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BizAsia Music Review: ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’

The award winning team behind the super hit ��Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara�۪ (2011) are back with ��Dil Dhadakne Do�۪ under the leadership of writer-director Zoya Akhtar, producer-actor Farhan Akhtar, lyricist Javed Akhtar and music directors Shankar Ehsaan Loy with a new cast of Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Priyanka Chopra & Farhan to name a few. The story formula looks totally different this time compared to the fun friendship formulas that the Akhtar family has delivered perfectly multiple times. Exploring a multiple set of relationships this time around on an European cruise, the subject matter of ��Dil Dhadakne Do�۪ should include a lot of romance with the typical smart classy laughs that the Akhtar family has delivered on the previous films. The music of SEL along with Javed Akhtar should be able to deliver the same magic and maturity that the previous films have delivered. The musical versatility of the trio and rock & jazz influences combined with the lyrics of one of the best writes of a generation should always be a treat to listen to.

Farhan & Priyanka in 'DDD'
Farhan & Priyanka in ‘DDD’

The soft rock feel is combined well with big band jazz for the opening and title song Dil Dhadakne Do in the voice of actors Farhan and Priyanka themselves. The mic is no alien device to both of them and they are both quite talented and good when it comes to singing. Farhan goes for a louder and open delivery while Priyanka goes for a soft baritone on the verses. They work quite well together giving each other a lot of room for vocal delivery while being a contrast to each other with a husky Farhan and a sweet sounding Priyanka. SEL have done a great job creating a very good composition that is perfect for a title song while also working very well as a fun song to sing along to. The melody is great and fitting for a fun romantic film. Lyrics by Javed saab put the heart as a metaphor for a person with its own individuality and dreams while preaching freedom of expression for each heart. The message and rhymes are put together very well and the rock feel truly personifies the song as a whole.

Pehli Baar is a cute romantic song in the voices of Siddharth Mahadevan (son of Shankar Mahadevan) and debutant Sukriti Kakar (youngest sister of Akriti Kakar). The most noticeable part of the song is the excellent work on the music arrangement and instrumentation of the song with very cool riffs of the bass and electric guitars. The song has a very vibrant ambience about it that makes it a hugely addictive and catchy song to listen to that just stays in your head. The voices of both the singers is note perfect and mostly very fresh giving it is a modern and international vibe synonymous with a Zoya Akhtar film with SEL as composers. The lyrics are very simple but super cute in the way how they are phrased together as the couple tell each other of how they feat when they first saw each other. The harmony of the lyrics with great delivery and a fantastic composition make this song worth listening to on a repeat!

The song from the film doing the most rounds at the moment on the TV screens and radio for promotions is the really cool party tune Gallan Goodiyaan. With a massive cast of the film with everyone getting down together on the dancefloor on the cruise we have a really good song here that does well blending in good Punjabi vibes with desi club style beats making this song perfect for a club setting or even a desi wedding thus with a wider appeal. Multiple singers cater to the number of different characters in this song with Sukhwinder Singh opening the song followed by Shankar Mahadevan, Farhan Akhtar, Manish Kumar Tipu and Yashita Sharma all contributing with their vocals. The classical bridges and the pure Punjabi style choruses give the song a very good gradient as the masti level keeps increasing as the song progresses. That is perhaps the best part of the song that the fun element, tempo and the musical ensemble of the instruments keeps going up as the song progresses making it a really fun song to listen to with fun and easy going lyrics. Great job to SEL for arranging the music of this song and Zoya Akhtar for shooting the way where it looks like it has all been done in one take!

Priyanka-Anushka in 'Dil Dhadakne Do'
Priyanka-Anushka in ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’

Sunidhi Chauhan is heard next doing a jazz/swing solo on Girls Like to Swing. The 60s style retro swing composition has been perfected by SEL with a terrific deep double bass and excellent brass work. Set to Anushka doing a stage performance with her girls, this song works perfectly well for her. Sunidhi is perfect in her delivery and no one else except her could have delivered the pace, style and vocal perfection required in this song. Putting the lyrics down for this must have been the hardest thing as a jazz and swing song of this level has not been done in Bollywood in a long time and definitely not heard from Javed saab as far as one can think of. But he does a great job in giving it a lot of attitude and keeping it full of life and fun. This is a case study song to listen to for music enthusiasts for the classical styles with a modern day twist in Bollywood.

Phir Bhi Yeh Zindagi is a sad romantic song that on first listen sounds totally out of place on the album so far. In the voices of Vishal Dadlani, Farhan Akhtar, Divya Kumar, Sapna Pathak and Alyssa Mendonsa the song is a sad number that sounds like a background passing shot at the low point in the film when all relations are at a breaking point and thus has many voices for the different characters. The lyrics and melody is quite complex and thus sounds quite random with no clear melody. This is perhaps not the best piece of music to listen to and can easily be skipped even though it has good music production.

Farhan Akhtar & Ranveer Singh in 'Dil Dhadakne Do'
Farhan Akhtar & Ranveer Singh in ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’

FINAL WORD

For A short album with just five songs, the soundtrack of ��Dil Dhadakne Do�۪ does pack a punch and creates a good impact. Except one, all the other songs are distinguished with a great sound to them that make them each a possible hit within their genres. Gallan Goodiaan and Pehli Baar are the easy big tunes from the album in the dance and romantic categories with a fresh new take on them that is very vibrant and well written by Javed Akhtar. The title track Dil Dhadakne Do is special itself with a nicely done composition with a confident personality for an album lead song. SEL prove once again that they still have the tough and know how to get the right balance between the commercial aspects of music and delivering the feel of the film. Their genius work on Girls Like to Swing is worth the praise even though this is not a big commercial song for the masses. The vocals are good throughout with new-comers Siddharth and Sukriti delivering a good impression on Pehli Baar while Farhan and Priyanka are great on the title track. Overall, ��Dil Dhadakne Do�۪ is a great fun album to listen to class and quality that is worth a buy for the music collection.

BizAsia Showbiz Rating ��� 7.5/10