The clandestine guitar sounds provide the ideal base for an interestingly arranged opener Satrangiya Dil that the composer Gulraj Singh himself delivers, quite commendably. I totally loved the Nimminnina refrain! Song no. 2 is Kutiya Dil. And the lead vocalist, probably a choice prompted by his Delhi Belly repute, is Ram Sampath, with Prakriti Kakar playing chorus. As expected, attitude-loaded lyrics from Manoj Yadav, with an arrangement that sees multiple genres infused quite impressively into a rock-ish template (Shon Pinto at the helm, on lead guitar). But the mind automatically started doing a comparison with Delhi Belly, and on that count, it doesn’t quite pack the same level of punch. The composer doles out a nice breezy melody next, Le Chalo sung by Meenal Jain and a very Tochi Raina-esque Jaswinder Singh. Smart, controlled orchestration (is there a faint touch of Celt music?) and a neat rendition by two singers with evidently sound classical base.

In Aalakh Niranjan the composer gives a spunky Middle Eastern sound to a sinister folk tune (Sindhubhairavi raag, I think). Divya Kumar does a fabulous job of singing the song, with Akriti Kakar playing a minimal support role in the title hook portions. Gulraj follows it up with another experimental track Saiyaan, whose employment of percussion makes it particularly engaging. There are places where one gets reminded of Johnny Breakbeat Mera Naam he did in Johnny Gaddar. The composer dons the vocalist hat in this one too, ably accompanied by Akriti Kakar and Sayantani Das. It is only in the final track, Aag Lage, where the composer digresses from the high standards he maintains throughout the soundtrack, having created a run-of-the-mill techno-Punjabi piece. Good singing by Aalam Gir Khan though, with quirky lyrics from Manoj.

Seeing the title and the trailer of the movie I had a fear I would be treated to a stereotypical soundtrack. Instead Gulraj Singh makes an imaginative and very promising Bollywood debut (this is his first full soundtrack) in Tutiya Dil. Not very surprising actually, if one were to go by the reviews his devotional album Ganaraj Adhiraj got a few days back (which I am yet to hear, shall listen up immediately!). Hope the Ganaraj has in return blessed him with a movie worthy of such music!

Music Aloud Rating: 7.75/10

Top Recos: Satrangiya Dil, Aalakh Niranjan, Le Chalo

You can listen to the soundtrack here.

Title song is quintessential youth, with its cool urbane sound. And the composer gets two of the most reliable voices in this genre – Benny Dayal, Anushka Manchanda to do a flawless rendition of it. I would have preferred the voices unprocessed though. The remix doesn’t do much to the original except replace some of the layers with an electronic loop, but that works for the kind of song it is. Gubbare comes off as a more pepped-up version of Sham from Aisha. Such is the charm of the tune that it works despite the déjà vu, thanks much to the ultra feel-good arrangement, highlighted by the use of harmonies. And a good set of vocalists comprising of the composer Amit Trivedi, Nikhil D’Souza, Shilpa Rao and lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya.

Ash King sounds very different rendering the super energetic Aunty Ji set to the perennially winsome rock-and-roll base. The bluegrass-y use of the mandolin/banjo/ukulele (I am not sure which) is especially kickass! Aahatein sounds like how the soundtrack of Udaan might have sounded had Udaan been a KJo movie! The vocals by Karthik and Shilpa Rao do prop the song up quite well though, as does the ubiquitous piano. The composer replaces Karthik with Shekhar Ravjiani for the Robert Miles-esque remix. The final song of the soundtrack, Kar Chalna Shuru, is the freshest-sounding, with some fantabulous use of instruments and chorus, and superb singing by Vishal Dadlani and Shilpa Rao. And the composer tops it off with a scale change towards the end, something he has employed in the past too with excellent results.

Entertaining score that is marred only by the lack of much newness in tunes. A soundtrack that therefore ranks on the higher side of the KJo repertoire, but on the lower side of Amit Trivedi’s works.

Music Aloud Rating: 7/10

Top Recos: Kar Chalna Shuru, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, Gubbare

En Frienda Pola seems like a friendship extolment song + hero song rolled into one, but its rock-based anthemic sound works quite well, with Krish and Suchith Suresan doing a neat rendition. Harris Jayaraj does an impressive job of adapting the Aal Izz Well motif into Tamil, in Heartiley Battery. There is an obvious nod to Moitra’s AIW, but there is also originality in the arrangement. Hemachandran and Mukesh do the honors on vocals, quite impressively. The orchestration and the Kaapi raga base (at least partly) of Askku Laska make it sound more Vidyasagar than Harris Jayaraj! Lovely listen though, despite some seemingly random lyrics, thanks a great deal to Vijay Prakash and Chinmayi. Suvi does a rap-based cameo in the interlude.

