Vijeta Films, founded by Dharmendra, has a fairly good track record of good music. The last few films, produced by the banner, may not have carried great music but right from their first production ‘Betaab’ (1980) to ‘Socha Na Tha’ (2004), the production house has given music buffs a bunch of good soundtracks to cheer about. Sunny Deol’s last (and only) directorial venture ‘Dillagi’ had some stellar music to boast of. One had good expectations from the music of ‘Ghayal Once Again’ till the realization that the album has just two songs made one a little sceptical. Even though the album is low on quantity, one expects that the two songs, composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (who had also composed a few songs for ‘Dillagi’) would turn out to be decent, if not memorable.
While the film has Sunny Deol playing the central protagonist, it also features four young actors who essay important roles. So, it is not surprising that one of the two tracks in the album is a fun, vibrant track with a youthful feel to it. “Lapak Jhapak” has a fairly catchy tune to it which fortunately or unfortunately reminds one of the songs that Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy composed in their early days for films like ‘Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai’ and the likes. The spirited tune is slightly let down by dated arrangements. Siddharth Mahadevan, Yashita Sharma and Armaan Malik lend the right amount of exuberant energy to the track.
After a gleesome song, things take a serious turn with “Khuda Hai Tere Andar”, sung by Arijit Singh. The track, which seeks to inspire with some uplifting music tries to drive home the message of standing up for what is right, has some simple yet thought provoking lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya. While the song has its heart in the right place, it eventually settles down as a situational piece and not something one would be tempted to play in a loop. The song might elevate the impact of a particular sequence in the album but does not add much weight to the album.
‘Ghayal Once Again’ fails to revive the glory of a production house that was once known for its music and adds to its list of disappointing soundtracks after films like ‘Chamku’ and ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana 2’ which had dull music. Sunny Deol who had assembled a team of composers (Jatin-Lalit, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Anand-Milind and Sukhwinder Singh) to deliver a wondrous soundtrack for his maiden venture as a director, fails to do the same for his comeback vehicle (as a director). While neither of the two tracks are bad per se, but the absence of a song that would be remembered for a long time is strongly felt.
Rating: 2/5
