MUSIC REVIEW : TANU WEDS MANU RETURNS

After the successful Tanu weds Manu, the trio of Aanand Rai - Krsna - Raj Shekhar is back to enthrall us. Let us see how they fare.

“BANNO” is composed by guest composers Tanishk – Vayu. A folk number to the core, this one is a superb amalgamation of Punjabi and techno beats. Sung wonderfully by Brijesh Shandilya and Swati Sharma, the line “Banno tera swagger laage sexy (saxy)” is indeed a lyrical gem. Lyricist Vayu is the star of this song. The way he includes words like “swagger” and “sexy” in an out and out dance song is praiseworthy! This can very much be titled the “Saddi galli” of the sequel.

From here on, Krsna takes charge of the remaining album.

“MOVE ON” is a unique song. Its title is self explanatory, and Sunidhi’s voice has the much needed aggressiveness. A lyrically and musically creative song, Raj Shekhar writes some really good lyrics, while Krsna’s tune works very well. The way he uses the guitar, drums and other instruments is lovely. Note that the background track doubles in speed during the “miyaan move on” loop. This one is highly reminiscent of Shankar – Ehsaan – Loy’s “Bol Beliya” (Kill Dil) and “Hulla re” (2 States).

Sunidhi shifts from aggressiveness to melody like a chameleon changes colours. This song depicts her versatility to the fullest. Her modulating short aalaap in the antara is brilliant.

Just when we thought we had heard enough of jazz from Amit Trivedi, Krsna brings to us the fabulous “OLD SCHOOL GIRL”

The Malik Family continues to enthrall and surprise us this year. After Ammal Malik gave us the chartbuster “Sooraj Dooba” from Roy, and Anu Malik literally made a comeback of sorts, his daughter Anmol Malik delivers a stunner of a song here!

It is her attitude which makes all the difference. The way she sings it with that awesome accent and her amazing voice modulations, it is indeed difficult to believe she is the same singer who sang in “Umrao Jaan” and gave us that peppy Mallika Sherawat dance number “Talli”. She is a singer to watch out for.

As for the composition, Krsna layers this delicious tune around Raj Shekhar’s simple yet superb English lyrics. I can already imagine a lovely picturization for this song.

There is a HARYANVI VERSION of the song sung by Kalpana Gandharv. A song which pales in contrast to its original, this one makes you smile at its innocence and simplicity. However, ultimately it fails to make an impact. Maybe the picturization will aid things.

The way “MAT JA RE” starts with its “Yash-chopra-ki-movies-ke-Punjabi-villages-wala-feel”, you feel you are in for a templatized folk song. With its dafli and flute, things are beginning to look like that when Ankit Tiwari starts singing. A highly (and much needed) welcome change from the songs he is currently singing, this one depicts his singing prowess in a better way. Krsna’s tune is simple and yet gorgeous. Ankit sounds much less nasal than usual and his voice really suits the song. Overall, I liked the song. Nothing path breaking about it, but a very beautifully made song!

“GHANI BAWRI” is a brilliant song. Period.

With super trippy folk arrangement, patakha guddi Jyoti Nooran is simply amazing. Her voice is tailor made for such a song. The rappish interlude is too good. She carries the entire song on her shoulder and completely aces it. Kudos to Krsna for using superb instruments, combining western and folk elements. That unnamed male guest appearance towards the end sounds nice too.

The way “HO GAYA HAI PYAAR” begins, it reminded me of “Tu meri” from “Bang Bang”. Thankfully, that is where the similarities ended. Krsna totally rules this song with an utmost melodious tune. Dev Negi sings it flawlessly. With a gorgeous arrangement, this romantic song is pure eargasm. The antara is even better. That tabla is simply UFFF… that is when I started realizing that just like Tanu weds Manu had “Kitne Dafe”, its sequel has “Ho gaya hai pyaar”. Once again, lovely use of instruments – table, piano, violins, guitars, sitars (I think I heard them towards the end).

This one is one of the best romantic tracks in recent times, and will have a pretty prolonged shelf life.

The paragraph that follows has been written when I was under the heavy intoxication of this final song of the movie.

There is a reason why Sonu Nigam is well, SONU NIGAM. Over the past many years, bollywood has witnessed its share of young superstar singers including Mohit Chauhan and Arijit Singh. Par Baap aakhir BAAP hota hai.

“O SAATHI MERE” is reason enough to believe that Sonu Nigam is this generation’s finest singer of bollywood. It is hard to believe this is the same singer who gave us chartbuster material 15 years back. There is the same freshness in his voice even today. The way he croons the aalaap in the beginning of the song, I was floored right then. And then Krsna heaves upon us this stunner of a tune with its surreal instrumentation and chorus – the result is heaven and magic!

There is a strong Rahman feel to it, right from the arrangements to the composition. This is Krsna’s best composition till date! It is a complex tune no doubt. There are a lot of variations from beginning to the end. The song is quite a layered one, beginning with a sthaayi and an antara, but then goes the non – uniform way following no pattern and then finally jumping back to the base loop of “O saathi mere”.

I could feel goosebumps the moment Sonu started singing. Infact the hair continued to stand in respect for the next five minutes and 47 seconds.

This is the finest hindi song I have heard in a long time. As for Sonu, after “Abhi Mujh mein”, he once again shows us he is the best!

OVERALL, the music of ‘Tanu weds Manu Returns” lives completely upto its expectations. With a fantastic mix of songs of various genres, this one is an album which will go a long way. As for Krsna, he proves he is here to stay! HOWEVER, I MISSED RANGREZ.

MY RATING – 9 / 10

P.S – I BADLY WANTED A VERSION OF “HO GAYA HAI PYAAR” SUNG BY SONU NIGAM. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN OUTSTANDING. JUST THE MERE THOUGHT GIVES ME SHIVERS.