Digi's Blog

It has been a while since Rahman has had two consecutive hindi releases - the first being "99 Songs" which was a beautiful album and which improved my lockdown because there was an album which was released entirely unlike the trend of releasing singles these days. "Dil Bechara" is a special film mainly because we will be seeing Late Sushant Singh Rajput for the last time in a new film. On paper, this movie has a lot of scope for music. However it remains to be seen how well does debut director & well known casting director Mukesh Chhabra picturise and place the songs. The TITLE SONG immediately transported me back to 2007 when "Jaane tu ya jaane na" released. That film's jazzy title song was similar in a way. The song is instantly catchy and ARR sings this one in his typical style. He is excellent in the antara. Backing him up with hinglish lyrics is Amitabh Bhattacharya who writes some cheesy lyrics but they are in sync with the colle...

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 h...

Tanu weds Manu was a very special film – the earthiness of the movie, the lead actors’ very natural acting and most importantly the music. What an album it was – wedding song, a romantic song, a semi classical song, and that piece of awesomeness which we know today as “RANGREZZ”. So it is just natural to expect a LOT from Aanand Rai’s 3 rd bollywood outing. As if that was not enough, he ropes in A.R Rahman to compose the music for Raanjhanaa. After a slight blemish (Read Jab tak hai jaan), let us see whether Rahman bounces back with Raanjhanaa. “TUM TAK” was the first song released few days ago. On watching the video of the song, the song didn’t appeal too much to me. The song was edited too shabbily for the video in my opinion. But things took a total turn when I heard the entire audio song. It turned out to be marvelous. Guitar and manjeeras welcome us in the beginning of the song before Javed Ali starts singing. Javed’s super splendid vocals are just an auditory t...

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 t...

Special 26 is indeed a special movie for many reasons – firstly it marks the second film of director Neeraj Pandey who gave us the impeccable “A Wednesday”. Secondly after a long LOOOONG time we will see Akshay Kumar in a lead role which is different from the stupid characters he has played in his last few movies. (Well except OMG where he wasn’t in the lead.) With a superb ensemble of actors like Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpai and Jimmy Sheirgill, one still has doubts as to what the film’s soundtrack would offer. Even “A Wednesday” had not a single song (It didn’t need one) except a promo video song which very few people would have heard. With M.M Kreem as the music director, one is definitely curious as to what is in store for us. “TUJH SANG LAGEE” starts off with M.M Kreem’s melodious voice. I have always loved his voice whenever he has sung in hindi movies. Joining him in this soulful ballad is K.K who sounds quite different and nice. It is indeed a pleasant change fr...

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 Dab...