Music Review: ‘Jai Ho’
Sohail Khan is back with another attempt at trying to get a hit at the box office as a director since his most recent attempt ��Maine Dil Tujko Diya�۪ (2002) with ��Jai Ho�۪. Brother Salman Khan is at hand as Major Jai Agnihotri trying to break corruption and crime in India. The clich̩d storyline will turn into an action film inspired by a south film. With Salman Khan on a hit making spree this one could turn out to be exactly what Sohail Khan needs as the film builds anticipation at the box office and trailers sweep through the TV screens. Sajid-Wajid are behind the music of the film and need a big hit this year after no big successes in 2013. With a string of top lyricists collaborating with them this OST could be it.
Baaki Sab First Class Hai in the voice of Wajid is perfectly in tune with the theme of the film. Talking about corruption, greed and politics the song hits on the hard facts to an upbeat tempo. The situational nature of the song works just for the film and will have a lot of TV airplay but not a song for the charts. Sajid, Irfan Kamal and Danish Sabri combine their writing skills to make an apt statement with this song while the music by Sajid-Wajid has a good tempo to it with a break beat bridge that is well designed and arranged. Not a song for international audiences with limited capabilities in its appeal.
Sameer has put together the lyrics of Tere Naina Maar Hi Daalenge in his typical 90s style when he was at his peak. The classical approach of the song along with the voices of Shaan and Shreya Ghoshal gives a nostalgic feel to the song unlike the latest romantic numbers and deliver a sense of d̩j�� vu that is kind of ironically refreshing to listen to. The lyrics are simple and engaging. Vocals are quite simple but the effects on Ghoshal�۪s voice seem a little useless while Shaan�۪s vocals are kept clean. The backing vocal chants by Shabab Sabri are quite good and will get one singing along. A good song that should be able to get average success.
Photocopy is a street party song with a Gujarati setting to it following the success of ��Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela�۪ (2013) success. A song composed in the typical Sajid-Wajid style for the rikshaw and taxi drivers of India the song has a mass appeal with the voices of Himesh Reshammiya, Keerthi Sagathia and Palak Muchhal it has the fun element to it that comes out strong and keeps you bobbing to the beats. Lyrics by Kausar Munir are in line with the theme of the song and are simply to keep the rhyme going as the focus stays on the street party setting with all focus on Reshammiya�۪s voice. The song lacks class but has the mass appeal.
A soulful song worth listening to on the album comes with Tumko To Aana Hi Tha in the voices of Armaan Malik, Marianne D’Cruz Aiman and Altamash Faridi. A part English-Hindi romantic song beautifully rendered by young Armaan Malik of Zee TV�۪s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs fame along with Marianne who are both equally impressive. They are superbly well directed by Amal Mallik who has composed the song making his debut in Bollywood music direction. This is a fairly good entry by him to make a mark with Shabbir Ahmed by his side on soulful love lyrics. This is a good romantic song that should have reasonable success in the cities and internationally with the forthcoming Valentine�۪s Day.
Armaan Malik along with music director Amal Mallik take Tumko To Aana Hi Tha ��one step forward with a full English version of the song with Love You Till The End (House Mix) that has been well composed for a club House mix as the original. This song would work well acoustically but equally well as a house mix and hence the choice to have a house mix for a wider appeal in the party scene which it should be able to deliver as a summer hit by the time the season kicks in. The great thing about the song are the lyrics also written by the hugely talented Armaan Malik that should put him in the limelight and the one to watch! A good listen!
Bringing the South India music vibes to Bollywood, Devi Sri Prasad has written and composed Naacho Re which is a short music composition that crosses boundaries between Karnatic, Hindustani and Western music styles with the voice of Ujjayinee. The purpose of the song is unclear and we will have to wait for the film release to figure that out but unfortunately with not much lyrical or vocal value to the song this song too is very limited in its appeal.
Title song Jai Jai Jai Jai Ho is yet another western music composition by Amal Mallik who clearly has his ways with dance music styles of music. He combines House with Trance to deliver a very upbeat title song for a Bollywood movie with focus on Indian politics. A clear party song, one can see and feel the song having good success in the clubs creating a following for itself. Voices of Wajid, Armaan Malik, Brijesh Shandilya and Amal Malik himself create a good chorus with just the title of the song with some some intermittent lyrics by Shabbir Ahmed.
Photocopy (Remix) in the voice of Himesh Reshammiya is a true party number crossing this from the street setting to the clubs and is quite well done. This is a good remix to listen to if one likes remixes.
Baaki Sab First Class Hai (Remix) is a good remix of the opening song that makes Wajid�۪s voice fused very well with the synthetic beats of this song with a soft blending texture. The trumpets combine with the beats gives this song a lot of depth and variety but unfortunately the political nature of the lyrics of the song will still keep the appeal limited of the song even though the melody now works.
FINAL WORD
��Jai Ho�۪ as a film has a particular agenda to it than just a general entertainment value to it. So does its music��_ Sajid-Wajid do a fair job in delivering that but are limited in trying to make that appeal bigger than it really is through their music. The songs are fairly decent but they all have their limitations with none massive enough to become a huge success. Their shortcomings on compositions are compensated by Amal Mallik who does a great job for his debut on the western compositions with the talent of singer-writer Armaan Malik by his side. Their songs have a more internationally acceptable format for global audiences to relate to especially on the romantic tunes. Overall the album is an average piece of work with a good mix of different genres but no superhits in the making. Tumko Aana Hi Tha, Jai Jai Jai Ho, Tere Naina and Photocopy are the fairly better songs on the album to listen to.
BizAsia Showbiz Rating ��� 6.5/10
