Music Review: ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’
Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt are back together for ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ with director Shashank Khaitan after the commercial success of ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’ (2014) which gave a lot of room to shine for the young heartthrobs who are now established stars. Thus this second instalment should have even more interest amongst the masses and deliver a lot more stock value. The trailers seem exciting and the music should do really well considering the music of the first film delivered some of the biggest hits of the decade with songs like Saturday Saturday and Samjhawan. Pressure is on Khaitan to get the best music lined up for this new soundtrack that matches up to standard and hype around this young romance. Going with the current trend of pulling in songs from various composers, this album features the work of Amaal Mallik and Tanishk Bagchi in the lead.
Aashiq Surrender Hua is a fun romantic song that reminds one of the Govinda era and his style of street masses music. The song lacks class but is perfect to get anyone bobbing along and is a true get up-and-dance song. Mallik’s music uses a good mix of local instruments with cheesy disco keyboard synths that define the setting of the song nicely. The tempo is just right for putting it in the party starter leagues and fit in within wedding music style as well. The composition is highly inspired and almost sounds like the work of Anand-Milind from the 90s. Vocally, Mallik voices it himself along with Shreya Ghoshal and they do a fairly average job with it considering the song focuses on the music and lyrics and it doesn’t give the singers much room to showcase their talent. Shabbir Ahmed is the real star of the song with his fun cheesy lyrics making it very situational for the film as the couple start off on their love journey. Overall a good listen but nothing special about this tapoori song.
Arijit Singh takes on Roke Na Ruke Naina next with the lyrics of Kumaar and the music of Mallik. A sad romantic composition, it has a beautiful soft melody that is nicely arranged. Songs like this are Mallik’s real strength and he doesn’t disappoint here. The use of tabla and flute samples with sitar, acoustic guitars thrown in gives it a very interesting vibe that merges effortlessly into a soft rock ballad. Combining these pleasing musical performances with a beautifully recorded vocal is what gives this song a lot of strength to compete in the charts. Singh’s vocals are very well controlled and have an intrinsic depth and pain in them that amplifies the real emotions of this song. Kumaar’s lyrics are very heartfelt and have some amazing poetry. The idea of the pain coming through the eyes is a concept previously explored a number of times before but not the way Kumaar does it here. The song does a great job overall and is clearly worth repeat listens.
Humsafar is the complete work of Akhil Sachdeva with lyrics, music and vocals by him. A slow romantic number it has a lot of positive vibes about it. The arrangement and instrumentation is a little clichéd but the lyrics are the best part of the song. Sachdeva focuses almost entirely on getting the emotions right in this song and uses words very well to sum the entire romantic world of the characters in this song. His vocals are quite emotive but his style sounds like that of Atif Aslam taking his talent away from him. But nonetheless, he delivers well in the song and keeps his vocals tight on the very low and high notes. This is not a top song as such but still a good listen.
Badri Ki Dulhania (Title Track) is the real lead song of the album that is fun and has the right mix to match the stature of the film on the commercial aspects. You can’t have a holi release and not have a song catering to the festival and so Tankishk Bagchi collaborates with Shabbir Ahmed on the lyrics of this song and it has come out really well for a holi song while being a title song too. The Uttar Pradesh setting of the film is perfect for the representative style of the song and the composition is just right for that. The music is uplifting and charismatic making it a great song for DJs in clubs and weddings alike. The masti of the song is evident in the vocals of Neha Kakkar, Monali Khakur, Dev Negi and rap by Ikka Singh. Lyrically there is nothing exceptional about it but it has a good balance of fun all the way. There is so much going on in this song that one cannot really get bored listening to it. A sure shot hit!
Bollywood films can’t do without a remake hit these days and this OST features Tamma Tamma Again. Madhuri Dixit and Sanjay Dutt’s iconic song with golden and black shimmering dresses with some outrageous dance moves has been redone by Bagchi keeping original vocals and composition of Bappi Lahiri and Anuradha Paudwal. It is shocking how well the original lyrics by Indeevar and vocals work even today! Bagchi does a great job of reviving the music and making it more “desi” while the original was so English with its disco theme and electronic synths. The best addition to the song that is a streak of brilliance is the vocal sampling of radio god of his time Mr. Ameen Sayani from his Cibaca Sangeet mala All India Radio presenting days. No one has a style and a voice as unique as him and that is what is the best element that makes it great song to revive the 90s and everyone born in the 80s and 90s will love it for that. Badshah is in his usual greatness and gives a super rap to this song. One won’t be able to help but stand up and dance and sing along to Tamma Tamma Loge when this song comes on!
Final Word
The soundtrack of ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ is short and sweet and does not disappoint at all. A commercially powerful soundtrack, this already has five hit songs on it even before the release of the film. Once the movie is out, and should it become a hit.. these songs will stand the test of time for years to come. There is a perfect variety of genres in the OST with something for everyone here. Tanishk Bagchi is the real star of the album with two big numbers to his credit including Badri Ki Dulhania and Tamma Tamma Again catering to the festival of holi and getting a good remake done that is a lot different from so many other recent remakes. The man knows what the masses want and how to make a hit for sure and these two songs prove that well. Amaal Mallik and Akhil Sachdeva support well with the romantic songs with Roke Na Ruke Naina standing out in the category. All singers and lyricists do a good job on their respective songs making this an overall good album to listen to. Will it outdo the music of its predecessor ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’, only time will tell.
BizAsiaLive.com Rating – 8/10
