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Music Review: ‘Satya 2’

Ram Gopal Varma is back after the disaster of ��The Attacks of 26/11�۪ (2013) with a modern day version of his classic underworld crime thriller hit ��Satya�۪ (1998). A brand in itself, ��Satya�۪ was very well appreciated and loved by critics and audiences across the board thanks to Varma�۪s fabulous direction and the exquisite acting of the well-known Bhiku Mahatre ��� Manoj Bajpayee. With no big name from Bollywood on board, Varma features Telugu actor Sharwanand in the lead role with other lesser known cast in ��Satya 2�۪. The original ��Satya�۪ had some amazing music including Sapne Mein Milti Hai, Badalon Se and Goli Maar amongst others that each had character, ��Satya 2�۪ sure has some competition with its predecessor and lots to prove.

'Satya 2' music review
'Satya 2' music review

Nitin Raikwar has worked with Varma throughout his career… almost exclusively��_ and starts the soundtrack of ��Satya 2�۪ with his own lyrics and music for Tu Hai. In the voices of Leonard Victor & Shweta Pandit the music composition outshines his own lyrics and his chosen singer�۪s performances. Victor & Pandit sound quite average in this love ballad with a large orchestra sound that Raikwar does well in arranging & conducting but his lyrics are quite plain and fail to captivate and match the intensity of the music of Tu Hai.

Special is the item number of the album featuring Aradhana Gupta in the video and is a sultry beach song in the voice of Payel Aditya Dev who makes her debut with this song. Her voice lacks the charisma and sex appeal that Varma has brought to the video. The techno music of duo Sanjeev-Darshan Rathod is quite disappointing and lacks any class to become a hit. Coming from a hit like Grand Masti the music duo do let you down with this poor track for the soft ears. Lyrics by Kumaar are quite annoying to say the least.

Album title song Maangne Se is an intense piece of work and a big improvement from the previous track by music duo Sanjeev-Darshan Rathod and Kumaar on the lyrics. The duo give their voices to this chorus track as well along with Argha Banerjee almost sending a shiver down the spine. The arrangement of the song is truly gripping and builds sheer engagement with the dark lyrics well penned by Kumaar. Although a good number this is purely for background score and has no radio or TV potential and thus no commercial aspect to it.

Palkon Se is the musical work of Raikwar again with the lyrics of Moid Elhaam who does a fair job on the poetic side but singers Rishi Singh & Shweta Pandit almost destroy the song with their average performances with all credit to Raikwar for creating a mess here on the vocal front. The melody is good and Palkon Se has true potential of a hit with some good use of saxophones but the voices just don�۪t work making this yet another average song.

Nitin Raikwar tries his hand yet again on the music and lyrics combo with Saathi Re in the voices of Rishi Singh & Tishika Jain who makes a debut doing a fab job on her vocals. Now this is a good sounding love song that is soothing and very likeable. The use of piano for the bridge is quite good with the overall sing-a-long style of the song. This song could be the underdog of the album.

Taaqat is yet another gangster song by Sanjeev-Darshan Rathod duo with the lyrics of Kumaar and matches the fun of Goli Maar from ��Satya�۪. Very well arranged by the music duo the transition from the fun side to the intensity in the song is a piece of genius using voices of Hricha Narayan, Jolly Mukherjee & Sanjeev Rathod who all do a brilliant job. The instrumentation with trumpets complements soft bits in the song very well and mix well with the well carved lyrics of the song. This is a good listen.

Perhaps my favourite song on this album so far is Control that is the brilliant work of Shree D realing in the success of title track of ��Besharam�۪ (2013). Shree D has not just composed the music but also co-written the lyrics and sung the song with Sonny Ravan. The dub step composition is a new trend for Bollywood and the style totally works with the lyrics and their own voices along with the theme of the movie. The highs and lows are skilfully designed and arranged by Shree D making this by far the best listen on the OST.

Veerani is a slow indulgent number in the dazzling voice of Mohammad Irfan with Payel Aditya Dev. Standing out with the voice are the deep lyrics by Kumaar who captures the journey of a criminal beautifully in a dark tale. This story stands out better with the dark composition and instrumentation of Sanjeev-Darshan Rathod. Almost like a horror movie this song is very situational and makes a strong statement and is very engaging right to the climax with its massively big sound.

Satya is Back Again is the work of India�۪s first female DJ, Delhi based Kary Arora along with Arsalaan Akhoon and actor Makrand Deshpandey on the vocals. She has basically created a break beat loop that sits well under the spoken word. Except for the spoken word of Deshpandey, the rest of the song is quite average.

FINAL WORD

��Satya 2�۪ starts on a poor note with some below average songs that seem to be trying too hard to get noticed and forced into the charts. But as the album plays ahead the songs keep getting better with the real gems sitting beyond the half-way point making the journey to them quite painful at points with songs like Special that should be skipped. Shree D stands out with just one song on the OST but a good one called Control. Sanjeev-Darshan Rathod do a much better job later in the album with Veerani & Taaqat that are worth listening to along with title track Maangne Se. Nitin Raikwar could have surely done better and still has a long way to go to producing commercial hits. Overall the mix of music directors, singers and lyricists is quite haphazard and thus creating a very unstable OST. ��Satya 2�۪ does not compare to the original ��Satya�۪ on the music front and lacks the commercial or critical ability to create a mark for itself. Will this be the fate of the movie as well when compared to the original ��Satya�۪ is yet to be seen.

BizAsia Showbiz Rating ��� 6/10