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Music Review: ‘Dream Girl’

The comedy trend from TV of men turning into women is transitioning to the big screen with the forthcoming movie ‘Dream Girl’. Quite natural to see that happen in this movie as it is the directorial debut of Raaj Shaandilyaa who has also written this movie after writing a huge number of scripts for the TV shows of Kapil Sharma and Krishna. Ayushmann Khurrana is playing the ‘man acting like a women’ in this comedy also starring Annu Kapoor, Vijay Raaz and the beautiful Nushrat Bharucha. The trailer looks amazing with Khurrana being brilliant as always going deep into his role as a chat up girl to execute that to perfection. His comic timing seems spot on and his look itself is something to crack one up. This film seems like a lot of fun and a total laugh riot. For a fun project like this the music is expected to be sexy and fun with the project with Meet Bros behind the mixing desk. Perhaps item numbers and dance melodies will be the real flavour of this album. Kumaar and Shabbir Ahmed have collaborated with Meet Bros for the lyrics of this 7 songs album.

Radhe Radhe opens the album with Kumaar’s lyrics. This song has arrived just in time for the forthcoming Navratri season packing in the mythological angle but set to light lyrics and upbeat musicality. The song is composed almost like a street party with tons of drums and trumpets set to the setting of a village street theatre. The arrangement is quite a common one inspired from tons of Sajid-Wajid style of songs so there is nothing really unique about this number. The lyrics are the love story of Krishna and Radha with Radha being the focus connecting it nicely to Khurrana’s character as Radha in the street theatre. The lyrics are very breezy and easy to sing along to typical to the flowing style of Kumaar. The use of some UP & Haryanvi lingo makes the song quite earthy as well giving it a mass appeal. The thing missing is class in this song with the composition being quite mediocre. Even the vocals by Amit Gupta are average not adding much effect to the song. The colourful video is perhaps the saving grace that makes the fun shine out and will help deliver decent success for this song over the Navratri festivities.

Kumaar pens the song that is pretty much the title or theme song of the album called Dil Ka Telephone. The song sums up the story of the movie with the fake dream girl a phone call away. The writing is very cleaver while being cheesy, flirty and comic at the same time. The composition is simple and unique making it quite memorable. It’s one of those sticky ones that gets the melody to stick in your head after a few repeat listens. The music is nicely done too being easy going but groovy at the same time. This music is one that is perfect for radio play and great to bob along too while driving. Jonita Gandhi’s vocals are just brilliant and so are those of Nakash Aziz. Their expressions are super effective with each word bringing in a lot of personality to the song. This is a simple arrangement song but one where everything comes together well to make it a great song.

Meet Bros are on a mission to deliver music for each festival on this album. From appealing to the Gujaratris for Navratri they head to deliver Dhagala Lagali for the Marathi listeners to dance to during the Monsoon season and Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. The music is nicely done adding a lot of variation compared to the original composed by DJ Akbar Sami. The music is programmed well including the traditional laavni instrumentation mixed with electronic beats. This remake has gone down a more earthy approach making this song more appealing to masses with a stronger street music vibe. The most exciting part of the song is the complete refresh of lyrics by Kumaar. Other than the name of the song there is almost everything new on this song. There is also an easy Marathi rap that Mika is rocking well. The new lyrics are not the best but the flow is quite effortless hooked around the crazy monsoons rocking the entire state around Mumbai. Mika Singh does well with his Marathi and adding his party personality to the song but Jyotica Tangri is the real star and does a fab job on the female lead. Overall this is an easy number to dance and go crazy on although the appeal is limited to those influenced by the Mumbai culture and music scene. But talking about remakes this one is truly one of the good ones in recent times.

Shabbir Ahmed has penned the only romantic song on the album called Ik Mulaqaat that has strong sufi vibes blended with Bollywood styling. The impressive vocals of Altamash Faridi hit one hard right from the onset with their depth and soulful effect. His tonality is terrific across the full range that he delivers with immense clarity and focus on each word. His voice is complimented by Palak Muchhal’s sweet and delicate voice with she being equally brilliant in her delivery. Lyrics are very nice and drive on the magic of the first meeting and how things hook on from that. Ahmed wraps a lot of material in there in the four minutes of the song in a soothing flow that is very easy on the ears. The arrangement of the song is not something outright different and has been heard a number of times before on sufi songs but it is still lovely to hear it again. There is a good amount of music in here that is well recorded with a great guitar and dholak piece and it gives the song a whole lot of depth. Overall this is not the best romantic number but the vocals and lyrics are quite good and make it a decent listen.

The only Punjabi number on the album is actually a really good one! Gat Gat is a Bollywood Punjabi number but as good as an authentic UK Bhangra song. The composition is very typical which is ironically quite refreshing as Bollywood tones down the Punjabi in the songs, both in lyrics and music. While this song uses typical Punjabi arrangement, beat structures and instrumentation making this an effective song both in Bollywood and Bhangra music scenes. Kumaar has beautifully written the Punjabi lyrics that are charming, fun, naughty and cute all at the same time. The flow is amazing and effortless throughout the song. Jass Zaildar and Khushboo Grewal’s vocals are contemporary with a touch of class to them. They keep it true to the Punjabi styling while delivering a successful commercial collaboration that is easy to dance to. Meet Bros have done a stellar job on this number and this should be a sure-shot hit on the wedding and club party circuits around the world.

Radhe Radhe Remix just feels like a faster version of the song having just been pushed up in tempo. The beat pattern has slightly been changed adding a slightly more synthetic beat and that is it. Pretty much a forced song to pack the album but there is no merit or creativity in this remix.

DJ Himani Singh has a go at trying to do something different on Dil Ka Telephone Remix and as a result ruins what is one of the best songs on the album. It becomes neither danceable nor does it give any listening pleasure. The beat is a dud one and the effects used are so old-skool that this sounds like a remix from the 90s. Terrible production and disturbing to listen to!

FINAL WORD
The soundtrack of ‘Dream Girl’ packs in a good amount of fun and excitement and ticks mark on a lot of commercial fronts. Being a cheesy comedy movie there is no doubt a lot of dance item numbers but there is also a romantic number, remixes, a remake, different languages and even a couple of songs around the festivals that the release coincides with making this a wholesome album. Meet Bros are great for the item numbers and party genre and they don’t disappoint here although they don’t thrill or surprise the listeners either. Their work on Dil Ka Telephone, Dhagala Lagali, Gat Gat is good and these songs are worth good airplay but then Ik Mulaqaat, Radhe Radhe and the remixes are much below average for their standards. Altamash Faridi, Palak Muchhal, Nakash Aziz, Jonita Gandhi, Jass Zaildar, Khushboo Grewal all deliver well on their vocals. Kumaar is consistent and delivers well throughout whatever the genre, language or category of the song making a huge statement about his talent. There is not much depth in the instrumentation of this album but that is not much of an issue as long as the music delivers well. Overall this a good commercial album and should further help pull audiences to the movie and at the same time considering this looks like a hit film in the making it should help boost the shelf life and success of these songs. There is nothing fabulous about the album but it is still worth a listen!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.