Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is synonymous with fantastic music. Rang De Basanti and then Delhi 6 were massive blockbusters. This time however Mehra opts for Shankar Ehsaan and Loy instead of A.R Rahman. Let us see what the trio presents to us.
Mehra is known for including a short musical/lyrical piece in the soundtracks of his movies. First there was “Ik Onkar” in RDB and then there was “NOOR” in Delhi 6. Here we have “GURBAANI” – a lovely short prayer like piece sung by Daler Mehndi. And boy, Daler paaji rocks. I have always held the opinion that both Daler and his brother Mika sing such songs very well. It is a pity that we get to hear them most often in Punjabi dance numbers.
Gurbaani’s short duration of 1.40 minutes is enough to showcase Daler mehndi’s scale range of singing. He is simply brilliant. But the winner is the fab arrangement by the composer trio. What a lovely way to begin a soundtrack!
“ZINDA” is easily and undoubtedly THE anthem of the year. The song starts off with high energy and gets just better as it progresses. Shankar Mahadevan’s elder son Siddharth Mahadevan makes his debut as a solo singer in bollywood, and what a debut! He infuses dollops of energy and soul into the song in just the right quantities. His variations between singing crude and soft are remarkable. And then there are the outstanding lyrics penned by Prasoon Joshi – speechless.
Shankar Ehsaan Loy give us one of their most addictive compositions in a long time. This one is a killer. Absolutely recommended.
“MERA YAAR” starts off with those ever so familiar guitar riffs used by SEL. (Remember that signature tune in Lakshya’s title song?). Javed Bashir teams up with the trio for the first time and as usual, he delivers a total winner. He is flawless in his rendition of this semi – sufi song. SEL opt for some really innovative background arrangements comprising of guitars and violins, and it works really well!
“MASTON KA JHUND” is a purely situational number. Sung by Divya Kumar, the starting of the song is very much similar to that of Matru ki bijli ka mandola’s title song. The song, as depicted in the video is a fun song where we see a “VEST”ed Farhan Akhtar dancing with friends. Now I have never liked Divya Kumar’s voice. It is not the melodious type one would like to hear. Instead it is piercing, and suited more for fun songs which depend heavily on the accompanying video. This song falls into the same category. It is a decent listen, but as a lone audio track, it is just about average.
“SLOW MOTION ANGREZA” is a beautiful song. The moment the song starts, your first thought will be – “Is this song from BMB?”
But the thought will soon dissipate as the magic of the songs makes you fall in love with it. With a very upbeat tempo and guitar, Loy does a very excellent rendition of the English lyrics. But soon Sukhwinder Singh makes you forget everything else. In a “Never heard before” avatar, Sukhwinder for a change leaves all his ENERGY behind and sings this cute number with such brilliance. I loved this song. Easy on the ears, lovely composition, superb arrangements, awesome singing and some fun lyrics!
“BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG” sees Pakistani singer Arif Lohar singing a song which has minimal instrumentation. The star of the song is the lyrics. At times it seems as if the lyrics have been forcefully fitted into the tune, but all that is forgotten once the wonderful voice of Arif Lohar enchants us. He is classic!
The song has barely any instrumentation, and I was waiting for the drums to kick in any moment, but that never happened. Because we have another rock version where all my wishes were fulfilled. This one is sung by Siddharth Mahadevan and is quite different from the first version. Special mention to that “TU BHAAG” portion where Siddharth totally floors us. This guy can stretch till an unimaginably high scale. Like father like son!
Which one did I like? Both. Simple.
“O RANGREZ” is definitely SEL’s finest compositions in the last few years. (At par with BOLO NA maybe, tune wise.)
With two fantastic singers like Javed Bashir and Shreya Ghoshal at the helm, the composer trio create a fascinating mix of an impeccable tune, some awesome sarangi/ esraj and a superlative display of the tabla player’s skills. Whoever plays the tabla, it is HIS song – no two ways about that. The variations he takes, the small nuances and the finale – every bol he plays is just heavenly. The song is pure magic. Period.
OVERALL, “BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG” is one hell of a soundtrack. In just one motion, the trio manages to silence all those who used to continuously crib that they have lost their magic in the last few years. The album is perfectly in sync with the flavor of the movie and should be easily included in all the music award nominations for the year.
And yes, welcome Siddharth Mahadevan. After Ganaraj Adhiraj 1 and 2, I expected a grand entry of yours into bollywood, and you just did that. Waiting for Young Shivam to follow you soon. All the best!
MY RATINGS – 9 / 10
Top review, echoes my thought exactly. One of the best soundtracks I've heard in recent times. Almost all songs are on loop.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back SEL!
You don't review. You write praise. Like I did. ;)
ReplyDeleteMy points, Siddharth sounded better than Arif. I don't know why the latter calls SanTi Shanti. Maybe that's a valid way that I don't know of. Siddharth also sounds a bit like Shankar, and I do feel that song would be sung by Shankar had Siddharth not been there. But to the boy's credit, he does sound fine, and though he might not be as polished as his father, he nonetheless makes the song his own, mostly with his enthusiasm. You don't really feel it's second-class in any way.
The other wins of SEL are O Rangrez and Ghulmil ghulmil launda of Sukhwinder. Wouldn't say Zinda beats the two because it's so typical of SEL, and more than SEL, it's Prasoon who gets the credit for this one. If you ask me for a personal opinion, I think Prasoon goes a bit above Javed Akhtar at times when it comes to motivational tracks. Loved his lyrics in this one. And in daant se kaat le bijlee taar.
Don't think Sid sounds like Shankar tbh. And I'm really glad Shankar didn't sing any songs here, despite him being one of my favorite singers of all time etc. Actually selection of singers is absolutely perfect throughout the soundtrack.
DeleteAnd tbf I don't think "Zinda" is typical SEL stuff, on the other hand Maston Ka Jhund is - and that's not necessarily a bad thing BTW.
Whatever may be critiques acclaim of the movie, finally we have a story on one of the three Singhs that the nation will never forget, Bhagat Singh, Dara Singh and Milkha Singh. The nation should honour him with the Bharat Ratna, he is a dignified human being and a hero to millions for generations.
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