MUSIC REVIEW : AASHIQUI 2

Bad news – An overdose of melody

Good news – You still enjoy many of the songs

Bad news – Jeet Ganguli’s ordinary performance

Good news – Mithoon and Ankit Tiwari

Still bad news – Tulsi Kumar

Good news – She has sung only 2 songs, sparing the other 9.

Now the original “Aashiqui” was nothing out of the world. It featured actors who are not even seen these days. And the much talked about “cult” music too was nothing great. True it showcased Nadeem Shravan’s ability to dip songs in tragedy and melody and serve us an album which over the years has gained maximum popularity among heartbroken lovers and rickshaw drivers.

However knowing the amount of “lifting” Nadeem Shravan did, I trust Mithoon, Ankit Tiwari and Jeet Ganguli more.

“TUM HI HO” is undoubtedly the best song of the album. Composed and penned by Mithoon, this song is melody at its very peak. The lilting piano coupled with a surreal sounding Arijit Singh makes this a gem. This is one of the most melodious songs to have come out in a long time and it should have no problems in becoming a rage in the coming days. (It already is.)
Addictive stuff, very addictive stuff.

There is a second version titled “MERI AASHIQUI” which showcases the brilliant singing talents of Palak Mucchal. Sounding a lot like Shreya Ghoshal, Palak sounds superb. She is even better than in “Ek tha Tiger”. The combination of her low scale with Arijit’s high scale is truly brilliant.

Mithoon’s third and last song is an instrumental titled “AASHIQUI – THE LOVE THEME”. With the lovely use of piano, this is a soft and nice instrumental version which should find a place in the movie’s narrative.

“SUNN RAHA HAI” is composed and sung by Ankit Tiwari, previously associated with Saheb Biwi aur Gangster. And he excels in this one. The long stretch he sings in the beginning of the song is indeed awesome. And the “Sunn raha hai” loop is superb. A typical bhatt camp song, this one stands out as a well composed, well sung and melodious song. Special mention to the fab use of guitar. And credit marks for the fantastic use of the concert like sing along chorus towards the end.

We have a female version of the song by Shreya Ghoshal. Here the arrangements are totally Indian. The pace is slightly slower and there is the lovely use of ghatam (?) in the “Sunn raha hai” loop. Loved it.

The remaining songs are composed by Jeet Ganguli, and that is where the album loses steam.

“CHAAHUN MAIN YA NA” is sung by Arijit Singh and Palak Mucchal. A very ordinary tune, this one is a decent listen listen thanks to the wonderful singing and the antara where the song seems better. Overall, this one is a nice song and will find its audience, but will not have a long shelf life.

“AASAN NAHI YAHAAN” begins with that annoying wooo… ooo….oooo which has been beaten to death by Pritam in his songs. The tune too is pretty mediocre and fails to hold your attention. Arijit tries hard to salvage the song, but still overall the song falls flat on its face. It sounds like a thrown away pritam song.

As if this was not enough, we are treated to two songs by (shudders and winces) Tulsi Kumar – the price one has to pay when T-series produces a movie.

“HUM MAR JAAYENGE” once again has a tune that is totally yawn inducing. True it has Arijit Singh, but it took me a lot of guts to reach his portions as they were preceeded by Tulsi Kumar’s portions. Well, just delete the song from your playlist.

“PIYA AAYE NA” is even worse. Here K.K dares to accompany Tulsi Kumar, who sounds as if she is nauseating and has been ordered to sing at gunpoint. Leave deleting this song; don’t even download it in the first place.

Respite comes in the form of the last two songs which are Jeet Ganguli’s best songs from the album.

“BHULA DENA” is sung by Mustafa Zahid who sings it in his usual style. The song starts off as a typical Mustafa Zahid rock cum romantic song, but soon gets better. The antara portions are brilliant. Overall, again it is not a great song but still manages to make you like it.

“MILNE HAI MUJSE AAYI” again features the oooo…oooo…ooo portion but inspite of that, you like the song primarily because of its lyrics, the nice tune and most importantly Arijit Singh. The rock treatment of the song works big time in its favour. Good one.

OVERALL, Aashiqui 2 is quite a mixed bag. While Ankit Tiwari shines in two songs, it is Mithoon who deserves the maximum praise for his lone composition. Please give us more of your writing as well as composing Mithoon.

But it is Jeet Ganguli who is the biggest letdown. Now I know he recycles almost all his Bengali tunes – no problem in that as long as you produce good results in bollywood. Sadly, that is not the case. It would have been better had the makers stuck to Mithoon and Ankit Tiwari.

Secondly, there is too much of monotony in the album. Not a single track comes across as cheery or happy. Agreed that this film is about heartbreak, but that doesn’t mean you make an album which sounds more like an Agam Kumar Nigam album.

The star of the album is no doubt Arijit Singh. He finds his grasp among few brilliant and mediocre songs and doesn’t disappoint at all.

MY PICKS – TUM HI HO BOTH VERSIONS, SUNN RAHA HAI BOTH VERSIONS, MILNE HAI MUJHSE AAYI, BHULA DENA

MY RATINGS – 7.5 / 10