MUSIC REVIEW : 1920 THE EVIL RETURNS

The vikram bhatt – chirantan bhatt combo is one of my favorites. After dishing out the fairly engaging “Shaapit” and the brilliantly melodious “Haunted 3D”, now they are back for their third outing, a sequel to 1920, one of the genuinely scary movies I’ve seen in hindi cinema in recent times.

For those who didn’t know, Vikram bhatt and Chirantan bhatt are cousin brothers. Their grandfather Vijay bhatt directed some classics like Ram rajya, Baiju Bawra and Himalay ki god mein. Chirantan’s father Arun Bhatt was a leading famous gujarati film director (Yep, he’s from aapnu Gujarat.)

While the first one 1920 had music by Adnan sami who gave us some great melodies in the form of “Vaada” and “Tujhe main pyaar karoon”, let us see whether chirantan recreates the magic he wove with Haunted.

“APNA MUJHE TU LAGAA” sees sonu nigam in his melodious best. While he also appears in the video of this song as he plays the piano, the song is a treat for his fans. He is superb. The gorgeous piano mixed with guitars which mark the beginning of the song make you fall in love with it right from the start. This is sonu’s second song with vikram bhatt in recent times, his first one being the awesome “Aapki aahat” from the film “LANKA” composed by Gaurav Dagoankar.

“USKA HI BANANA” is sung by Arijit singh who is clearly having a ball this year. After singing melodies with vishal – shekhar and pritam, he once again is in top form as he gives us one of the best songs of this album. With a haunting arrangement, this one is an intense song and is a delight to hear. This one is a must listen.

“JAAVEDAAN HAI” is sung by K.K for whom such songs are a cake walk. While the song begins off as if it is one of those tunes composed by Jeet ganguli, it is the “jaavedaan hai” loop which is killer. That makes the song an entirely different product. K.K as usual is top class.

“KHUD KO TERE” begins with a beautiful violin piece as mahalakshmi iyer sings this solo. It is a pleasure to hear her sing. I’ve always loved her voice right from the time she sang “Kabhi shaam dhale”. Anyway, the song is melodious and sung well. It reminds us of those 1990’s songs. I expected a version of the song in Tia bajpai’s voice as she is the actress in the film, but surprisingly didn’t find one. She sings well. Remember Sau baras (Haunted) and “Sheet leher” (Lanka)?

“MAJBOOR TU BHI KAHIN” is sung by amit mishra. A song depicting pain and agony, amit’s voice exudes every bit of it to make it sound brilliant. His rendition is different, kind of a rock version, but it works very well. the USP of the song is the brilliant lyrics addressing God.
For those who didn’t know, amit mishra is one fellow who has done so many things – composed music (Atithi tum kab jaaoge), lyricist (same movie), writer (same movie), art direction (Zameen) and acting (Ready).

OVERALL, I am a fan of chirantan bhatt’s music. For me he is the new age Nadeem shravan, with much more originality than the duo (Refer Karthik’s site to see what a large number of lifts is credited to their names).

While critics may not like chirantan’s music arguing that it lacks novelty and is a throwback to the 1990’s music, I on the contrary loved this album. With five songs, no remixes, no second versiond, no reprises – this one is a musical treat, just like Haunted. Also playing a major role are the 3 lyricists - Shakeel azmi, Manoj yadav and Junaid wasi whose lyrics are very good and exceptional at places.

I am also a music critic. I listen to amit trivedi, sneha khanwalkar and all such new age music composers dishing out highly creative stuff. But at the end of the day, even I require something which is so dripping with melody that it refreshes you. The kind of songs which you can hum alongwith. That’s exactly what 1920 evil returns is.

MY PICKS – ALL FIVE

MY VERDICT – 8.5 / 10