MUSIC REVIEW : ENGLISH VINGLISH

“SRIDEVI” – an actress who has had a huge fan following. She is one of those few heroines who achieved superstar status during their careers. And even today, she has one of the biggest fan followings among all bollywood actresses. She won the hearts of everyone with some power packed performances. And yes, she was very popular among the youth during her era. Yes, I call it her “ERA”. I know guys who used to be in college during her era, who were absolutely crazy for her. They are even today.

Now as she makes her “comeback”, a lot of people are anticipating something brilliant from her. Looking by the promos of “English Vinglish”, we sure are in for a treat. Directed by R. Balki’s wife Gauri Shinde, this one has music by none other than Amit Trivedi.

As a treat for all Sridevi fans, I’ve included some gorgeous pictures of her from the movie alongwith my review. So read and enjoy!!!

Amit Trivedi has had a really good year so far. “Ek main aur ekk tu” was nice. Ishaqzaade was awesome. His episode in Coke studio at MTV was very good. And as a singer, he created a anthem of sorts with “Keh ke loonga”. The music of this one seems to be on the lines of “Ek main aur ekk tu”. Let’s see what he delivers.

“BADLA NAZARA” appears in two versions.

The female vemale version is sung by Shilpa Rao. With super vuper simple and fun lyrics by Swanand Kirkire, this one is quite similar to the title song of EMET, but lyrically far superior. The tune is very catchy vatchy, and Shilpa’s singing is superb. She sounds different and lovely. The “aflaatoon” loop by Amit Trivedi is brilliant. Amit uses the sarangi very nicely in the song. It is a joy to see him using his instruments so well.

The male vale version is sung by Amit Trivedi himself, and again this one is equally nice vice. Although they have been credited as the male and female versions, one can hear few lines in Amit’s voice in the female version, and few lines in Shilpa’s voice in the male version.

A lot of people veople found this song ordinary and underwhelming. But I loved it. It makes you want to break into a dance anywhere anytime. It is cheerful, catchy and well composed and sung.

“DHAK DHUK” is sung by Amit Trivedi. Be it the arrangements, the instruments, Amit’s singing or the tune – everything is bang on. This one is easily the best vest song of the album. A song which will grow on you with multiple hearings, this one is already having that effect on me. Amit Trivedi starts off on a very low scale, and for a moment I was compelled to think that maybe a female singer would have done better justice to the song. But as the song progresses, the singing gets better, and he totally nails it in the antara (which faintly resembles the antara of “chatte batte” from chillar party.)

Again here, the instruments used are brilliant. From a mandolin to a flute to garba dhol beats, Amit Trivedi uses so much. As a proof, listen to the portion between the sthaayi and the first antara – and you will know how well he uses so many instruments together.

“MANHATTAN”: This one should have been titled “DHOOP KI CHHAAP”. What superb imagination! Hats off to Swanand Kirkire for breaking up the word so well.

The song is clearly a situational one. Everything suggests so – the beginning dialogue, the constant sound of a car passing by (another unique sound used by Trivedi). Clinton Cerejo sings this one well, but I loved Bianca Gomes’s rap portions. Bianca Gomes is the same one who sang the brilliantly haunting “Mauje naina” from Clinton’s episode of coke studio.

Overall, this one is slightly weak a song compared to the rest of the album, but is definitely listenable vistenable.

“GUSTAKH DIL” is typical Amit Trivedi. The song starts off with the sound of the violin / cello which is awesome and goosebumpy. Shilpa Rao once again is outstanding. What begins as a soft rock song intensifies in the antara where Shilpa totally rules. And what was that weird crescendo – de crescendo siren between the first and second antara? Where do you get the ideas to incorporate such sounds Mr Trivedi? Fantastic vantastic stuff.

“NAVRAI MAJHI” is a marathi folk tune. Navrai Majhi means “MY BRIDE” in hindi, as told by a marathi friend of mine. Trust Amit Trivedi to make this folk volk song an out and out enjoyable song. Sunidhi Chauhan sounds perfect verfect and very lively. She is assisted by Canadian singer Natalie D’luccio who in her brief portion sounds very cute, especially that laughter. Natalie sang the song “Baari baari” in Amit Trivedi’s episode of coke studio.

The second half of the song belongs to the KIRKIRE family as Swanand Kirkire and his mother Neelambari Kirkire elevate the wedding mood to another height. Overall I loved this song with its ensemble of singers and brilliant backing instruments.

OVERALL, this one is a gem vem from Amit Trivedi, no doubt. There has been a lot of criticism regarding the genre of films Amit is choosing to compose music for. However I don’t understand what the problem voblem seems to be. Why typecast him to the Udaan, DevD genre when he gives us beautiful commercial albums like Ishaqzaade and now this?

This one is quality vuality stuff from Amit Trivedi. He shows us over and over again that he is a genius venius.

SUPERB VUPERB !!!

MY RATING VATINGS – 8 / 10