Aalap Raju’s Endhan Kan Munney is where the composer’s reusal habits start surfacing, but the acoustic guitar factor helps mitigate that element. Irukkaanna quite blatantly borrows from HJ’s own Manjal Veyil (Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu), and an annoying arrangement for the remaining part (there is gargling sound and all!) doesn’t help matters at all. Vijay Prakash, Javed Ali and Sunidhi Chauhan wasted. The soundtrack ends on a high note though with Nalla Nanban (presumably the analogue for Jaane Nahin Denge), a song where the composer beautifully incorporates semiclassical elements in an otherwise western-tinged orchestration. Ramakrishna Murthy’s singing isn’t perfect, but there is an allure in his rendition, which goes very nicely with this song.

Second time that director Shankar chooses Harris Jayaraj instead of his usual man A R Rahman to score for him. And the second time too HJ pulls off a commendable job.

Music Aloud Rating: 7.5/10

Top Recos: Nalla Nanban, Askku Laska, En Frienda Pola

You can listen to the songs here.

Vellaripraavinte Changaathi is apparently a story that was filmised in the 70s, but couldn’t be completed, and is being made again by the then director’s son in the same settings. How true the director has made the movie to the age shall have to be seen, but the soundtrack presented by Mohan Sithara leaves one in no doubt of that fact. The three-song soundtrack is totally yesteryear in its feel. Pathinezhinte Poonkarayil has Shreya Ghoshal and Kabeer crooning a soulful romantic melody (and Shreya alone in an alternate version), while the Oppana piece Naanam Chaalicha is rendered by Manjari and Priya Aji. And the kiddie song Thekko Thekkorikkal has Poornashree (who sang the composer’s Annaarakkanna in Bhramaram) in the lead. So yes, the soundtrack is a wonderful trip to the 60s from the composer. The flip side? Every song reminds strongly of some old song or the other from a similar genre. Of course, one might argue that songs from that era are rarely made without drawing inspiration from some track. But the same Mohan Sithara also made Annaarakkanna which, while sounding retro, was very original stuff. Here though, there is very little Mohan Sithara that you can detect anywhere, it is mostly either Baburaj or Raghavan Master or some other veteran.

Nitpickings aside though, it is always a pleasure to listen to retro-based songs. And for that reason, Vellaripraavinte Changaathi is a must-listen.

Music Aloud Rating: 7/10

Top Recos: All three are recommended, but my fav is Thekko Thekkorikkal which reminded me of this classic children’s song.

You can listen to the soundtrack here.

Chikni Chameli was out earlier this week, even a preview of its video is out on TV. And after multiple listens, the song is still as much of an energy booster to me as it was the first time, courtesy big time to Shreya Ghoshal. With Ajay Atul’s addictive heavy-on-percussion Marathi arrangement (a rehash of their own Kombadi Palali from the Marathi film Jatra) and Amitabh Bhattacharya’s cheeky lyrics alongside the vocals, Chikni Chameli is a perfect item number, at least music-wise. In O Saiya the composers take a U-turn, providing a template that is ambient and for a large part minimal. And where they take exception from the minimalism the effect is mindblowing, be it the use of the santoor or the choral elements or the percussion. The crescendo-esque turn that the strings section takes at the fag end is the icing on the cake. Roop Kumar Rathod never fails when it comes to classical-based renditions, this song is no exception. And Ajay Atul go back to the high percussion base in Gunguna. Not on the same level as the previous two songs, but entertaining nevertheless. Sunidhi does most of the singing, with a short but nice cameo by Udit towards the end. Sad that the man is heard so less in Hindi these days.
And with that the composers try their hand at Sufi, and pull off a winner in Shah Ki Rutba too. Starting on a typical Muslim song beat template (wherein it is reminiscent slightly of ARR’s Al Maddath Maula) the song shifts tempo halfway through, driving you to a climactic trance mode. Brilliant job by Sukhwinder Singh, Anand Raaj Anand and Krishna Beura. A contrasting switch happens again with the next song, Sonu Nigam nicely delivering a sweet soulful Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin. Lovely use of instruments again, which mitigates the overall déjà vu feel of the song. And Ajay Atul end the soundtrack with a genre which made me their fan in the first place, devotional. Deva Shree Ganesha sees the composers once again put their acumen with percussion to good use. Though not as impactful for me as their Shree Ganeshaaya Dheemahi, the effect is still quite awe-inspiring, complete with another superb latter half tempo-change where the lyrics take a surprise diversion from Ganesh-stuti to extolling Krishna, Rama et al (The piece Achutham Keshavam has interestingly featured in their devotional album Vishwatma as well, albeit in a different tune). Heady, to sum up. One half of the duo, Ajay Gogawale, does the honors on the vocals, his voice taking on a Sukhwinder-esque edge in places.
After a couple of false starts earlier this year, Ajay Atul have truly arrived in Bollywood with Agneepath!

Music Aloud Rating: 8.5/10
Top Recos: Hard to handpick. I loved all of them!

You can listen to preview of the songs here.

Director Lal Jose and composer Vidyasagar better have had a good enough reason for disfiguring Omana Thinkal Kidavo the way they did in Spanish Masala. Nikitha’s attempted foreign accent in rendition comes off as totally fake.  And annoying. The composer goes Latino for the rest of the soundtrack, staying true to the title of the movie. Aarezhuthi Aavo starts off spectacularly, lovely guitar phrases, beautiful singing by Karthik and Shreya Ghoshal. And then Vidyasagar spoils it with a starkly obvious borrowing of the lead hook of Enrique Iglesias’ Bailamos. The rest of the song sounds quite nice, especially the second interlude, wonder why the composer had to do this pointless lift. If you ignore the lyrics and the vocoding, Hayyo is a good listen, especially due to the fusion elements in the orchestration. Yazin Nazir and Franco do the honors behind the mic.

