Music Review: ‘R…Rajkumar’

Prabhu Dheva’s undying love for action romantic flicks topped with good music is well known of and the outcome has been great with movies like ‘Rowdy Rathore’ (2012). Having Shahid Kapoor for his lead role is the new offering with forthcoming ‘R… Rajkumar’ opposite Sonakshi Sinha. A major part of delivering success on the musical front is played by Pritam who has had a great year with successful projects including ‘Race 2’ (2013), ‘Murder 3’ (2013) and ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ (2013) to name a few. Expectations are thus quite high from the soundtrack of ‘R… Rajkumar’ as the teasers and music bites have started firing across the TV sets in between ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’ and ‘Bullett Raja’ music. Pritam is working with Dheva for the first time and this adds to the excitement as well.

The first song on the album,��Gandi Baat,��is a clear example of Pritam knowing what works for Prabhu Dheva films. This dance number is rugged and fun for the masses across India. It does not have the class but that is not what Dheva demands. But that does not in any way reduce the appeal of this song sung by hit maker Mika Singh with Kalpana Patowary delivering the female lead. The composition is very Mumbai-style on a street setting of Kapoor chasing his damsel. The record scratches are used very cleverly in the arrangement of the song. Lyrics by Anupam Amod are very Bollywood with the fun cool factor but crude at the same time. The beauty lies in the arrangement by Pritam that will make anyone sing along saying “Gandi..Gandi..Gandi Baat“. No doubt this song will be a sure party hit with full credit to Pritam and Mika.

Saree Ke Fall Sa is a fun romantic number in the voices of Nakash Aziz and Antara Mitra who are very impressive in this song with their exciting and precise vocal rendition. The instrumentation and melody of the song is quite similar to Gandi Baat but Pritam makes it up with creativity in how he has arranged the song to give it a different style. The fun romantic song has not come along in a long time in Bollywood so this is refreshing stepping away from the mushy love songs but mainly with sleazy lyrics by Mayur Puri that is apt to the nature of the song. The video has been shot quite well too in the sand with some crazy dance moves.

Sunidhi Chauhan starts Mat Maari with tons of polite abuses. Well the oxymoron used is because the abuses are in a love chase trying to keep her stalker away. This masti-filled love song is very cute to say the least while being very peppy and danceable. It will surely find its place in a number of wedding skits during the upcoming wedding season. Lyrics by Ashish Pandit are very good and Kunal Ganjawala delivers them really well. This song won�۪t get prominence on radio or TV plays due to some of the words used but it will resonate well with the young crowd and be a popular tune over the coming months due to Pritam�۪s very hummable composition.

Dhoka Dhadi is easily one of the favourites on the album simple because of its simplistic composition and Arijit Singh�۪s amazing voice and style. Even more beautiful is the thought and lyrics of the song by Nilesh Mishra. The song is very evocative thanks to both the soft voices used in the song including the female vocals by Palak Muchhal. A fantastic saxophone solo takes centre-stage band in the middle with a great violin piece in the bridges of the song. Pritam can be brilliant with romantic songs and this is another proof of that.

Things just go absolutely wrong with the album with Kaddu Katega which is a sleazy village item number that is just plainly wrong from its lyrics by Ashish Pandit to the vocals by Antara Mitra and clich̩d music by Pritam. It sounds like so many songs in the same genre in B-grade Bollywood films that this feels totally wrong and not something expected on the album from the Pritam camp. Really bad!

Gandi Baat Film Version is stripped a bit on the instruments used in the composition with softer beats and Nakash Aziz and Ritu Pathak doing the vocals this time. Compared to the Mika Singh original this version of the song seems to have lost its oomph and not effective enough as a party tune.

Saree Ke Fall Sa (Remix) is an average remix of the fun original done to a desi beat. The remix takes a Miami beat mashed with techno that is not really effective and does not add anything worth listening to the song compared to the original.

FINAL WORD

Pritam continues his streak of producing good music this year and does manage to create a few hits in this album and surprises with a couple of bad tunes in there too for a small OST with just seven tracks. The album is all about fun and style produced to the liking of the masses of India in the true Prabhu Dheva order of doing things. The fun factor rolls over very well from one song to the next even in the romantic tunes on the album. Gandi Baat is a clear party tune and a winner in its own right while Dhoka Dhadi is by far one of the best winter romantic songs to release. Saree Ke Fall Sa is a people�۪s choice song and will surely have some success as well. As far as drawing audiences to the screens is concerned, Pritam as always is delivering on that front but there was definitely potential to deliver a 100% good soundtrack which has been missed leading to some disappointment overall. Nonetheless, some of the songs will commercially work very well and could play a part in the film�۪s success at the box office.