SuperStar Rajni is a king among kings in Tamil cinema. From the mid-70s till today, his films draw in crowds all around the South purely because it’s a Rajnikanth film. He is very much Tamil cinema’s Amitabh Bachchan. For those with long memories Rajnikanth did have a brief run in Hindi cinema in which his most memorable role was 1983’s Hum where he starred alongside Govinda and Amitabh Bachchan. His latest film Kaala is bound to be a fresh super hit in Tamil Nadu cinemas, but as has been the recent trend in films, it has been brought north and redubbed into Hindi to give it a chance to shine amongst the great and good of Bollywood. Co-starring Nana Patekar and produced by Dhanush (from films such as Raanjhanaa with Sonam Kapoor and Shamitabh with who else but Amitabh Bachchan), its also directed by a legend of Tamil movies Pa. Ranjith.

To round off this strong team is a lesser known but still legendary music director, Santhosh Narayanan, who has plenty of experience translating his music between languages, most recently Saala Khadoos (starring R Madhavan) and Rajnikanth’s previous superhit Kabali (which was a direct dubbing rather than a remake) for the Bollywood cinemagoers. Thus, the album itself draws on many years of experience and will have both strong singing as well as club beats, but not leaving out the emotional tone and core.

The Hindi version of the album begins with Bahut Bhaari Hai. Sung by Rohith Fernandes and Arunraja Kamaraj, this is a loud hip-hop and rap track mixed with some very cool jazz. Acoustic drums, synth sounds and dhol are all employed for beat with bass guitar, trumpet and piano all providing a very live melody over which Rohith, Arunraja and Dope Daddy can spit rhymes. Even though there is a rap break within a rap song, it still manages to find its own space. The only thing that does bring this down a bit is the limitation of the Hindi language which isn’t made for rap in the way that Tamil is, but otherwise even at a solid 5 minutes (which is quite long for any song in the modern style) it holds its head up with pride.

Sajna, sung by Ananthu and Shweta Mohan, follows and it is a track with a very sad song feel. Employing heavy but offbeat minor keys, it features acoustic guitar and piano, with heavy strings and a light but effective chorus this is definitely the loss of love song for this film. Shweta Mohan is smooth and stands out in her bit parts for the song, while the rest of the song is balanced between instrumentation and Ananthu. The feel of this song doesn’t have any anger in the loss, it is simply loss. More importantly, that emotion is very much felt in this song.

With the heavy song out of the way, Sone Ki Tu Ek Murat is led by Shankar Mahadevan with Pradeep Kumar to lend a hand. As the title suggests this is a fun song for the guy to chase the girl. Harmonium is very much the base with earthen pots and tabla playing a loud beat. Shankar Mahadevan gets full control of how the audience experiences the song with every instrument falling behind him – even allowing him to interrupt the bridge between chorus and verse. Because of it’s lack of synth sounds, it feels more old style but since Rajni is sporting a thick white beard this is not only expected but works well.

Tamil cinema films are known for having at least one folk based beat song in which the lead actor will get out his sattai and vetthi onto the street to dance with a group of his best friends and random passers-by. The next song in this album is Nikkal Nikkal to provide just this. The thappatai provides a constant beat. Mumbai’s street language Tapori is heavily used in the lyrics to keep a bright pace on the song sung by Dopeadlicz and Arunraja which they achieve faultlessly. Possibly due to the unchanging nature of the beat, synth sounds are employed to provide the highs and lows behind the singers. The song itself is a short 2:45 but is a very entertaining blend of street cultures during the whole time.

For those missing modern beats there is Inqulab Ke Liye, a power play done in heavy synth beats, drums and bass guitar. It is essentially a rap song to open the audience’s eyes to the daily problems of ordinary people and this is something the lyrics promise to fight for. There is a very interesting string procession in the middle ground of this song to allow a little bit of lightness but also to intensify the pride and stoke the fires in people’s hearts. Also, its back to a more usual 3 and a half minutes so this is a good solid power hit.

Dharthi Pae Haq Hai feeds back to more classic patriotic songs of the late 90s looking for strong lead choruses backed by tabla and harmonium. Piano and various string instruments are employed to provide the base beat, which is both persistent and is also a driving force within the song. Vijay Prakash is teamed with Ananthu because as they divert from each other about minute 4, Vijay Prakash seems to tangent off into tarana while still staying within the scale of the song and Ananthu keeps driving home the song’s message “Dharti pae haq hai, apna hi haq hai”. This is quite a long song at over 6 and a half minutes, but this is not a bad thing as it certainly doesn’t lose interest and will allow several characters to be involved in the song. Equally this could be used as a background song to some vistas of desperation and people fighting back.

Sadkon Ke Deepak is another song back to the rap/hip-hop stylings of Dopeadlicz led by Vijaynarain. A short and sharp song there are 3 types of drums all loud and strong to provide both steady beat and flair. The lyrics very much label this as an every man’s song, showing that while there are daily struggles people find a way to stand up.

