MUSIC REVIEW - DABANGG 2

I have an unwritten rule while reviewing albums on my blog – To never review an album which has music by “Sajid Wajid”. They are the unbashed rulers of mediocrity (which has plummeted to new lows this year.) I mean, just have a look at the quality and even quantity of music they have given this year – Housefull 2 (Bad), Tezz (Bad), Rowdy Rathore (Bad), Teri meri Kahaani (Average), Kamaal dhamaal malamaal (Horrible), Ishkq in paris (Horrible), Ajab Gazabb love (Bad), Son of Sardar (Blah) – every album smells of repetitiveness and a zero in the creative and novelty department.

However I make exceptions when salman khan is associated with sajid wajid. Reason?

Well, they have a fairly good record with bhai. Starting from “Pyaar kiya toh darna kya” to “Ek tha tiger”, sajid wajid have given good (If not awesome), melodious and popular massy music for their godfather. In fact my favorite Sajid Wajid albums till now (from whatever they have come up with) have been Veer and Dabangg both of which had Salman khan.

(Below is a fictitious representation of how the music of dabangg 2 was composed. No wonder it took only two hours. After all, it is just ctrl+c and ctrl+v). Take a look. (Written in jest with no intentions of insulting anyone. There. I’m done with the disclaimers.)

After the success of dabangg, Sajid wajid sat down with a piece of paper, and made 2 columns. On one side they wrote the names of all songs of dabangg.

Sajid – Wajid Bhai, “Tere mast mast do nain” bohot popular ho gaya tha. Ab aisa doosra gaana kaise banaaye? Hum log toh ek hi type ke tune bana sakte hai.

Wajid – Ek kaam karte hain, iss gaane ka bhi sequel bana dete hai. Sab arrangements same to same rakhte hai. Rahat saab toh itna achha gaate hain ki song chalega.

Baaki ka bhai (Salman) dekh lenge. Video mein woh aur sonakshi honge toh song hit hi hoga.

Sajid – Theek hai bhai. Ab aayi “Munni” ki baari. Ab iske jaisa item song doosra kaise banaaye?

Wajid – haan toh? Usme jhandu tha, isme fevicol daal dete hain. Aur mamta ko song dete hain. Waise bhi usko ek hi type ke gaane gaana aata hai. Chal jaayega. Bhai dekh lenge. Aur isme toh kareena bhi hain.

Sajid – Ab aaya “police thaane wala” song. dabangg mein toh “humka peeni hai” tha. Isme kya karein bhai ?

Wajid – Arey simple. Ek “Hero no 1” ka song utha. Doosra woh wala utha – “Chalat musafir”.

Dono ko mix kar. Khatam.

Baaki ka bhai dekh lenge. Woh dance karenge toh gaana chalega nai, daudega.

Sajid – Bhai, ab ek aur romantic song ki baari aayi.

Wajid – Simple. “Chori kiya re jeeya” ki tarah Sonu aur shreya ko lete hain. Aur apna woh standard template tune hai na ? jis par se humne 40-50 song banaaye hai ?

same tune ko waapis use karte hai.

Baaki ka bhai dekh lenge. Woh song ke video mein honge matlab song hit.

Sajid – Par ek problem hai. T-series waale pressure daal rahe hai ki Tulsi kumar ko ek song mein lo compulsory.

Wajid – Yeh kaun hai?

Sajid – Wahi jo saare gaane bigaad deti hai. Jo himesh ke saath gaati thi.

Wajid – Abey yaar kya museebat hai. Chal theek hai. Song bigadta hain toh bigadne de.

Baaki ka bhai dekh lenge.

Sajid – Aur end mein title song ki baari.

Wajid – Bas yaar chhote aur kitni creativity dikhaayein ?

ek kaam karte hai. Naya tune lete hai. End mein “Hud hud dabangg” wala loop daal dete hain, aur tempo fast kar dete hai, aur sukhwinder ko bolte hai again gaane ko.

Baaki ka bhai dekh lenge. Unn par picturize hoga toh hit hi hoga.  

Sajid – theek hai par bhai aap iss bar “hud hud dabangg” wala loop mat gaana .last movie mein aapne gaaya tha. Dabangg kam, dabhangg zyaada sunai de raha tha. Aap compose karo na bhai. Sukhwinder ko sab gaane do please.

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In a nutshell, they have made a carbon copy of each song from dabangg and served us in dabangg 2.

My views –

Personally, I liked “Dagabaaz re”. It has nice lyrics, some great tabla and a beaten to death yet melodious tune. It worked for me, thanks to the video.

“Pandeyjee” –  I didn’t like initially. But again this one worked for me after the video. There are many more thaanedaars dancing here, but salman steals the show. This one will evoke a lot of “Seetis” on screen.

“Fevicol” didn’t work. And it will never – call Kareena kapoor or rekha. A very old fashioned arrangement, boring tune and bad lyrics.

“Saanson ne” –  TULSI KUMAR? Need I say anymore? And yet I might listen to it due to sonu’s ever reliable singing. Aur let the video come. Bhai baaki ka dekh lenge.

The title song works for me. Almost. It should be even better on screen.

OVERALL, call it lack of new tunes or sticking to the tried and tested formula out of fear of failure, Sajid Wajid create a sequel to Dabangg. Literally.

Now I love him, but I’m not a die hard fan of salman khan. But one has to admit the fact that he does make the songs work. Dabangg 2 is one such album which wholly and solely relies on salman khan’s shoulders. One can imagine him romancing sonakshi (Dagabaaz) or dancing in a police thaana (Pandeyjee), or shaking in an “adhesive” item song, or dominating the screen in the title song.

And that is what made the music work for me. Nothing great, but then for a film like this and an actor of this popularity, this is more than enough. Plus you can’t expect oscar material from sajid wajid. (Hah!) So I just accept them during a sallu bhai movie, and ignore them otherwise.

As a lone audio album, DABANGG 2 is dreary, unimaginative and repetitive. But then there is bhai. Aur who dekh lete hai ki album mein masala ho. Imagine him in each song and you will enjoy the album. (This is what I call shameless indulgence.)

One thing was missing – a dialogue mashup. Kamaal karte ho pandeyjee?

MY PICKS – Dagabaaz re, Hud hud dabangg, Pandeyjee seeti, and the male portions of Saanson ne.

AVOID – fevicol, and Saanson ne (Tulsi’s portions). Can someone cut out those portions and upload a male version?

MY RATINGS – 7 / 10