0 N.A.

Music: Sachin-Jigar, Sharib-Toshi, Badshah & Titans & Jawad Ahmed

Lyrics: Irshad Kamil, Kumaar, Shashank Khaitan, Indeep Bakshi & Badshah & Ahmed Anees

Music Label: Sony Music

Expectations:

With Varun Dhawan and Parineeti Chopra, we expect a peppy, youthful score. Add Dharma Productions and the benchmark becomes Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani!

Music:

Two songs on this soundtrack are adapted with due credit to the originals, 'Saturday Saturday' (Indeep Bakshi-Badshah-Akriti Kakar) and 'Samjhawan' (Shreya Ghoshal-Arijit Singh). The first one is just the kind of song that burns floors and ignites charts. Re-arranged by Sharib-Toshi from the original foot-tapper by Badshah and Titans, it has a heavy element of Punjabi that is only partly comprehensible (lyrics by Indeep Bakshi and Badshah with Kumaar adding the similar portions sung by Akriti). However, the beats, hook-lines, a rap segment and repetitions make the song a great experience for GenY. There is nothing new in the content and stylized Punjabi pop element of the songs.

The second number, 'Samjhawan' is the true killer on the score - a soulful expression of a besotted lover, with lyrics that strike straight at the heart and a deep melody exquisitely rendered by Arijit Singh - arguably the finest singing discovery of the times - and Shreya Ghoshal, the last great singer to come into cinema as of today. The original composition is by Jawad Ahmed and the music is re-created by Sharib-Toshi.

These two gifted vocalists enunciate the sentiments so well that again we overlook some Punjabi segments that may sound Greek or Latin to non-Punjabis, though the general sentiments and emotions are much clearer here than in 'Saturday'. And that is so especially if anyone is familiar with the brilliant contribution of Anand Bakshi, along whose unmistakable style the song is clearly moulded by original writer Ahmad Anees as well as Kumaar. The lines 'Tu ki jaane pyaar mera / Main karoon intezar tera / Tu dil tuyon jaan meri') strike an instant and deep chord.

The third Sharib-Toshi number, 'Emosanal Fool' (Toshi Sabri) is an 'original' composition by the duo that reeks of a mix of two songs they have composed earlier, 'Suit tera lal rang da' and 'Jatt yamla pagla ho gaya' from Yamla Pagla Deewana 2. The lyrics (Kumaar) are the usual smart-aleck blend of Hindi and English. The noisy orchestration adds to the intentional mayhem, though we rather liked the vocal tenor brought in by Toshi.

Of Sachin-Jigar's three songs, the least impressive is the uncharacteristically cacophonous 'D Se Dance' (Vishal Dadlani leading Anushka Manchanda and Shalmali Kholgade). Sounding like an off-day Pritam song in both its composition and orchestral clutter, it is a noisy mélange of vocal gimmicks and ordinary lyrics (Irshad Kamil). Intended to be youthful, it ends up as a very cacophonous dance number.

Sachin-Jigar (clearly not in peak form here) compose two more numbers of which the better one is 'Lucky Tu Lucky Me' (Benny Dayal-Anushka Manchanda with some rap by Varun Dhawan). Think of its general tenor being like a song from Main Tera Hero and we realize that Varun Dhawan, like his father director David Dhawan's favourite star Govinda, seems to be inspiring his composers to develop a specific style in songs for him in lyrical and musical patterns.

Benny is spirited, as always, and Anushka matches up in the laidback sizzle quotient. Varun is in fine fettle in his rap recitation, and the overt Pritam-esque flavour of the orchestration works big time. Shashank Khaitan's introduction to the world (as a lyricist before being a writer-director) seems promising in a trendy, fun way - check 'Break-up hua to main dedh ghante roya / Phir pehli baar raat ko main chain se soya'.

'Daingad Daingad' (Udit Narayan-Divya Kumar-Akriti Kakar-Pratibha Baghel-Niharika Sinha-Deepali Sathe) is one of those familiar rustic numbers with - again - a Punjabi emphasis, though the music seems to be fit more into the ambience of Uttar Pradesh. While Divya is in usual form, it is Udit Narayan who steals the show with his brief segment, sounding more youthful and fresh than any of the young singers. Of the four female voices, Akriti gets a brief solo portion and as usual she is competent.

This Sachin-Jigar composition makes for decent listening and the lyrics are average again (Irshad Kamil).

Overall:

Of the youth, for the youth and largely by the youth: This score has a zing quotient that makes us overlook the overt Punjabi flavour and words. This is a score with songs that will work for the film, but given its target appeal, we cannot expect immortal or enduring element in them.

Our Pick:

'Saturday Saturday', 'Samjhawan', 'Lucky Tu Lucky Me'