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Music Review: ‘PadMan’

Director R Balki is back with ‘PadMan’ to direct Akshay Kumar in what could to be another national topic for India. After Kumar’s ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ (2017) making waves throughout the country on a topic close to rural India, ‘PadMan’ could very well be the next one in the same sectors. A true story based on the life of Arunachalam who invented low cost sanitary pads and went against his family and social boundaries to further his cause and help women is a great story that Balki and Kumar can together create something exciting with for the masses. The film also stars Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte in the supporting roles. For the first time in his career, Balki has decided to go his way without the famous Ilaiyaraaja doing the music for his film. Considering most of his previous films were remakes of his south films, working with Ilaiyaraaja would be the obvious choice to make the music fit in perfectly. But considering ‘Pad Man’ is only in Hindi, Amit Trivedi with Kausar Munir have been chosen to lead the music of this film. After creating some waves with the music of ‘Secret Superstar’ (2017) this will be Trivedi’s next big project.

Arijit Singh opens the album with Aaj Se Teri a soothing romantic song that is really a wedding song. Set to a very classical rural musical touch with a simple dholki beat and shenai to signify the wedding scenario, the simplicity of the song is astounding! Trivedi even keeps Singh’s vocals absolutely clean with almost no effects processing or reverb added to it which is very nice to listen to at a time when tons of technology is applied to every aspect of music recording. The use of Sarangi gives a lot of opulence to the music with the help of some violin sections in the background. Singh’s vocals are so clear and beautifully delivered that it almost sounds like he is sitting in front of you and singing rather than a recording. The lyrics are very light weight without complexity that gives the song an edge despite of its simplicity. The use of simple words & conversational Hinglish gives the song the easy going feel rather than sounding like a deep romantic ballad. An interesting start to the album that shows Trivedi’s ability to surprise listeners every time but this may or may not work on the charts.

The Pad Man Song is a cheeky title song delivered by Mika Singh in his typical fun rendition style. Sadly the melodic composition of the song is too overused and thus songs like a many others… perhaps on purpose by Trivedi to give it that mischievous edge as the lyrics make fun of and big up PadMan at the same time comparing him to the superheroes. The composition is thus not the highlight of the song and the music is average too with the use of harmonium, dhols and a dud synthetic beat that does give the song a decent groove though going well with Singh’s vocal delivery. The lyrics are the real essence and well written by Munir where he sums up the lead character really well making him sound like or better than any superhero. The song is very situational to the film and not really something that works for general listening pleasure.

Trivedi gets on the mic himself for Hu Ba Hu next. The musical composition has been done with an electronic arrangement. The programming is not too great and it does sound a little too artificial and hollow to say the least. The style is very close to what Trivedi has done in some of his previous songs so this one sounds rather boring and copycat of his own work. The vocals are not dynamic and the lyrics are too dull for a song that is about companionship and chasing an aim & ambition together. The rhymes work but the flow of the song doesn’t and thus it is not really catchy or exciting to listen to. This is an easy song to skip ahead of.

Saale Sapne has been sung by the amazing Mohit Chauhan who really makes it his own giving it his style and charisma. His voice makes the song really refreshing and bright like the morning sun. The arrangement of the song is very cleverly done that works very well for Chauhan’s voice and delivery style. The lyrics are very light about chasing dreams and aspirations and thus the combination of music, vocals and lyrics work quite well here. The song really brings a smile to the face and is one of those that sticks on in the head. Good listen.

Sayaani has perhaps the best music composition on the album with intricate instrumentation and good arrangement. It has a strong wedding party melody that should surely create waves in the mehndi parties in the ongoing wedding season in India. Dhol, dafli and tumbi sounds work really well together giving it a fun Punjabi touch along with a good range of all female vocals. Jonita Gandhi, Yashita Sharma, Rani Kaur and Yashika Sikka are all contributing well on this song giving it a great festive and vibrant sound. The lyrics are very well composed and the flow is very catchy. It’s easy to sing along with and are just perfectly balanced for a fun Mehndi party. Perhaps one of the best songs on the album but one of many wedding songs that have recently come up in this genre. Will this one stand out and become a big hit is something perhaps that might not happen as it does not have that x factor to it.

FINAL WORD
Amit Trivedi is perhaps not at his best with the music of ‘PadMan’ delivering a mixed bag of songs with mostly mediocre songs. For a film that targets masses, the music does cater to that brief and has the right appeal in each song in their respective genres but none really thrill and excite like some of his previous work. The album does have a decent amount of variety to it and the singing talent is quite good with the voices of Arijit Singh, Mohit Chauhan and Jonita Gandhi standing out. Lyrics by Kausar Munir are disappointing on some of the songs but he makes it up on others giving Trivedi something unique to play with. Aaj Se Teri and Sayaani are the best two songs on the album with the capability of bringing commercial success to the album while Saale Sapne is a good listen thanks to Chauhan’s standout vocal style. With Akshay Kumar on screen addressing a very important social topic the focus will not be a lot on the music of this film and thus that would be a saving grace as overall the album doesn’t do the job of pulling people to the cinemas because of its musical brilliance.

BizAsiaLive.com  Rating – 7/10

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