‘Kabir Singh’, the official remake of the Telugu film ‘Arjun Reddy’, is a love story at the core of it. With Shahid Kapoor headlining the cast and T-Series co-producing the film, one expects a good soundtrack in the offering. The album has been put together by a melange of composers including Mithoon, Sachet-Parampara, Amaal Mallik, Vishal Mishra and Akhil Sachdeva. The lyrics have been written by Irshad Kamil, Manoj Muntashir, Kumaar and Mithoon.
Though we are not even halfway throughout the year, one can confidently say that by the time the year comes to an end, “Bekhayali” will be counted as one of the biggest hit songs of the year. Interestingly, the song became popular right from the time one heard snippets of it in the trailer. Sachet-Parampara, who had earlier composed a couple of songs for Shahid Kapoor’s ‘Batti Gul Meter Chalu’, give the actor a chartbuster here. The song encapsulates the pain and angst of Kabir Singh (Shahid Kapoor) wonderfully and much of that credit also goes to lyricist Irshad Kamil. There is an alternate version sung by Arijit Singh which makes for a delightful hear as well.
A softer melody arrives in the form of the Vishal Mishra composed “Kaise Hua”. One expects the song to arrive before “Bekhayali” in the film as it describes the stage in which Kabir and Preeti (Kiara Advani) fall in love. Manoj Muntashir writes some simple and effective lines to bring to fore their feelings for each other in happier times. Vishal’s tune is nice and he does a good job behind the mic as well.
If one has to measure “Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage”, it would fall somewhere between “Bekhayali” and “Kaise Hua”. It is a melancholic track but not as intense or dark as “Bekhayali”. Mithoon does a reasonably good job at writing the song. As a composer, he does a far better job. The tune lingers in your mind long after you have finished listening to it. Arijit Singh’s rendition ensures that the emotions come out well. There is another version (film version) sung by Jubin Nautiyal but Arijit’s voice suits the song better.
Sachet-Parampara impress again with “Mere Sohneya”, their second song in the album. The composer duo also get behind the mic to sing the song and do an adequate job as vocalists as well. Irshad Kamil writes lovely lines in chaste Punjabi. The earthiness in the song is accentuated by instruments like shehnai which have been used sporadically.
Akhil Sachdeva sings his composition “Tera Ban Jaunga” in a rather awkward manner. And, that is not the only problem with the song. Though Akhil has tried to put together an emotionally charged song here, everything about it sounds very superficial. Kumaar writes some decent lines and that is about it. Tulsi Kumar’s auto-tuned voice does not help the cause either.
“Yeh Aaina” marks the first collaboration between composer Amaal Mallik and lyricist Irshad Kamil. This is probably the one song which tries to bring to the fore the emotions the female protagonist is going through at a certain point in the film. The lullaby-like tune is nice and Shreya’s sensitive rendition will make you want to hear it a couple of times. Having said that, this is a song that will make a stronger impression when one sees it on the screen.
Vishal Mishra composes yet another likeable melody in the form of “Pehla Pehla Pyaar”. This Armaan Malik composed number has a sing-along quality to it and reminds one of the indipop numbers one heard back in the day. Irshad Kamil’s thoughtful lyrics give this song an edge. This song is not chartbuster-material but adds good value to this album filled with love songs of different moods.
‘Kabir Singh’ is a good album with a couple of songs which warrant repeated hearings (“Bekhayali”, “Kaise Hua”, “Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage”) and the rest working well, though in varying degrees. What is interesting is that despite multiple composers, the album has a uniform sound to it.
Rating: 3/5
