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Music Review: ‘Bullett Raja’

The competition in the month of November for the top soundtracks is intense between the three music giants with Vishal-Shekhar producing ��Gori Tere Pyaar Mein�۪, Pritam with ��R��_ Rajkumar�۪ and Sajid-Wajid delivering ��Bullett Raja�۪.

It has not been a great year for Sajid-Wajid with no hits from three big OSTs viz. ��Himmatwala�۪ (2013), ��Chashme Baddoor�۪ (2013) and ��Ishkq In Paris�۪ (2013). The pressure on them to revive the magic of ��Dabangg 2�۪ (2012) this year must put a lot of pressure on the duo with Tigmanshu Dhulia�۪s ��Bullett Raja�۪ starring Saif Ali Khan and Sonakshi Sinha. This gangster action movie based in UP/West Bengal in India would have a crude street and village setting for its music which Sajid-Wajid are quite good at. A surprise for a movie with such a theme is the music of the UK-Canada based Punjabi boys RDB on one of the songs will be quite exciting to hear.

Saif-Sonakshi in 'Bullett Raja'
Saif-Sonakshi in 'Bullett Raja'

RDB open the album with Tamanche Pe Disco in the voices of Nindy Kaur and hubby Manj from RDB sets a really tone for the album with guns and trumpets blaring. This will be RDB�۪s first big Bollywood release since the passing of brother Kully who played a key role in the production of the music for the trio so this is a big comeback for the brothers��_ and they do it in style! The song has attitude and oomph with good beats and rap by Raftaar who has also penned the lyrics for the song. The arrangement is good and does well as the party number on the album. A big welcome back to RDB to the mainstream Bollywood stage where they rightly belong.

Saamne Hai Savera in the voice of Shreya Ghoshal with Wajid and Bonnie Chakraborty has a simple melody to it with the underlying currents of the typical Sajid-Wajid romantic compositions heard in the ��Dabangg�۪ soundtracks which works well for them but also against them with lack to substantial creativity. They do add variance to the song with including some good violin & electric guitar solos and Bengali vocal solos. Lyrics by Kausar Munir are what really hold this song up giving it a lot of depth. A decently good romantic number to hum along to.

Neeraj Shridhar voices Jai Govinda Jai Gopala which is a tune that is totally designed for a Saif Ali Khan street execution. At points this song tries too hard to be too cool when it clearly lacks the funk. The composition is decent but lacks the instrumentation to make this is a fuller sound for a street party. The percussions are good on this track but the slow tempo kinda beats the purpose of the song. Lyrics by Shabbir Ahmed are good but quite average.

Mamta Sharma does the item number Don’t Touch My Body to the lyrics of Sandeep Nath. Her vocals are sexy and strong and thus perfect for the setting of the song and she does a fairly good job. The crudeness of the song comes out very well with the mix of her vocals with village instruments set against a synthetic beat. The lyrics complement the theme of the song and are totally senseless and so apt for the song. Good job by Sajid-Wajid in producing this song but it lacks commercial means for mass audiences and will only work well in UP and Bihar parts of India.

Saif Ali Khan perfect for 'Bullett Raja' says Tigmanshu Dhulia
Saif Ali Khan in 'Bullett Raja'

Title song Bullett Raja in the voice of Wajid and Keerthi Sagathia is a much better song for the crude village setting with more personality and funk to it. Wajid is at his best with songs like this and Sajid produces the music perfectly to match his style with dhols and trumpets. The arrangement of the instruments with its twists & turns and highs & lows is really cool along with good solos. Kausar Munir also does a great job with the lyrics giving the character a superlative status for each scenario. This is definitely a song that will hit the commercial scene next after Tamanche Pe Disco from this OST.

Satake Thoko with Wajid, Keerthi Sagathia and Danish Sabri doing the vocals again is yet another village song that is more up-tempo compared to the last song but misses the mark as fitting anywhere as an item number or a headline character song. The composition is not too strong neither are the lyrics by Sandeep Nath. With multiple characters in this song its purpose is very situational for a particular scene in the movie and will not be able to stand tall as a song in itself.

Jai Govinda Jai Gopala (Remix) is an attempt to revive this song and get it to find its feet in the party circuit��_ and to a certain extent it does manage to do that with a weak original. A decently good mix to a Miami beach techno beat style for the likes of Pitbull.

FINAL WORD

Sajid-Wajid try hard in delivering a hit with ��Bullett Raja�۪ this year but land up standing cold with an average collection of songs to their credit. The only song that really does have the potential of succeeding from the OST is Tamanche Pe Disco done by RDB. Big up to the Punjabi boys for a smashing return to the charts with this song, while Saamne Hai Savera will take its slow time in becoming a likeable romantic number. It will be a wait and watch game to see if Jai Govinda Jai Gopala finds its place in iPods and music collections of listeners but that is doubtful. Overall this OST serves well playing up to the theme of the film but is quite average as a standalone music album to listen to and is thus disappointing.

BizAsia Showbiz Rating ��� 6/10