Music Review: ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’
The Bhai of Bollywood is back to lift up the spirits of the country in the midst of a major Covid crisis. It can’t be that Salman Khan is missing from Eid celebrations even it falls in the middle of a pandemic escalation in India. ‘Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’, the forthcoming release, has been delayed by a year but going all out for a big release this year with cinemas, digital and TVOD in parallel to maximise reach in the middle of lockdowns in many states in India. Under Prabhudheva’s direction the movie stars the beautiful Disha Patani, Jackie Shroff and Randeep Hooda in the negative role. The movie is almost a part two of his hit ‘Wanted’ (2009) with Khan playing an undercover cop so one can expect a lot of over-the-top action, punchy dialogues. Prabhudheva has handpicked the music from a variety of artists which means there will perhaps be some big commercial songs but not a consistent theme to this soundtrack that ‘Wanted’ (2009) had with some big superhit numbers thanks to Sajid-Wajid. The duo have contributed to this album considering they would have produced the songs before Wajid Khan was lost to Covid-19 in June 2020.
The album opens with a full-on item number called Seeti Maar filmed on Khan and Patani. This is the lead song of the album with the task of going viral and attracting audiences to the movie and it sure has the video for it with a stunning glitzy set, stylish costumes, cheesy dance moves and a large dance ensemble. The song is recreated from the hit of the same name from down south by Devi Sri Prasad with lyrics by Shabbir Ahmed this time. The music is fun as a dance number with some edgy sounds, synths and a strong thumping beat. It even has a touch of South to its melody. The music fits modern street style if there is such a genre really as this song sure has a mass appeal in its music, layered with Khan’s unique dance moves for everyone to copy. The lyrics are almost terrible for a normal song but the cheese and sleaze in the lyrics work for a song like this lead by Khan himself. The chorus is catchy and that sure works in favour of making this a popular commercial success. Vocals by Kamaal Khan are decent working well on bhai’s onscreen persona. Female lead vocals are better really by Khan’s alleged Romanian girlfriend Lulia Vantur. She delivers oomph in her performance that works well for Patani on screen. It is not a note perfect vocal but for a club number with loud music it works as it covers up the vocal flaws. Overall this is not a great dance tune but it works considering the big commercial production with Khan and Patani leading it. 3/5
Another item number Dil De Diya is produced by Himesh Reshammiya with Ahmed’s lyrics. The choice of words and the flow is a lot better here with this being a more mature item number. The romantic tease has fun and loving vibes to it together that suits Khan a lot better at his current screen age. The choice of words also have a performance element to it making it a good setting for Jacqueline Fernandez to deliver an exotic show in the video. The music has a nice ring to it with some strong Bollywood style instrumentation to it. It starts to a smooth jazzy acoustic style and the keys melody is grand and laid out on a modern beat. The arrangement is quite catchy and progresses well to keep one engaged. There is a romantic softness to the music while the lead instrumentation is loud to highlight the performance element. Kamaal Khan’s vocals suite a lot better to this song. The composition has a slow romantic vibe that works for his vocal and kinda reminds one of his Oh Oh Jaane Jana vocal. Payal Dev is very good on the female lead. She has a good range and depth to her vocal that works nicely for the romantic side to her character while there is a sexiness to her high end. Overall this is a much better song than the earlier one minus the street sleaziness. Both songs have a different target audience and to a more mature listener this one is a better song with better production. 3.5/5
Radhe-Title Track is so truly Sajid-Wajid in its composition, music and character! One doesn’t need to watch the video, the oomph and glamour comes out in the audio itself. The music duo were who made title tracks worthy of commercial success rather than just being background title songs so firstly kudos to them for making this genre great in their career. Perhaps one of the last songs in their career due to the sad passing of Wajid last year, this song sure will be remembered for Khan’s stylish execution and the music personality that this song carries. The Arabic vibes come out nicely giving a proud feel to this song. Lyrics and vocals by Sajid Khan himself makes this a complete home production for the duo. The lyrics are not great but work for the styling execution of the song with strong Mumbai touch to the words. The lyrics capture the police-gangster persona of the Radhe character well although the flow is rather broken in parts. Wajid was a much better vocalist and he is clearly missed here. Although Sajid Khan does a fair job he doesn’t have the depth and command needed for a song like this. His voice doesn’t seem to work for Sallu bhai either. Musically although this song has a nice bob to it, vocally and lyrically it is a bit of a let-down. Overall a decent average number to listen to. 3/5
The final song Zoom Zoom is another Sajid-Wajid fun love production. This is yet another specialist genre for them where they bring masti street vibes to a love song to create an uplifting party love song. But for this number they have dropped the street vibes and gone for a more modern urban melody that would be more coming-of-age for Khan’s character in the movie while being perfect vibes for what would suite Patani. The music has a nice urban groove to it layered with a very interesting synth & trumpet sounds giving it a slow dance vibe. The tempo is a bit slow to make this a club success but it works as a warm up number. Kunaal Vermaa leads the lyrics here whit a soft smooth choice of words. The arrangement is very different here and that makes the song stand out. The English-Hindi bounce off gives it a nice cool & young persona as he evades the use of any heavy or complicated words. Sajid Khan’s vocal works much better on this song with a crude street-style delivery supporting Vantur who has done a good job on the female lead. Ash King is a good addition to the song as well giving his trademark husky smooth vocal. Everything is smooth and just about average on this song but missing a spark to make this good number. 3/5
FINAL WORD
The music of ‘Radhe – Your Most Wanted Bhai’ is typical and to the character of what one would expect from a Salman Khan big Eid release. Just one would not expect it to be such a short album with just four songs. The songs selected by director Prabhu Deva are right up Khan’s alley for his cop-gangster romantic hero role. The songs represent him perfectly as a fun, romantic, no-nonsense terror for the gangsters. The songs have the grandeur that one would expect for a big budget Khan movie but all the songs lack a touch of brilliance that a few songs in the original ‘Wanted’ (2009) had. Dil De Diya and Radhe-Title Track are perhaps the best songs on the album with good music while the former has the best lyrics & vocals. The commercially huge Seeti Maar will definitely work on the party scene but just doesn’t have the same merit of many such songs that Khan has delivered in his previous movies. Zoom Zoom and Radhe-The Title Track will both definitely be remembered as the last songs of Wajid Khan and that has a strong emotional value to it. All four songs are led with good dance videos and that is perhaps the best strength of these songs rather that it being the other way around. Overall this album could have been a lot better if it had a couple more really good songs as currently everything seems quite average on this soundtrack.
BizAsiaLive.com Rating – 3/5
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