Finally, the album is rounded off with a proper rock song Ik Sar Waale Raavana. Roshan Jamrock and Arunraja deliver a dark but loud title song for Kaala whose motif is that this Raavan only needs 1 head to take care of business. It’s unforgiving, its powerful, just like Kaala it will hit where it hurts. Just so we don’t forget this is a Super Star Rajni movie, there is a classic whistle sound to just break up the beats a little bit so as to say this is an action man, but he will always be cool.

Santosh Narayanan has delivered hit after hit in the south and while he may not be as well known in the north as Illyaraja or AR Rahman, he is still well revered for his great albums. Kaala Karikaalan is no less a statement of the man’s work which employs the power of the rock guitar, the incessant drum of rap lyrics and synth backing sounds without losing any of its Tamil culture. The serious lyrics are given serious beats, the fun ones have fun melodies backing them. There is no sense in the listening of this album that this is anything but a Super Star album, even if it is built for a modern audience.

The album begins with Pappi Le Loon. Shashwat Sachdev has designed the music and sings some vocals as a background to Sunidhi Chauhan who takes lead. The club rhythm provided as a base is hard hitting to the point of sometimes overtaking the chorus altogether. Sunidhi is asked early in the piece to keep up with the excessively high tempo of the song, firing through lyrics and this is the only highlight of this song, as it needs a few listens to catch all that she has expertly sung. The rest of this song like the rest of this album, is repetitive, full of Hinglish and classical Punjabi melodies. Nevertheless, for those who love Daddy Yankee this will likely appeal.

Shashwat takes a different direction with the next song Bhangra Ta Sajda. Sung by Neha Kakkar, Romy and Shashwat, this is a more traditional bhangra and the released video clip shows this as being at a wedding so its not a great surprise. There is a sense of the ‘call and response’ style of lyrics with the boys saying that we can’t bhangra if no one gives a damn and the ladies telling us that if they are around the bhangra will go on. But outside of this fun there really isn’t anything in this song to keep an audience or listener interested unless your playlist(s) are already full of upbeat punjabi wedding songs.

White Noise now takes over the turntable and gives us Laaj Sharam to listen to. Divya Kumar, Jasleen Royal and Enbee are invited to take on this song, which sounds like its been inspired by Fergie. Once again its about breaking free of shackles placed upon the female lead(s) but with more classic Punjabi rhythms and heavily repeating lyrics without much in the way of verses, this also fails to get the blood pumping.

Next on the album is the title track Veere. Vishal Mishra has taken the responsibility of both the music and lead vocals with a host of singers in tow namely Aditi Singh Sharma, Dhvani Bhanushali, Nikita Ahuja, Payal Dev, Lulia Vantur and Sharvi Yadav. The inspiration for this song comes from songs such as Bhuddhu sa Mann and aims for feel good, playful and dance track without trying to explode on the club scene. Overall this is quite a good song as it plays second fiddle to a lot of the other tracks and seems to do everything in a middle of the road fashion. Since it is possibly the only song that concentrates on one character i.e. Veere, it does seem more personal but not enough to evoke any real emotions about her.

Shashwat Sachdev now takes to the mic again to lead and direct Bass Gira De Raja. This is heavy synth pop with strong blocks of bass to hit the hearer’s ears. Interesting synth sounds, and very limited lyrics give little distractions away from this pounding but at the end of the day this song really is all about that bass and no treble. This is likely to be the ending song as the lyrics are about everyone just letting go to the beat of the DJ who is dropping that bass.

Aa Jao Na, while being the next track on the album, couldn’t be further stylistically from the previous song. Arijit Singh is asked by Shashwat to find his inner Drake and delivers a soft and smooth track. Piano for the bridge between chorus and verse and some neat backing synth sounds give this track a melody unheard in other tracks on this album and is certainly a change of speed and feel for this album. Perhaps this is a flashback on some better times or is trying to signify a journey forward as Arijit and Shashwat together remind us of the easy feeling sounds of some great modern western artists.

Dagamag Diga is Vishal Mishra’s seeming attempt at an item number. Along with Payal Dev he again takes the lead on vocals in a song that doesn’t seem to ever come together. Neither the Hinglish lyrics, nor the hard beat or the weak voices trying to escape from under it, seem capable of finding a harmony within this song. There may be good reasons for this, but it is not obvious without a published clip or watching the film.

Finally, the album is rounded out by a Baadshah special titled Tareefan. QARAN takes the music director credit for this but it sounds like some of Baadshah’s more recent works. The published clip for this does create interest with Sonam and Kareena both lip synching and gyrating their hips to Baadshah’s voice. Baadshah himself makes an appearance for the clip during the rap breaks which are often. Publicly QARAN has said this song was “composed on a flight from Mumbai to Delhi on my iPad”, which may lead you to wonder if the required time was put into developing it.

When a film takes a title Veere di Wedding and claims to be a romantic comedy but not a chick flick, an audience can’t expect more from its songs than to be high-energy, loud and Punjabi. Especially not post-00’s. To that limit, this album certainly delivers. If your playlists are already full of club tracks, then you are likely to be adding a few more from this album already. From the movie’s point of view, some of the songs don’t seem to have a defined purpose and even those that do often fail to deliver anything except classic bhangra mixed with hard club sounds. Overall, this album lacks any substance unless you are a Punjabi, named Veere or at an Indian wedding.

