MUSIC REVIEW : KAI PO CHE

Very rarely there comes a movie which tugs your heart even before it has released. “Kai Po che” is one such film. Based on Chetan Bhagat’s novel “The 3 mistakes of my life”, I am BADLY looking forward to it, mainly because –

1. It is directed by Abhishek Kapoor whose last film “Rock on” was a brilliant one – classy and one of my all time favorites.
2. The film is based in my state GUJARAT, and it is indeed a proud feeling believe me; seeing the picturesque locales of Diu and other places.
3. The first trailer of the film – it was everything I had expected – reminiscent of Dil chahta hai in a big way. It is one of the finest trailers to have come out in a long time.
4. Sushant Singh Rajput – even a trailer and two video songs are enough to know that the guy can act and emote marvelously.

AND LASTLY – “AMIT TRIVEDI”. Enough said.

“MAANJHA” is pure heaven. With outstanding imaginative lyrics by Swanand Kirkire, Amit Trivedi himself sings this one and the result is MINDBLOWING. Every second of the song gives you goosebumps like never before. And as is with many Amit Trivedi songs, here too we are treated to a variety of sounds and instruments. We have guitars opening the song. Then there is the instrument called “ESRAJ” (Sounding similar to a Sarangi. Click HERE for reading what exactly the Esraj is) which makes all the difference. The instrument makes your hair stand up, especially the 40 second portion from 1.52 to 2.25 minutes.

There is also some brilliant use of the “Khartaal” (One must be familiar with this instrument If he/she has seen the film I AM KALAM). Also there was some soft use of the “Khanjari”.

Amit trivedi sings this one in his usual style. As always he is superb in his high notes. And the chorus “Ho ho hai jazba” is infectious and damn addictive. This is undoubtedly one of his finest compositions ever! I wouldn’t have minded if the song had a run time of even ten minutes.

“MEETHI BOLIYAAN” – Remember that beautiful song from Amit Trivedi’s Coke studio episode “YATRA”? The same singer Mili Nair makes her bollywood debut in this song. The way she sings is indeed superb and I was instantly in love with her voice. After Shalmali Kholgade, here is another superb find by Amit.

But the show stealer of the song is composer saab himself. The moment we hear that drum beat and amit sings “Hai zindagi…” – that is truly genius stuff from him. And as if that was not enough, we have another mind blowing “UJLA SAVERA” crescendo which make us sit and just marvel at what this man can do.

“SHUBHAARAMBH” – Finally the moment I’ve been waiting for since Amit Trivedi entered Bollywood – A Gujarati song from the gujarati guy. We have seen him compose everything from Punjabi music to south Indian. But the heart ached for a pure gujarati folk song from him. I wanted to see how much improvisation he can make in a standard template folk garba tune. And believe me; he gave me a resounding slap in the form of “Shubhaarambh”.

Shruti Pathak (Another Gujarati) starts off with gujarati lyrics and she is joined by Divya Kumar. Soon the shehnai is introduced in the song. While the shehnai as well as the singing is awesome, Amit keeps the instrumentation to a bare minimum, and after one and a half minutes, we wonder whether this is really THE garba track we were waiting for.

And so at 1.40 minutes, Trivedi saab says “Tathastu”. What follows next can only be experienced by turning the volume of your device to the fullest ever possible. We are treated to the most ingenious combination of Bagpipers, shehnai and drums EVER heard in hindi music. The beats get momentarily replaced by the traditional heench beats towards the end as Divya kumar goes HEY JEE REY. To say that the song is addictive and foot tapping would be a gross understatement. It is much more than that. Let’s say you have to be a Gujarati to experience that feeling – the feeling of playing garba / dandiya to this song during the next navratri or wedding.

Thank you very much Mr Trivedi.

OVERALL, I was genuinely saddened by the fact that this album consisted of only three songs. But then I read Abhishek Kapoor’s tweet saying “Aur songs ke liye jagah hi nahi thi.” Well that is a good thing, and it only confirms my belief that the film is going to be something extraordinary.

As for the album, what should I say? All three songs are simply fabulous. I listened to “Maanjha” about 35 times at a stretch about two days before. All three songs have extremely high repeat value and long shelf life.

AND this album has what it takes to become a cult album despite having only three songs. And this is no exaggeration. Maanjha has already become an anthem of sorts.

Considering Amit Trivedi’s background music (BGM) composing skills, I am sure “Kai Po che” will definitely have something in store for us in its BGM – maybe a few new songs like “Wake up Sid” had. Keeping my fingers crossed. Till then, back to Maanjha, Meethi Boliyaan and Shubhaarambh!

MY RATINGS – 9.25 / 10

Once again, thank you Mr Trivedi.