The music release of the original Tamil soundtrack I, was in news as the occasion was graced by the presence of Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger. There has been a substantial gap between the release of the original Tamil soundtrack and the Hindi version. A.R Rahman and director Shankar had last collaborated on Robot (Enthiran in Tamil) which turned out to be one of the weakest albums produced by A.R Rahman. Let’s find out whether they have been able to make amends by coming up with a good album this time.
“Issak Taari” is a fast paced number, laden with heavy techno beats. Nakash Aziz sings this fun song with the right attitude and expressions. Neeti Mohan is heard briefly but makes her presence felt. The music takes some time to get used to and turns out to be a decent hear. Irshad Kamil tries to write some playful lyrics in tapori lingo but the lines are pretty ordinary. The remixed version is far from being innovative and does nothing to up the fun quotient of the original.
“Tum Todo Naa” is a romantic number that has a melancholic feel to it. A variety of instruments like piano, guitar, violins, drums and flute have been arranged very well and they help in bringing out the emotions in the song. Ash King’s voice with a lot of depth and suits the song the T. Sunidhi joins him in the final portions of the song. Irshad Kamil’s lyrics are simple and good. The female version of the song has been sung by Bela Shende. Bela’s soft voice is apt for the song.
“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.
Techno pop, opera and some bhangra style dhol beats – all of these and many more sounds come together in a single song called “Aiyla”. The blend does not very work well as the tune moves almost without any direction. The portion where the male vocalist (Shiraz Uppal) sings is mildly engaging. Natalie Di Luccio does a fine job in rendering the complex western classical notes but her command over Hindi is terrible.
“Lady O” is an electronic dance number sung by Nikita Gandhi. The tune takes several twists and turns and is largely unpredictable. However, once you hear the song completely, the only thing you remember is the noise that you were subjected to. Nikita sings the song with gusto and her enthusiastic singing is the only thing that works here.
The music of I, definitely, is better than that of Robot but it could have been a lot better. The two romantic tracks such as “Tum Todo Na” (male and female versions) and “Tu Chale” are good and have repeat value. “Issak Taari” is an above average song while the rest of the songs vary from being average to bad.
Rating: 2.5/5