Raazi is itself based upon an incredible true story written about in Harinder Sikka’s novel Calling Sehmat. A fascinating story of a Kashmiri woman going undercover to uncover vital plans of the Pakistani military before the 1971 war, Sehmat is both incredibly brave and fighting for her life, but at the same time is human and upmost understanding the need for her to do this for her country.

As this is a border story and a true story, not much can be done with the screenplay to get away from the book. However, as is the way with Meghna Gulzar, she brings a personality to every side of the story, whether it be Sehmat the Indian spy and wife of a Pakistani military man, Iqbal the military man with an immense sense of duty to everything including his wife, Shishir Sharma as the Brigadier with the weight of the world on his shoulders or Rajat Kapoor as Sehmat’s father: a man and father who knew what danger he was putting his daughter in and still went ahead anyway. Every character is thought through and has a significant part to play in the story but there is a great variance in the screen time they get. This means that the audience forgets whether certain characters are even alive at any given point in the movie until they suddenly re-appear to deliver a critical moment of dialogue.

The film puts Alia in a space she hasn’t been in since her early career in Highway. Alia shows us this by showing nerves of steel when needed to stand up, cowering in nervousness when the fear grips her and crying as events take their turn against her favour. Vicky Khausal on the other side plays Major Iqbal Syed and is both tender as a husband, falling for Alia who he marries under an arranged marriage, but also finding the hard edge of a military man as a Major in the Pakistani military especially when he discovers the lies he has been living with. Both actors play their parts as prescribed, but both seem to fall short in the above mentioned aspects as they both seem to fail to express the depths of their characters. Seemingly they have tried to play to Bollywood stereotypes without properly accounting for the reality in the story.

The cinematography has startling moments and a great variety to it too. Starting in the incredible beauty of Kashmir to the streets of Islamabad, from the plain house of Sehmat’s birth to the grandiose residence of the Brigadier, many colours and expectations are obvious to the audience. The camera gives both wide panoramas as well as bringing the cinemagoer right up to the inner depths of both Pakistani and Indian military intelligence giving a full experience. However as it often lingers on the beautiful location shots or gets stuck in a close up shot of Sehmat, we don’t often get a decent look at the whole picture to fully understand her situation.

Being a film made between Gulzar and Dharma productions, the last important part of the film is the music. Shankar Ehsaan and Loy are well known and well experienced group of music directors and with Gulzar writing some great lyrics to stir audience hearts both for the patriotic pride as well as the tragedy of Shemat’s story. While there are only 4 songs they are well dispersed throughout the film being used in small bursts where they are at their most powerful.

Overall this film hits all the expected points. The story is both intriguing and twisting, while filling audience hearts with the sadness of drama and the pride of patriotism. The music is used effectively to make maximum impact and manages to be both touching and loud. The cinematography highlights the beauty of all scenes within the film. However in comparison with other patriotic human stories like Neerja it lacks the hard hitting edge, a final push to bring the life of the main character squarely into view. Raazi has the talent of some of the best in the industry to become a fullfilling film based on reality yet somehow you walk away feeling something isn’t quite right.

On the 11th of May, Dharma productions comes together with Junglee pictures to present Raazi, starring Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal. Based upon the book “Calling Sehmat” by Harinder Sikka, it is a true story of the journey of an ordinary Indian girl, in extraordinary circumstances.

Meghna Gulzar takes the director’s chair and to do the story justice lyrics are by her father (the legend himself) Gulzar and the music is provided by a well-experienced group in Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. The album itself is fully contextual as these legends have always made the story their base point.

As the title song, Raazi is required to give an essence of power, mystery and the sound of a journeyman (or woman in this case). Gulzar gives the powerful tagline “Laga de dao par dil, agar dil raazi hai” in a way he has done so many times for so many films over so many years. Similarly, the music also seems to be diving back into the past for inspiration, taking the best bits of great SD Burman’s works for great female heroines. Light strings and a drum give a strong beat and also are used to stir the audience’s hearts. Even when just spoken the lyrics get the audience ready for what is to come but Shankar Ehsaan and Loy in using Arijit Singh to sing them, find a way to take them to the next level as an experience.

The story itself seems to be book-ended by two songs called Ae Watan. One is sung by Arijit Singh, one by Sunidhi Chauhan, each in themselves pure patriotism sung by pure singers. The background music isn’t much, giving these accomplished singers the spotlight. Drums and a string instrument or two, aim to fill the well of pride in the patriotic efforts of our main character and these two fine singers, each bring ‘junoon’ with their lion-like voices. They are ably backed by an appropriate chorus of voices. For Arijit an adult group has been tasked with allowing him to soar but catching him when he lands. For Sunidhi a group of children; a vocal sense of hope, to leave the audience with pride and tears in their eyes. Gulzar using the power of words gives these songs lyrics to melt the staunchest critics with “Kurban meri jaan tujhpe, shaad rahe tu” and “Zindagi shama ki surat, ho khudiya mere”. Gulzar has never been afraid to push the boundaries of language and often reaches for words audiences may not understand straight away, but puts them into context so they can be felt by any patriot or lover of music and poetry.

