Bodyguard Review {4.0/5} & Review Rating
EXPECTATIONS
It's the wave factor. When the going is good, everything starts seeming great. And when the packaging is right, you expect the end product to be excellent. You want things to work. Period. And this is where the core strength of 'Bodyguard' lies. With Ready, Dabangg and Wanted behind him, Salman is having everything going his way. So when he ropes in Himesh Reshammiya to compose music for the film and has Kareena Kapoor for company, you brace yourself to listen to a chartbuster soundtrack. Add to that Katrina Kaif's presence for an item number and you know that this album will certainly get a 'huge opening'!
MUSIC
It is a Rajnikanth beginning for the album with the title song 'Bodyguard' composed, written and sung in the same way as the Superstar is introduced in his movies down South (save a Robot which didn't start on a characteristic note). Nevertheless, this Shabbir Ahmed written track has chartbuster written all over it with the kind of lyrics that amalgamate on and off screen image of Salman to perfection. So while he is referred to as 'bhaijaan' and a 'true Indian', even Salman makes a brief appearance with his trademark dialoguebaazi. 'Band of Power' gives further voice to the song which surprisingly doesn't have a female voice even though Katrina would be gyrating to the thumping beats that take this Himesh Reshammiya composition further. As is the case with every track in the album, this one too has a 'remix' to boast of.
There is a twist in the tale soon after with guest composer Pritam bringing on a softer tune with 'I Love You'. Now this is the kind of a romantic melodious number that takes one back to mushy old days of Salman when he had quite a few such numbers to his credit in films like Kahi Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye, Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega and Chori Chori Chupke Chupke. However there is a nice Pritam touch to it as well as he adds his own bit to remind audience of the kind of sound that they expect from an Emraan Hashmi track. Hear the middle of the 'antara' portions and you would find the reference points. It is also good to see Pritam experiment with relatively new singers like Ash King and Clinton Cerejo who do quite well to make this Neelesh Misra grow after a couple of hearing. The song is further repeated in a 'remix version' with the same pair of singers though for the unplugged version it is Shaan who takes the centre-stage.
The way 'Desi Beat' begins, it all sounds like a quintessential Punjabi dance number to begin with. In fact for the first couple of listening, this Himesh Reshammiya track seems like a regular number that doesn't quite break any new grounds in its structuring, lyrics or singing. However once you have heard it again in the 'remix' as well as 'Punjabi hip hop mix' versions, it starts coming on it's own as one settles down to the mood and rhythm of the song. Expectedly both Mika Singh and Amrita Kak are pretty energetic behind the mike for this song that also has a brief trumpet portion that gives homage to 'Tum Kya Jano, Mohabbat Kya Hai' from Hum Kisise Kum Naheen. This is one of those songs that are elevated further due to star power and with Salman at the helm of affairs, one can be rest assured that he would make it further special.
The best is reserved for the end though with 'Teri Meri' being not just the best of the enterprise but also one of the top songs to have been released this year. This is the kind of song that one terms as 'lambi race ka ghoda' as it it has in it to be heard for months at stretch. A love song with a tinge of sadness to it, Shabbir Ahmed written 'Teri Meri' is sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shreya Ghoshal with their heart as they bring in the kind of pain that the protagonists must be feeling on screen. In fact with this number Himesh Reshammiya makes one all the more miss him as a composer as a few more songs like this would definitely made Bollywood musical scene much better than what it is today. The very fact that the song appears again in a 'reprise', 'remix' and a 'Theme-Instrumental' version is all the more reason to feel truly satiated.
OVERALL
The music of Bodyguard has in it to be hugely popular amongst audience as it has everything for everything. For the lovers of conventional music there is 'Desi Beats' while for Salman's fans there is the title track 'Bodyguard'. And then for those who are hunting for melody which boasts of a much longer shelf life, there is 'Teri Meri' and 'I Love You' (by Pritam) which are all set to rule the charts in days to come. For all these years if composer Himesh Reshammiya was indeed waiting for the right album to make a comeback then well, this is it!
OUR PICK(S)
Bodyguard, I Love You, Desi Beat , Teri Meri
