One doesn’t expect groundbreaking stuff from the soundtrack of ‘Gabbar Is Back’. The combination of three music composers, namely Chirantan Bhatt, Yo Yo Honey Singh and Manj Musik, makes the proceedings interesting with just four compositions. Lately, there has been a significant change in how songs are inserted into scripts which do not have much scope for songs. Akshay’s ‘Baby’ had only two songs and no item numbers, despite being produced by music label T-Series.
Since the big success of the recreated “Har Kisi Ko” for ‘Boss’, Chirantan Bhatt and Akshay Kumar share a very warm rapport. The composer starts off with “Teri Meri Kahani” where he ropes in the ‘Most Wanted’ combination of Arijit Singh and Palak Muchhal but to no avail. The music is very familiar, especially the acoustic guitar intro and the riffs in the interlude which reminds of some pop/rock numbers that we have grown up listening to. Neverthless the song has a nice groove to it and would be loved by a certain segment of listeners who likes their music to be simple and catchy. It’s for the promotional campaign, with Kareena Kapoor making a cameo and fares well for that matter. Lyrics by Manoj Yadav is passable.
Once again, the musical association between Yo Yo Honey Singh and Akshay Kumar continues after “Party All Night” (‘Boss’) and “Alcoholic” (‘The Shaukeens’). The rapper is in for a surprise package with the seductive “Aao Raja” which taps a new forte with a fusion of Rap and Mujra. Kumaar pens some interesting lines which go well with the mood of the fusion. Neha Kakkar does well for the repetitive two lines and at places does an Ila Arun. With his typical pulsating music playing throughout, the rap by Honey Singh is the highlight of the song, not to mention the double meaning lyrics. Overall, the song is going to be a hit amongst the Yo Yo Honey Singh fans and this one is far better than his other EDM party anthems with one and four bottles stuff! Picturised on Chitrangada Singh, this song is sure to please the masses.
Pleasant acoustic guitar strums crafts a soothing ambience for Chirantan Bhatt’s “Coffee Peetey Peetey”, a breezy hummable romantic number that, which is easy on the ears. Debutant Dev Negi and Paroma Das Gupta add freshness with their voice along with some average lyrics by Sahil Kaushal. In a nutshell, it is an ordinary composition that will act as a filler in the movie.
“Warna Gabbar Aa Jayega” composed and rendered by Manj Musik with support from Raftaar, is a lyrical rap that throws light on the character of Gabbar in the movie and uses famous punch lines of Gabbar from ‘Sholay’. The techno arrangements are flat and don’t make one tap the feet but the lyrics (Manj Musik, Raftaar, Big Dhillon) are apt. Overall it makes up for a fun visual treat and should be used for the end/starting credits. It is hard not to notice how Akshay has roped in Manj Musik, who was the creative mind behind the band RDB, and gave him numerous past hits such as “Rafta Rafta” (‘Namastey London’), “Om Mangalam” (‘Kambakkht Ishq’), “Paisa Paisa” (‘De Dana Dan’) and “Singh is Kinng” (‘Singh Is Kinng’).
To conclude, ‘Gabbar Is Back’ is an average soundtrack which will be soon forgotten post the movie’s release. The music was never an important aspect except the Honey Singh number which should find an interesting place in the narration. It is clear that Akshay Kumar had a big say in the music sittings as he chooses to work with previous music composers who gave him hit music. Obviously an action packed hard hitting cinema works well without any speed breakers and fillers.