Dilbaro is a point of inflection within the film as it plays the role of wedding bidai song and gives this album a personal feel. It used to be said that every girl must marry and when they marry they must leave their fathers’ house forever to never return. When it is considered that post-marriage Sehmat would be moving to post-war Pakistan, this is actually likely. Harshdeep Kaur and Vibha Saraf are asked to give the ambiance of sadness as Alia sees her groom, completes the ceremonial rituals and leaves with him, leaving behind a household she would have known since birth. Some Urdu lyrics mixed in with traditional Muslim wedding instruments give a solemn base to what is a very good song even if it is meant to be depressing in nature. Some hope is provided by Shankar Mahadevan singing some more fine Gulzar lyrics but overall the audience is asked to realise “Faslein jo kaati jayein, ugti nahin hai”.

To sum up this album, we need to think about it in the film. ‘Ae Watan’ (male) will be early on, a sort of training video montage. ‘Dilbaro’ will follow with the wedding that takes Sehmat away from her home. Finally, ‘Ae Watan’ (female) might be used at the end to bring hope to future generations. The lyrics of course are epic pieces of writing from a leading poet and storyteller. Nothing here that wouldn’t be expected of such well known names of Bollywood.

Based on the setting of the film, and it being what we believe is more background score full of patriotic love for India this album gets a very strong rating. However, if you are someone looking for some good songs which might stir you when you are down, then this album may not be for you.

Devdas is a well known and classic love triangle written by Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. It’s been adapted and made into 13 different iterations, which while being faithful to the story, have been done in 5 of India’s major languages both in the original time period as well as fitting in with the times. The main character Dev has been done by Dilip Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan and supported by so many famous actresses that it is hard to list. It has been directed by greats like Bimal Roy and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Since 2010 however, Devdas has been re-interpreted into a few new and different guises including Dev.D and Dev DD. Sudhir Mishra takes his version of Devdas down this line by flipping it on its head as Daas Dev, releasing in cinemas 27th April. Starring Rahul Bhat as Dev, the key roles of Paro and Chandani (i.e. Chandramukhi) are taken by Richa Chadha and Aditi Rao Hydari.

As is the 2018 way, the music is being handled by the collaboration of a lot of music directors and singers. The challenge here is that the previous film adaptations of Sarat Chandra’s epic have heavily reliant on their songs to provide important story cues, powerful moments and make powerful statements which were not in the original novel. So, while the songs themselves will be well defined, they will also be heavily constricted in the bubble of Dev, Paro and Chandani. This has meant some epic but sad love songs over the years, but this album will have to take that legacy on and deal with the new angle introduced in this version. Let’s see how they fared.

Atif Aslam is having a good 2018 opening, with major songs on the albums for a few recent movies. Vipin Patwa asks the same of him here with Sehmi Hai Dhadkan. A slow sombre marching beat and rhythm achieved using a background chorus, piano and synth instruments make this song perfect for Atif’s dull tones. He struggles to find any way to make this song sound interesting and since it’s all on him due to the quiet background music, it makes this song hard to like. A drum sound is used well to break up a lot of the lines but its very repetitive and seems to be heavily stop start rather than the smooth flow we’ve come to expect from Atif. Most likely to be used to aid Dev’s recovery under the watchful eye of Chandani having seemingly lost it all.

For the second song, Rangdaari Arko Mukherjee brings in Navraj Hans to deliver a power play with a club beat. This song personifies the anger of losing Paro for Dev. Likely to be to do with the point of the film where Paro disappoints Dev by ultimately choosing to follow her family’s wishes rather than her heart. Loud, brash, heavy synth beats backing short and sharp vocals, this is Dev’s heart screaming out. Rhythm is provided between piano and electric guitar as a symbolism between Dev’s sadness and his fury.

Sandesh Shandilya is given the item song of the film Challa Chaap Chunariya. Held at a wedding with all the major characters involved, the song itself seems to be of little consequence in the video on Youtube which an unheard manipulation seems to be carried out between the main three. The song itself is not done well as Rekha Bharadwaj does not put in a job up to her usual standards. The song itself is a classical song with a modernisation provided by a club beat. Even the lyrics don’t seem to matter much as even the title of the song only appears 3 times within the song and there isn’t much emphasis on the traditional chorus verse form of most songs.

Raat Youn Dil Main Teri is a sensual cool jazz piece that comes up next on the album but doesn’t go as far as to be called sexual. Sung by Papon and Shradha Mishra, there is certainly flirtation given by muted trumpet backed up by soft synth drums, light piano and strings with a strong reverb. The lyrics don’t point to any specific point in the story, but this could be the song for Dev to get drunk on till ruin when the loss of his beloved Paro hits him while her wedding shehnai rings out.

