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Music Review: ‘Raabta’

Producer Dinesh Vijan is making his directorial debut with Siddharth – Garima’s written romantic thriller – ‘Raabta’ starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon. A love story that spans a few couple lifetimes seems to be the central theme with the typical bad boy vs hero fights for the girl story. The graphic and design execution of this seems rather clean and well done from the trailers which gives it that extra edge on a typical romantic thriller story which might not be everyone’s cup of tea in the age of mature Bollywood cinema which is doing well with its brilliant sets and costumes. The music album is a collaborative one but with Pritam leading the soundtrack with a song each contributed by Jam8, and Saurav Roy. The amazing words of Amitabh Bhattacharya are in work here with help from Irshad Kamil on a couple songs and Kumaar contributing a song to the album as well.

 

The album opens to a very smooth and stylish melody with Ik Vaari Aa. A dance composition by Pritam, the song has very positive and upbeat vibes about it. The heavy electronic synths are well composed for a club setting but with the use of acoustic guitars blended in nicely to give it that softness of a love song as well. The sound is very fresh for Bollywood and a compliment to Pritam for getting a new sound of dance music to Bollywood, although the arrangement is a little messy at points and does not have the catchy beat structures that make a big dance number. Arijit Singh’s voice works well for the number and reminds one of Sooraj Dooba Hai with his execution style. Lyrics by Bhattacharya are perhaps the weakest part of the song as they are good but with tons of complications which doesn’t work too well in a party tune. The chorus is very catchy but simplicity on the stanza’s would have worked very well in favour to make this a big hit. It might take longer but the song does have potential to become big with the right marketing.

 

Raabta (Title Track) features Deepika Padukone in the video in a cameo cabaret stage performance to increase the hotness of this track that is easily a better dance number compared to Ik Vaari Aa. The song is composed to international standards by Pritam with clearly a lot of inspiration from the likes of global acts like Kygo, but it works. There is a lot of intricate musical notes in the arrangement that have been programmed very well for a deep wholesome club sound. The song boats great lyrics with collaboration between Bhattacharya and Kamil. They are deeply romantic with a very smooth flow to them line-by-line and they just roll of the tongue with just a few listens. Nikhita Gandhi delivers a very sexy vocal. Her vocal is sensual and charismatic and it is equally matched by Singh on the male vocals. He adopts a sexy avatar too compared to the earlier song and brings something different to the song. This is an easy chart topper and will be a clear party favourite this summer.

 

What should have been a stylish Punjabi flavoured party tune turns out to be an odd and weird song in Sadda Move. Features Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh with rapper Raftaar and Pardeep Singh Sran, the arrangement of this song by Pritam is an awkward one to listen to with very cheesy and unattractive lyrics. The vocals are perhaps the best part of the song and they don’t have anything special about them either except the energy put in by Dosanjh. Pritam seems to have gone a little ahead of the trying-too-hard line. Clearly the song has some great beats and basslines programmed with traditional tumbi and flutes but it is easily heard as the song tries too hard to be cool and eventually falling flat. The song is a little too busy and the composition is not clean. The lyrics by Bhattacharya and Kamil are below average to say the least. There is very little sense and rhymes are completely lost. Not worth a second listen to be honest.

 

Lambiyaan Si Judaiyaan is a sad love song composed by Jam8 and written by Bhattacharya. Violins and acoustic guitars rule the music of this song that is nicely put together blending the urban & desi vibes. The electronic dholki gives it that Bollywood touch but has a modern youthful sound but not entirely sure if it works for the nature of the song. Sung by Singh with supporting vocals by Shadab Faridi and Altamash Faridi, the vocals demonstrate pain and depth of emotions. The lyrics by Bhattacharya are quite moving in parts but rather typical in others. They are good nonetheless and when combined with Singh’s vocals & a modern take on the composition makes this a decent song to listen to.

 

Another party number plays next with Main Tera Boyfriend that has all the elements of a cool and cheesy boy persuades girl style song. The lyrics and melody are catchy thanks to the work of Kumaar who usually always gets it right with making such songs easy to sing along to while making it fun and easy to listen to. He somehow uses the right words to his songs that make it an engaging and playful at the same time. The use of Punjabi words gives the song an extra zing. Roy uses a simple arrangement but does not hesitate to have fun with the music programming throwing in a number of break beats giving it a good amount of variation & dance energy. Singh gets to do something different here unlike any such song he has sung before. There is not much vocal capability for him to demonstrate here but he sure leaves a mark. Neha Kakkar sounds cool and delivers a hot vocal texture. Meet Bros have a small role to play on supporting vocals as well. Even though this is a cheesy song, it is not bad and will enjoy good success in the party circuit.

 

Darasal features the voice of Atif Aslam and the lyrics of Kamil. A soft acoustic style song this song has the right mix of really well performed basic instruments. The arrangement by Jam8 is an easy flowing one too that can instantly make one fall in love with the song with a soothing sound. Aslam’s voice is emotive for the style of the song and this is something he sounds the best at. His harmonies are accurate and perfectly delivered. The high pitches are exceptionally good and clearly establishes him again in Bollywood quite well. The lyrics play a huge role in giving Aslam a lot of room to do his magic on. Each line is so meaningful and cute at the same time that it is just too chocolaty to be true. A very well written song that has lots of positive and pleasant vibes about it. It is a perfect long drive song for a couple and will enjoy good amount of radio play.

 

Jubin Nautiyal delivers his take of Ik Vaari Aa (Jubin Version) which somehow sounds better in many aspects compared to Singh’s original. His husky vocal texture does sound better for the composition of the song and gives it a fresh sound. The music hasn’t changed much except for some backing vocals thrown in and a slightly stripped out cleaner version of the electronic synths. Lyrics are different for the last stanza too and thus the song has more to offer than just alternate vocal treatment. A good version of the original to listen to which has its own identity in more than one way.

 

FINAL WORD

For a young love story, the music of ‘Raabta’ is bang on point and to the theme. The album has good amount of material in it thanks to the work of Pritam and supported by Jam8 and Saurav Roy. Pritam usually gets it right and this soundtrack is no different. He captures the pulse of the listeners apt for the nature of this film and the music of ‘Raabta’ delivers that well in an original way. The party and romantic bits are the two strong focus genres of the album with Raabta (Title Track) being the best of the lot followed by Ik Vaari Aa and Main Tera Boyfriend. Jam8 delivers Darasal which is a great romantic ballad that is easy to fall in love with. Perhaps not the best lyrical work by Amitabh Bhattacharya but Kamil and Kumaar help raise the game on the lyrics front. Arijit Singh is by far the leader of the album with 4 out of 7 songs with his voice but none big enough for him to show his true potential. Aslam and Nautiyal are really good as well in their songs with Nikhita Gandhi delivering a hot vocal on the title track. Overall this is a commercially strong album with a clear focus on the young love target audience and thus so some decently good party numbers to keep them on their toes. It sounds fresh and thus worth a listen albeit with a short shelf life.

 

BizAsiaLive.com Rating – 7.5/10