Johnny Gaddaar Movie Review: Johnny Gaddaar Movie

Johnny Gaddaar Review {3.5/5} & Review Rating

Guitar strings at the very beginning of title track 'Johnny Gaddaar' are good enough to create a haunting feel for the soundtrack to follow. Soon arrive the vocals of Suraj Jagan and Akriti Kakar which bring a fresh approach to the entire situation. Guitar continues to keep the track running (in true 70s style) and you can't help but draw parallels with a similar mood that was created in 'Jaane Kya Hoga Raama Re' from 'Kaante'.

Nevertheless, it is only the mood factor which is common though Jaideep's lyrics bring on a completely different flavor to the song to suit the situation in 'Johnny Gaddaar'. Now this one is a kind of country song that you want to put on in a repeat mode while on a long drive! This is only helped further by a zany 'remix' track titled 'Johnny In The House' that thankfully manages to work in spite of choosing 'not' to rely on heavy sound which more often than not only results in a cacophony.

By the time you are one minute into 'Move Your Body', you know for sure that it is going to be one mad journey ahead as you get deeper into 'Johnny Gaddaar'. A true-blue fusion track with some excellent rhythmic arrangements, 'Move Your Body' has a mix of Hindi and English lyrics with Hardkaur joining in with Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, each of whom get behind the mike. The beats are all at the right place while there are enough twists in the song's pace which makes 'Move Your Body' a funky outing.

Just like the title song, the 'remix version' innovatively titled 'Phatt Mix' here as well doesn't get into an over drive and mainly aides in enhancing the retention value of the song. A track with the theme of world revolving around money, 'Move Your Body' has Shankar as a lead singer with others doing a very good job in keeping the mood alive. Is this song going to be the one that will rock an entire nation? Perhaps not, but then it is expected to enliven the situation whenever played. And yes, it has a good potential to be a long term favorite for the campus hostel crowds!

Western arrangements continue to be in full force with the arrival of 'Dhokha' which is yet again set as a 70s track. Even though the pace and style is different, one can't help but recollect a similar mood which was created for superhit track 'Jab Andhera Hota Hai' from Rajesh Khanna starrer oldie 'Raja Rani'. Crooned by Anousha Mani with support from Shankar Mahadevan, Loy Mendonsa, Tarannum, 'Dhokha' written by Neelesh Mishra is yet again a situational piece for the purpose of fitting into a background score. It isn't as strong as the first two songs in the album but is a decent hear overall.

It's back to sheer madness with 'Johnny Breakbeat Mera Naam' which pays homage to the namesake Dev Anand classic though in it's own characteristic style. The track starts with the famous line from the film - 'Bol Kya Naam Hai Tera' - and moves on to a funky tangent from this point on. The male chorus in the background cheers on well as the electronic guitar keeps the pace on in full blast. An instrumental track with heavy orchestra leading the show all the way, it has snippets of dialogues in the background which creates an intriguing feel. One waits for this piece of music to give the film's narration an edge.

Number of instrumental pieces follow from here on and without even hearing them, one's attention is still drawn due to the titles of these tracks. First to arrive is 'Revenge Of The 70s' which gets rocking from the word GO as soon the trumpets come in unison to create a true 70s feel. This is followed by a variety of instruments that were once a hallmark of soundtrack from Lakshmikant-Pyarelal and Kalyanji-Anandji which turns out to be absolute brilliant! This is an arresting two and a half minutes of orchestrated piece and it would be sacrilege if it is not used as a part of the film's background score. Watch out for the way the track reaches it's crescendo towards a terrific conclusion. Absolutely fantastic!

10 seconds into the instrumental of 'The Caper Begins' and you start wondering if the people behind the theme music of heist films like OCEANS 11 or SNATCH had taken inspiration from the Bollywood flicks of the 70s. Forget the comparisons, these background tracks make you completely immersed into the cinema of 70s and instantly remind one of the capers starring Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Dharmendra and other action stars. A piece that runs into an excess of four minutes, it only aids in taking the interest level of an audience to an all time high and results in high expectations from this Sriram Raghavan film.

Instrumental of 'Toss' comes next and makes it's presence felt inspite of just being a little over a minute in duration. Maintaining a Western touch to it throughout, it has it's dark and intense moments with it's theme borrowed from the title song 'Johnney Gaddaar'. 'Confidence' that follows soon takes a listener a decade back as it brings to fore the sound of the 60s. Remember those highway fights when the car was visibly still and it was only the screen behind that had fast moving frames on it to give an illusion of a running car? With a Turkish flavor to it, 'Confidence' yet again works from a homage point of view and makes one look in awe at the kind of work put in by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

After hearing the music of 70s and then a track from the 60s, it is time to catch the time machine and travel further back into the 50s. If you have heard Geeta Bali songs, you would instantly be able to relate to coming together of oldie numbers in 'Bhule Bisre Geet'. It doesn't intend to be a spoof at all and instead gives the listener of today a chance to look back into the music that was churned half a century ago. With lyrics like 'Ghadi Ki Suiyan Tik Tik Chalti Jaaye Re', 'dholki' being prevalent along with it and the female singer doing a commendable job with her rendition without relying on mockery, the opening passages give a feel of a live orchestra being put to play during the creation of this track.

Well, the fun is not yet over in this six minute long piece which moves on to cabaret soon after with a passage that goes like 'Na Jaane Maine Kya Kiya'. The song gets into a rock-n-roll mode and it is hard not to imagine Mumtaz gyrating to this one! Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy prove yet again that they can compose 'Rock N Roll Soniye' [Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna] with as much aplomb as they can recreate a dance number from the 60s.

From here on, it is time for 'Bhoole Bisre' to move a further ahead into the 70s with 'Ye Zindagi Ke Raaste Hain Haseen'. Fun. Plain, innocent and hardcore fun is the name of the game as one visualizes a hero with a checked shirt, baseball cap and bell-bottom trousers driving his motorbike through the roads of Mumbai! This one brings 'Johnney Gaddaar' to a fitting finale.

Let's get one fact right. In 'Johney Gaddaar', don't even expect the kind of soundtrack that you hear in a conventional Bollywood film. Instead expect to get on a rhythmic ride which would hardly give you a breather throughout it's 11 tracks. The music of 'Johnny Gaddaar' isn't anything that you have heard before in a mainstream Hindi film before. And this is where it's strength lies!

Apart from the main tracks hold your attention, there are numerous instrumentals/theme pieces that make you love the effort put by Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy and above all Sriram Raghavan who has been courageous enough to follow his vision and get the desired results.