Don’t keep me tied to the old memories says the next song. Azzad Kar is sung loudly by Swanand Kirkire under Anupama Raag’s musical direction. This seems to be Dev breaking free of the shackles placed on him by not only Paro’s memories but the unconditional love of Chandani which he decides to break free of. In traditional versions this is usually the point Dev dies thus ending the story, but this lively, angry, loud and heavily drum based sound say that this will be quite the opposite. Unlike the other songs there is no use of synth, only tambourine, tabla and western drums giving a heavy background to a rhythm section of ektara and bongo drums and of course the singer providing melody. The freedom sweeps up the listener so may not be a good idea to have in the car but one for the playlist possibly.

Vipin Patwa seems to have been inspired by the previous song to give us Tain To Uttey, sung by Javed Bashir. It seems to start out as a run-of-the-mill folk song but after the first verse it becomes a modern remix rock anthem of itself. Without losing the classical and Hindustani folk element, Vipin now adds electric guitars and a full drum kit. This feels like the power and success coming from hours of grinding hard work. As this may be accompanying a montage the sound is very repetitive and quickly allows the audience to settle into the song once the shock beginning has hit.

Finally, the album is rounded out with Marne Ka Shauk. As mentioned Devdas usually ends with the death of Dev and this song is certainly the perfect epitome of that sentiment. However more anger, more pain is brought to bear in the song through background electric basses and a drum used sparingly to hit out. Papon and Krishna Beura are both strong in their performances and make sure both the classical and the heavy rock feel are melded seamlessly, but the song becomes very repetitive again which means over the song the well-used drum has less and less effect.

We cry without reason, we feel pain without reason and those who yell out are cowards. This seems to be the message of a lot of the songs in this album and thus its gone against everything that is Devdas without breaking away from its boundaries. The album hits the anger points well but is often repetitive, thus making strong points but not being able to hold onto them by engaging the audience. However, while there are no really special songs that stand out on their own and could be the song that define the album, each song plays its part and since all the songs are original, the album overall is refreshing even when compared to previous Devdas albums.

Armaan Malik is the chosen singer for the album’s opener Theher Ja. Abhishek Arora provides a background for Armaan to dazzle here with smooth singing of some mildly sad lyrics. There is hope here, but not quite… Armaan finds in his voice the fine line which can be defined as heart-ache and Abhisekh gives his voice the best chance with some light jazz. For those who don’t understand the lyrics, this song is pleasant and seems to be lulling users to a comfortable place to be with its near elevator music stylings. Unfortunately, like elevator music its very repetitive on its tag line “Theher ja tu kisi bahane se”.

Next is the October Theme by Shantanu Moitra. Unlike a lot of recent theme songs, there are no words or singers here just an agreeable mixture of strings and piano. The track does sound like something from a meditation app. There is a tinge of sadness from the overriding violin backed beautifully by occasional twangs of a harp. If the aim was to give an audience a mindfulness session, then this song certainly achieves this, but it will heavily depend on how it is being used in the film to give it relevance. Its abrupt end is a shock to the senses, so look out for that.

When it comes to thinking about the ‘good old days’ and feeling a tinge of sadness, there aren’t any in Bollywood who can sing this feeling better than Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Thus, it is no surprise that Anupam Roy chooses him to take on Tab Bhi Tu. Rahat delivers exactly what is asked of him here, giving a beautiful rendition to remind everyone of someone or something in their past, now moved on, now no longer there. A light jazz and classical fusion is the musical style that gives Rahat full hold of the reins of the track. However, even this is subdued so that the listener only needs to listen to the singer deliver his melancholy message.

Shantanu Moitra and Sunidhi Chauhan team up for the next song Manwaa. Often the word ‘manwaa’ is used in a playful and happy style to show the breaking of formalities between a new couple. This song is definitely not in that style. Shantanu Moitra gives light acoustic strings mixed with a synth drums background to back up Sunidhi’s powerful vocals. Except for the opening where Sunidhi seems to need more support, this works very well in giving the listener a heart tugging sound based upon the lyric “Sajanwa aaja, naina ro ro thake”. It drifts to a lingering end to leave audiences crying.

To round off what is a short album we have Chal by Monali Thakur. Shantanu Motira is again directing this song and since this is light and upbeat in mood, he provides synth pop sounds like Pharell William’s hit collaboration with Daft Punk – ‘Get Lucky’. Similar also in structure this song gives the singer top billing with drums used above the beat to give a driving counterpoint. There isn’t much in the way of lyrics as this is a groove track and a lot of filler is provided to keep the spirit high.

To rate this album on its own merits is very difficult as there is little variety or scope for different and special sounds here. From ‘Chal’ to make cinemagoers alive and interested down through the descent into the sad songs ‘Theher Ja’, ‘Tab Bhi Tu’ and finally the heart breaking ‘Manwaa’, coming to a meandering ending with the sleep-inducing theme song, it certainly seems wanting for a remix. However, if the album is looked at in context with the film, it is well written and seems to fit in with the likely path of the storyline. There are no songs for the sake of fillers or random dance item songs which may be perfect as watchers view the story from Varun’s standpoint. Upon reflection and listening to the songs more and more the album is quite good and even had us adding ‘Theher Ja’ to our playlists. We imagine once seen within the story the songs will play beautifully and mean even more.

