Hain
Film: Roy
Music: Amaal Mallik
Lyrics: Kumaar
Singers: Arijit Singh and Aditi Singh Sharma
Amaal Mallik’s “Sooraj Dooba Hain” is a lively dance track that has influences of Vishal-Shekhar (arrangements) and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s (tune) music. EDM serves as the base for this highly melodic number which makes you want to hit the dance floor with its beats and at the same time, pleases you with its melody. Kumaar’s lyrics are very catchy and the lyricist does not make any compromises poetically in order to sound trendy. Arijit Singh sings the song with a lot of energy and gets good support from Aditi Singh Sharma who shows the right attitude.
7. Moh Moh Ke Dhaage
Film: Dum Laga Ka Haisha
Music: Anu Malik
Lyrics: Varun Grover
Singers: Papon and Monali Thakur
“Moh Moh Ke Dhaage” is a romantic song with a philosophical bend to it. The orchestral arrangements which mostly consist of Indian instruments along with faintly heard notes of guitar and violin are very good. The wonderfully played flute lends a devotional quality to the song. The raga based melody grows with repeated hearings. Varun Grover’s lyrics are fresh and memorable. Papon does extremely well as a vocalist and his voice suits this semi-classical song perfectly. The song appears in another version featuring Monali Thakur. Monali is equally good with her rendition.
8. Chori Chori
Film: Hunterrr
Music: Khamosh Shah
Lyrics: Khamosh Shah
Singers: Arijit Singh and Sona Mohaptra
“Chori Chori” is a romantic number with an old world charm to it. The song reminds one of the love songs in Basu Chatterji and Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films in the 80s. Khamosh Shah’s music is very good and has a certain kind of innocence in it. The lyrics written by Khamosh himself, with some English words and unusual but lovely metaphors, are inspired by Gulzar’s style of writing. Arijit Singh and Sona Mohapatra make a wonderful pair together as they complement each others voices beautifully.
9. Tu Chale
Film: I
Music: A.R Rahman
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
Singer: Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal
“Tu Chale” is a spirited, love song where Rahman does not experiment much and keeps the music simple. With a mild semi-classical touch, techno beats and sweeping harmonies, the song reminds one of many songs composed by Rahman and thus, sounds a bit familiar. But, that does not take away the charm of the song. Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal take the song several notches higher with their terrific singing.
10. Mere Naina Kafir Ho Gaye
Film: Dolly Ki Doli
Music: Sajid-Wajid
Lyrics: Kumaar
Singer: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
“Mere Naina Kafir Ho Gaye”, sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, is starkly different from the other two ‘Naina’ songs (“Tere Mast Mast Do Nain” and “Dagabaaz Naina Re”) that the composers have composed for Arbaaz’s ‘Dabangg’ and ‘Dabangg 2’ respectively. Sajid-Wajid tend to use heavy orchestration for such songs but they chose to go for minimal arrangements this time around. The antara of the song is more impressive than the mukhda. Kumaar is mostly brought into write dance numbers these days but he proves, yet again, that given a chance he can write deep, meaningful verses. “Mere Naina Kafir Ho Gaye”, a soothing song with a very Indian sound, is the best song on the ‘Dolly Ki Doli’ album.
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