Music: Jeet Gannguli, Mithoon, Ankit Tiwari, Raghav Sachar & Dr Zeus
Lyrics: Sandeep Nath, Mithoon, Abhendra Kumar Upadhyay, Kumaar, L. Joseph, A. Hunjan, L. Reim, G.A. Abbasi, K. Roma, V. Nayar & Dr Zeus
Music Label: T-SERIES
Expectations:
This is a horror film with Bipasha Basu in the lead and the director of Ragini MMS 2. So we expect a hit music track.
Music:
The soulful lyrics (Abhendra Kumar Upadhyay) are the soul of 'Katra Katra' (composed and) rendered by Ankit Tiwari with Prakriti Kakar. Abhendra takes passion to a new frontier with words like 'Na yaad teri tujhko / Na yaad mujhe hoon main / Aa mujhko pehen le tu / Aa tujhko odh loon main'. Prakriti does a decent job alongside Ankit as singer, but we wonder why almost every song composed by him must have a certain (now monotonous) droning and groaning way of delivering the words, especially when the lyrics are so well written! A straight rendition would have taken this basically lovely number to the qualitative and popular skies, to degrees higher than the extent it is being liked now.
Altamash Faridi and Salim Bhatt sing the Mithoon (written and composed) 'Awaara'. In tune with the current Sufi-ana overdrive and its fusion with guitar-based melody, the song depends upon the relentless repetition of the hook 'Awaara awaara dil awaara hua'. But the real winner that hooks us is the couplet 'Paas laaya tere / Yun sataaya mujhe / Phir tere liye majboor kiya / Majboor kiya' that sums up the concept of this song. This is the kind of verse that takes us back to the era when lyrics were written by masters.
And to deviate for a bit from the main track, like past creative names Prem Dhawan and Ravindra Jain, Mithoon is slowly emerging as an even better lyricist than a composer. The singers here are inconsequential, for actually, it is the words (primarily) and tune that sweep us along.
Jeet Gannguli's 'Chand Aasmaanon Se Laapata' is sung by Bhaven Dhanak, who tries to sound like Arijit Singh, which is a triumph for Arijit as he already has a clone when he has been around less than two years in terms of popularity! The tune is a melodious blend of retro melody and 'today' sound and the poetry consummate but familiar ('Chand aasmanon se / Laapata ho gaya / Chal ke mere ghar mein / Aa gaya aa gaya'). The lyrics (Sandeep Nath) almost make it a candidate for inclusion in the timeless 'chand' songs that Hindi film music has assimilated since decades.
But a completely opposite kind of song is 'Touch My Body' that Aditi Singh Sharma sings like a Western pro, but which lacks the connect of a good item song. Raghav Sachar's re-creation of a Dr Zeus non-film hit, 'Kangna Tera Ni', is (weirdly) credited to Kumaar and seven more lyricists including Dr Zeus! Now that flummoxes us indeed, as the song is superficial, shallow and wannabe sexy! In any case, this is just not the kind of song that works at any level, including, we think, on the dance floor.
Overall:
This is a generally neat score that will work for the film but may not have longevity. A special mention is needed for the lyricists.
Our Pick:
'Katra Katra', 'Awaara', 'Chand Aasmanon Se Laapata'