Coincidentally two remakes open the OST for this film. Sandeep Shirodkar takes responsibility for Mundiyan, a remake of the famous collaboration between Punjabi MC and Jay-Z (yes, that one!). Navraj Hans and Palak Muchhal are the singers of this new version. Sandeep tries a reverse remake on this track by adding a lot of dholak and using Palak to replace the rap breaks of the great Jay-Z. While the singers themselves are competent and unfailing in their efforts, it’s hard to see what is being tried here as the original is so well known. From the clip available on Bollyspice there is a lot of lights and colour but even Tiger and Disha fail to make this song more interesting than the original.

For anyone who has ever heard of Madhuri Dixit, the next song Ek Do Teen will ring bells. For this version, Madhuri is replaced by Jacqueline Fernandez and behind the mic is Shreya Ghosal rather than Alka Yagnik. Unfortunately for Sandeep Shirodkar that’s where the differences end and the remake does not work. The song does not seem to have been modernized, Shreya sounds exactly like Alka as if she was a voice mimicry artist and even some of Jacqueline’s dance moves are ‘Instagrammed’ in Madhuri’s famous poses. Even this is not a complete success as Shreya goes off-piste occasionally to remind us she isn’t Alka Yagnik, which in this case ruins the memory of the old song that is replaying in our minds.

With the remakes out of the way, the album moves onto a soft love song sung by Atif Aslam with music by Arko. O Saathi is a love song version of the typical second quarter of a Bollywood film where the boy, with a bit of persistence, eventually wins over the girl by being brave but also sweet. Yet by using Atif to sing this song there is this anguish. The clip for this plays out with Tiger seemingly looking back on the times in which his character met Disha’s. Arko provides a decent background score with a combination of dholak and strings, but in a lot of places these take over the singer and Atif’s nasal rendition make it difficult for the lyrics to stand out. An unlisted female vocalist is used to bring light in the background.

Lo Safar is up next sung by Jubin Nautiyal. Under Mithoon’s guidance Jubin does a superb job here singing this very sad feeling love song. Once again this does seem to be about memories of a long-lost love, but the songs beauty touches the heart of the audience. On screen Disha and Tiger look good, happy to be together and with definite chemistry. Mithoon provides acoustic guitar background with flushes of tabla to give a solid endpoint to verses. There is certainly a rising power within the song so its possibly being used to get the audience from a tender moment to some heart pumping action.

The final love song is Soniye Dil Nahi. Gourov-Roshin take over for this song and bring in Ankit Tiwari and Shruti Pathak. This is more for both Tiger and Disha and whereas the others have been about lost happy times, this is very much the one where hearts have been broken. There is a lot of echo used to burn the image of pain into the listener with an electric guitar providing backing for added anger. A constant heartbeat provided by the drums make it the complete package which makes it easier for the singers to excel. Visuals are similarly touching so the effect is maintained throughout making this a perfect song for those who know the feeling.

This album could not be completed, however, without a power track by Pranaay Rijay, Get Ready to Fight Again. Nothing unexpected in this likely title track: heavy drums, electric guitar all accompanying a powerful singer (in this case Pranaay himself) with accompaniments by Anand Bhaskar, Jatinder Singh, Siddharth Basrur and Big Dhillon. Listening to this beat, you imagine Tiger to be walking or running strongly forward possibly with his shirt off in an almost Baywatch manner. Considering the rest of the album this song holds no surprises and does its job well.

Baaghi 2‘s music gives us a combination of fun tracks, sad (in degrees) love songs and the requisite power track in the classic six song format that Bollywood has employed well over the years. Each music director and each of the singers have provided music that matches the requirement of the moment being portrayed so in itself it is hard to criticise. However, the viewers memory of a film’s music is dependent on the x-factor, that feeling that either the song has significance for our lives, that it will encourage strong emotions or that its just the perfect song for the perfect time. Starting with two remakes that fail to stand out from the original and ending with a title track that sounds like every other doesn’t help this cause at all. The meat in the sandwich in terms of the three love songs that seem to just get sadder as we listen down the OST doesn’t do it any favours either but maybe they can be saved by how they fit in the film. So, in conclusion, the film, in cinemas now, will have to be watched to understand this album.

For two songs for Raid, Taniskh, has turned to remaking Indian classical music and for an added challenge chosen songs from much beloved Pakistani musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The Qawwali and Sufi singer is a name many have heard, his work is sprinkled throughout Bollywood films as it has been used and reused many times over. For Taniskh to take on this task thus who better than Rahat to give these songs the gusto and give the same feeling as their original singer did in the early 1980s.

Sanu Ek Pal Chain, which has been remade in Bollywood film Judaai as ‘Mujhe Ek Pal Chain’ (starring recently deceased Sridevi), returns to its Punjabi roots with Rahat sounding a tempered version of his great father. Taniskh restores the balance here by giving light but traditionally classical instrumentation with harmonium, tabla, acoustic guitar and piano. Keep an ear out for the tingling sounds of water as played on the santoor giving the song a bit of life. The song is consistent and repetitive and in doing this the composer allows Rahat the best chance to do his father’s legacy justice.

