Music Review: ‘Bachchhan Paandey’
Farhad Samjhi is moving away from his cheesy comedy avatar into an action comedy domain with his forthcoming direction ‘Bachchhan Paandey’. His association with producer Sajid Nadiadwala is historic and so is his casting of Akshay Kumar is his every movie, from ‘Entertainment’ (2014) to ‘Housefull 4’ (2019). But the casting of Kumar in a negative shade of a gangster is truly unique in his line-up of movies and definitely worth looking forward to, going by the well cut edgy and high decibel trailer. The movie stars Kriti Sanon and Arshad Warsi as film directors going after Kumar & his henchmen to make a movie on their life. The journey around the concept seems to be a total entertainer with some really strong and well carved characters that make this a movie to look out for. Music is never the main focus of a Samjhi movie but always has a good side to it with a couple decent numbers going by his past projects. It is exciting to see what he has in store here with such a far departure from his funny family entertainers.
The first song Maar Khayegaa is more of a title track and a character central song for the main man – Bachchhan Paandey. Vikram Montrose is known for his high energy Drum n’ Bass style programmed music and this is a perfect setting for him to deliver something effective here. The composition is loud and a perfect one for an entry for the main man. The progression is well arranged with the breaks carefully programmed to make the composition quite effective. The lyrics by Montrose, Azeem Dayani and Farhad Bhiwandiwala are nothing but evil from start to finish, but charismatic at the same time. The summing of Bachchhan Pandey in 3mins doesn’t seem much of a challenge as the words Maar Khayegaa pretty much sum up his violent streak. The flow of lyrics in a rap styling is the best part of this song fit on a DnB beat. Bhiwandiwala’s vocals are the next best thing about this song with the high pitched delivery brings out the ferocity of the character. The amount of effects on the vocals is a tad too much but it is purely for the effect and contribute well in some parts of the song. Overall the song has a nice ring to it that does stick in the head but considering the nature of the song, it is more effective in the movie in the video domain rather than as a single to listen to on the radio. 3/5
B Praak leads the vocals and music of the first romantic song of the album called Meri Jaan Meri Jaan with Jaani on the lyrics. With his powerful, rustic and deep vocals there is no need for much music in a song. His range is worth a listen on this song and it comes with a classical touch to it making it even more melodious to listen to. His voice is piercing at the high end that makes this song a perfect example of a B Praak song. The song is beautifully performed on a piano and that is more than enough here. The combination of the piano and vocal is sensational and the performance on the piano should be heard carefully to really appreciate the precision of the melody here. The keys have a gorgeous soothing aspect to it that balances the high piercing aspects of the vocals and thus normalises the harmonies in this song. The lyrics are the best part of this song! The strong Punjabi flavour to the words bring a sombre effect to the song but at the same time they bring in a lot of emotional effect to the song. The lyrics overall are quite powerful in their concept putting love next to godliness and thus one of the best written love songs this year so far. 4/5
The next song is a big departure for B Praak from his regular style of music but he delivers it really well. Saare Bolo Bewafa is truly a unique song on the number of different aspects this song mixes. It is a dance number, about heart break, has aggression and violence associated with it but in a romantic spirit and the main hook is composed as a religious sermon! That is a lot of mix in a four minute composition and kudos to Jaani for being the mastermind to arrange all of this to an upbeat and peppy music. The music has wedding styling mixed with a street party execution with whistles & a cracking Nashik style beat which is what gives it that up tempo feel. The use of trumpets adds extra zing to the music but it is overall quite typical in instrumentation. The chorus is the extraordinary aspect with the Jai Mata Di style religious shouts. Praak’s vocals are quite interesting and fit Kumar’s character quite well as it is a strong rustic voice that fits the crude gangster look well in the movie. The lyrics are not amazing here but they deliver the story and setting in the movie well. On the whole this is an interesting number to listen to in its execution in composition and Praak’s offbeat vocals but this is not a song with a long shelf life. 3.5/5
Amaal Mallik and Kumaar come together with Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal next for what these four know best how to deliver, a simple but great romantic song! Heer Ranjhana has the typical musicality of a classic Bollywood romantic song. The melody and arrangement revolves around the standard dholki beat that is clichéd in every possible way but Mallik delivers it well because that familiarity and ease of listening to it eventually becomes the strength of the song. The overall sound is quite basic and traditional in its execution but with some very intricate instruments dropped in on guitars, keys, supporting strings and ambient sounds that are very soothing to hear. The lyrics are the real strength of the song with the flow that Kumaar delivers is what hits are made of. The idea in the song is amazing and is what great love stories are made of, and that is what every love story feels like right at its beginning when everything starts to click. The chorus is really beautiful and that is partly down to Singh’s beautiful voice. He keeps away from doing his vocal tricks and sounds more dated here which is some amazing attention to detail to match the setting for the story in the movie. But at the same time his range, control and flawless tonality gives it a contemporary feel making it worthy for audiences today. Ghoshal has a very small part in the song but the very presence of her sweet voice adds a whole lot more to the song. This is a good song but is missing the edge on some aspects of its production to make it stand out in the overcrowded romantic song market. A good attempt nonetheless. 3.5/5
The final track is called the Whistle Theme and is executed by Roy by whistling to a dark set of instruments composed for the background score. This instrumental piece has good variation in its styling and a good amount of progression to it. But the music sounds rather hollow in parts and the synths are bit overdone. The idea with the whistle is interesting but the execution lacks lustre here. Perhaps it works better in the film in the background. 2.5/5
FINAL WORD
Director Samjhi has done fairly well in delivering to expectations on the soundtrack of ‘Bachchhan Paandey’. One expects fair music in his films and that’s exactly what we have here. There is no stunning music here but the overall quality of every song is fairly good. For an aggressive storyline with a lot of masala there is a fair amount of entertainment in the music as well. His pick of songs in the short album deliver different aspects of the story and yet are good to listen to in the aural domain giving the album some legs for airplay. For a violent gangster story, the romantic songs are the strengths of the album. Meri Jaan Meri Jaan is the best piece of music with amazing lyrics and vocals by Jaani & B Praak respectively. While Heer Ranjhana also works well in the same departments with Kumaar & Arijit Singh. Saare Bolo Bewafa is the unique party number but an odd one at that being so vastly different. There is something exciting about this song but something amiss too. Maar Khayegaa is a good title song and nicely composed for that purpose by Vikram Montrose with powerful set of vocals by Farhad Bhiwandiwala worthy of a listen. All four songs and well done but the music overall is not standout and thus does not tug one to the film which is the real let-down making this a mediocre album.
BizAsiaLive.com rating – 3/5
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