For Nit Khair Manga a more up-beat rhythm is generated by clapping, tabla and an electric bass guitar for the chorus. This all comes together in a delightful manner. Listeners are again treated to Rahat trying to do his father proud. The Sufi feel of this song its perfect for Lucknow in 1981 without being too slow for the modern audience. However, as this is also a remake of a remake (‘Mera Yaar Dildar’ – Jaanwar), it’s hard for it to stand out for those with long memories.

Amit Trivedi on the other hand is well known for songs from the heart with a folky feel but modern instruments. So, leaving behind two classics of Sufi, the soundtrack next gives Black. Sukhwinder Singh is back doing what he does best, delivering power purely with his own voice. Amit keeps a softer marching beat in this light rock anthem in contrast to Singh’s performance. There is a lot of synth sound effects to give us police siren sounds, and synth drums remain consistent throughout to give a sense of foreboding. Throw in a strong chorus to give a sense of Ajay Devgn being backed by a crowd with some emphasis points made with traditional dhol for that Indian feel and this song gives the film a great launching pad.

The final song is Jhuk Na Paunga. Amit brings his Coke India Studio experience along with one of its most popular singers, Papon, to give this song an easy jazzy feel. The electric guitar is employed to keep the beat here allowing the drums and dhol to play their own powerful part. Papon himself is clear and easy to listen to but is asked to stay well within his range throughout so listeners will not get the full experience of his singing here. Instead Amit Trivedi has employed a strong chorus of singers to provide the highs and lows in the flow of the music to give it a quirky twist.

Music can be judged upon 5 main things: Rhythm, Beat, Melody, Singer(s) and X-factor. The x-factor is a personal feeling dependent on mood, weather, personal feelings and so on. As the first 2 songs by Taniskh are remakes they can’t rate well as they don’t have anything special that separates them enough from the original. The on-screen performance while highlighting the songs, doesn’t aid them to endear the audience. Amit Trivedi’s work is more of what audiences have come to expect from him and the songs are easy but quirky and thus interesting. They allow the visuals to take over but have enough power in themselves for cinemagoers to add them to their playlists. Thus, overall the album comes in comfortably in the middle.

Raid is in theaters now!

The first song is Aashiq Banaya Aapne. The title is not a new one having been used in several different projects over the years. However, this remake takes its inspiration from the title song of the film of the same name, Aashiq Banaya Aapne staring Emraan Hashmi and Tanushree Dutta. For the time, 2005, this was a raunchy song and its video showed plenty of lust and amore. Himesh Reshammiya and Shreya Ghosal provided an adequate soundtrack to some steamy scenes. In modernising this song, Taniskh has kept a flash from Himesh singing in the background but otherwise has let Neha Kakkar take centre stage to take this to a new level. The new version is a definite club song but with a distinctive Arabic flavour and some faint tabla give it an exotic sound. This allows for the actress to turn it into a cabaret number like the brilliant star of yesteryear Helen from classic Hindi movies.

In Boond Boond, along with Jubin Nautiyal, Neeti Mohan takes on an interesting Spanish style spritely beat. This song, composed by Arko, seems to contrast with what audiences see on the screen but still has an acoustic guitar and easy feel, with an African drum employed to give beat. Since, like in all Spanish classical music, the acoustic guitar takes rhythm and melody support to the singers, the song overall sits back and allows cinemagoers to concentrate on the visuals.

Neeti Mohan is on her own in Naam Hai Mera in the song recreated by Tanishk Bagchi. This is a complete contrast to ‘Boond Boond’ and shows off her range to handle whatever style is handed to her. The song is vibrant and the lyrics tell us that the men are all after her. Neeti’s singing of the song allows for a sense of arrogance evident on screen. This is a dance song and since its loud and short, it will surely be a hit on the club scene.

Contrasting in every way to these songs is Tum Mere Ho composed by Mithoon. A classic Bollywood soft love song, this is sung by Jubin Nautiyal and Amrita Singh in a jazz style. This song has everything audiences expect from a Bollywood love song except for Arijit Singh but the singers are capable. The lyrics and the background tune itself are simple, held together by electric guitar and drums for those special moments. Again, as with the previous songs, this song disappears into the background allowing the on-screen to be the main attraction point. But this song does stand up on its own and so could be a part of someone’s personal playlist.

The last 4 songs of the film are mirrors of each other.

Badnaamiyan, with music by Baman-Chand, is an intimate song which is initially sung by Armaan Malik but is also given a female insight by Sukriti Kakkar. It’s about taking love to the next step in both versions. As a pair of songs, it is like love itself: two obsessions joining as one. Armaan Malik is asked to sing the role of the male lead as he exposes his heart to his love. Heavy beats combined between tabla and electric bass guitar make for a rock-solid grounding. On top of this is a soft electric guitar giving a feel of old time Italian songs. Armaan is given thus full reign over the song and while passionate fails to deliver the emotion of the scene fully. Sukriti on the other hand is given a fresh feeling song. Clicking fingers, acoustic guitar and piano are evenly used to keep it all very light and flowing. However, the singer’s struggles are just as obvious here with the heavy use of echo and reverb to sustain the long runs required in the song.

Mohabbat Nasha Hai, composed by Tony Kakkar, starts out as a sweet duet between Tony and Neha Kakkar then with a sad riposte by Tony only as the film takes a turn. Mohabbat Nasha Hai (duet) may just turn out to be the song of this film once the club crowd has moved on. Beautifully scripted between Tony and Neha Kakkar, backed up by flute and acoustic guitar the feel is happy like the blossoming of new love. The lyrics are smooth and even though Tony’s voice is very light, it all seems to fit well. However, for the individual part 2 of this song, Tony’s lack of voice shows very poorly. In trying to sound like Arijit, he fails to hold the song where a singer’s class must show through and even reverb is not enough to hide the flaws here. This was a song for Arijit but never got there.

Hate Story IV aims to be a musical spectacular to back up an engaging story mixed with a lot of love, obsessions and steamy scenes. Even though the eight songs have come from several different music directors and been sung by a variety of artists, some who are very new to Bollywood, the album overall comes together well to support the on-screen. However, it is difficult to see these songs doing well on their own within people’s playlists going forward as most of them feel very forgettable.

Hate Story IV is in theaters now.

The soundtrack begins with the feel good Oye Hichki. A fun and light modern Punjabi tune sung by Harshdeep Kaur, the track gets you moving to its easy beat. Even though the lyrics are in Punjabi they have little effect for the listener thus fading into irrelevance. The endless positivity, reflected in the visuals of the song video, gives all who listen hope. However, there is nothing special to this song, especially compared to previous YRF hits so its rating is 2.5/5

From the next song, Madamji, go easy, we get the sense that not only will Rani be dealing with her own demons but also with the north-south divide that recent films have been trying to address. Sung by Benny Dayal and David Klyton, there is genuine Tamil rap mixed in with a Hinglish verse to seemingly interest all of India at once. However, outside of this there isn’t much happening on the musical side, which is both repetitive and very generic. Still a very comfortable jazz feel is maintained overall, so how it is deployed is key here. As it seems to be a background piece from the clip available on Bollyspice, it gets a 3/5 for effort.

In music if you need a light, folk and acoustic feel to a song, you need a singer that can be trusted. In today’s Bollywood, look no further than Arijit Singh. Khol De Par is an Arijit special. It’s journey style rhythms will not have you floating through traffic when you have it on in the car but instead seem to inspire those listening to find peace. Arijit shows Bollywood what a lot of his work in South Indian industries sounds like with an easy ride through the smooth lyrics. In saying all this though, the song seems to lack flavour, as while this is Tollywood Arijit, it isn’t a Tollywood beat. Thus, it doesn’t rate well getting a 1.5/5 purely on the strength of Arijit.

Having put Arijit through his paces, composer Jasleen Royal takes to the microphone herself to sing Teri Dastaan. There is no debate that this is a sad song from start to end, with lilting piano, sheenai thrown in for good measure and strings in minor scales. However, these instrumentations seem to almost drown out the lyrics which thus become too quiet to evoke the necessary emotions from the audience. Since its unlikely to influence the audience, this song doesn’t rate well either at 1/5.

Jasleen is well known for songs on MTV so when it came to Pyar Kya Hai Ghum she picked Shilpa Rao to give a heart-warming rendition in the style from MTV Unplugged. A very light instrumentation, mostly held-up by acoustic guitar and what might be a tambourine or light snare drum, gives Shilpa full control of this song. She seems to take the reins without hesitation, however because there is little change in this setup throughout the song, it lacks any sort of pizazz to keep an audience interested. Nevertheless, Shilpa knows feel and atmosphere and how a singer gets them out, so this song recovers the album with a rating of 3.5/5.

Finally, we have two theme songs which are likely to be the opening theme and the ending theme. The Soul of Hichki is handed back to Harshdeep Kaur and given a very Punjabi folk feel with harmonium and ektara backed by strings, this song wants to give the audience a taste of the soul of the other songs without giving away any story hints. This is a difficult balance to strike but again may prove critical depending on how it is used in the movie. (rating 2/5). Naina Theme is an instrumental piece which seems to give a character portrait of the main character. Strings are used for sadness, piano for realistic hopes and mixed in it all, the floating dreams.Since all humans are a mixture of sadness, hopes and dreams the song gets a rating of 2.5/5 as it again lacks in any sort of flair or glamour that would make it stand out.

To sum up this album is difficult as a lot of it seems to be dependent on how the songs are being used within the context of the story and how they are tied to the progression of the main character especially. If taken as an album on its own, something to play on mp3 players or in the car for days, months or years later, it fails to inspire or evoke emotions and doesn’t seem to be in place to relieve tense moments that might pop out at cinemagoers. Individually, the singers are a strong and Jasleen Royal has played them to their strengths but as a group they fail to hit home.