The allure of Spanish orchestration combined with Karthik’s vocal talents work in favour of Irulil Oru Kaithiri, though not as much as the previous two. Udit Narayan’s alternate version only serves to make Karthik’s Malayalam seem more perfect than it actually is, in comparison (Such a contrast with how Shreya handles Malayalam!). The fusion factor works for Akkarey as well, more so in this case due to the exotic choice of instruments. The combination of Vineeth Srinivasan and Sujatha has worked for me in the past too, ditto here.

A soundtrack works more due to the Spanish factor than the Vidyasagar factor. Even so it is not among Lal Jose-Vidyasagar’s best.

Music Aloud Rating – 6/10

Top Recos – Akkarey, Aarezhuthi Aavo, Hayyo

You can listen to previews of the songs here.

Lead composer Gopi Sundar does three songs for Casanovva. The theme song could be alternately titled as “Mohanlal’s tutorial on how to propose in x different languages”. Musically it has very little to offer, the background being a middling mishmash. And listening to the lines of this song I am getting a major sense of foreboding about the movie (not that the title itself had helped in the first place). The hip hop-based Hey Manohara is quite evocative of the rap songs he did for Sagar Alias Jackie and Anwar, but is passable. Blaaze at the helm of affairs assisted by a redundantly huge number of singers – Balu Thankachan, Shalini, Priya Himesh, Feji and the composer himself. His last song is his best, with a very hummable lilt, albeit following the tried-and-tested youth romance formula. Omanichumma, as the song is titled, again has a long lineup including Karthik, Najeem Arshad, Vineeth Srinivasan, Kalyani and Roopa.

Alphonse, in his only composition Kanna Neeyo, presents something that sounds like an Arabicized version of his Parayaathaaro from Cocktail, interestingly featuring the same singer Sayanora Philip. While the Cocktail song itself wasn’t very great, this is further down the ladder. And in the end comes guest composer Gowri Lakshmi with Sakhiye. Riding on a lovely semiclassical tune and backed by a haunting keyboard loop and flowing string segments, the song is a total winner. And this coming from a 12^th standard girl! The arrangement might have been done by Gopi Sundar, as per this article on Gowri, which could also explain a cameo by the Omanichumma riff in the first interlude. If he did, good job, total justice done to the tune. And fantastic singing by Vijay Yesudas and Swetha Mohan. Gopi Sundar in version 2, though not on par with Vijay, pulls it off commendably.

Casanovva – a soundtrack, though not a very memorable one, should prove an ideal launchpad for the prodigy Gowri Lakshmi.

Music Aloud Rating – 5.5/10

Top Recos – Sakhiye, Omanichumma

Listen to the soundtrack here (link courtesy @iPeeKay)

Jis Jagah Pe Khatam is basically an announcement that this soundtrack comes from the same team that gave you Race, such is the memory it evokes of its title track. But the arrangement, and the singing by Neeraj Shridhar, Mauli Dave and Siddharth Basrur, does pack enough punch to make the song engaging despite that factor. The remix is run of the mill. Pritam’s East European-styled retro arrangement (how I love the use of accordion in this genre!) and Ritu Pathak’s flawless rendition form a potent combo, and Kyun Dooriyan (Jhoom Jhoom) is an instant winner! In fact the allure of the tune works even for the two alternate techno versions by Siddharth Basrur and Arijit Singh respectively, taking on a yesteryear disco flavor in places.

Ho Gayi Tun has interesting factors, but the overall noise factor and the tedium of the heard before-ness outweighs all the nice things. Particularly noteworthy among the good things is the rendition by Yashita Yashpal which is sadly disfigured by the processing. Similar fate awaits Buddhi Do Bhagwaan, except in this case the vocals also fall among the bad things, Abhishek Bachchan being the man involved. His conversational style has started getting quite monotonous over time. And after the testing stint with Rahman in Rockstar, Mohit Chauhan gets back to his bread-and-butter zone, delivering another Pritam-mark breezy romantic melody with Shreya Ghoshal, Dil Ye Bekarar Kyun Hai. Lovely listen, as usual. Equally alluring is the Reprise version where the composer makes some well-imagined changes, especially mention-worthy being the sax solo in the second interlude. Nikhil D’Souza and Priyani Vani match up quite commendably with the originals. And yes this too has a third version, a redundant remix of version 1. I have lost count of the number of three-version tracks that Pritam soundtracks have featured. Numerology, eh?

After a disappointing show in Desi Boyz, Players is fail-safe material from Pritam where the composer treads familiar paths and ends up producing a desirable result.

Music Aloud Rating – 6.5/10

Top Recos – Dil Ye Bekarar Kyun Hai, Jhoom Jhoom, Jis Jagah Pe Khatam

Despite the déjà vu feel Mujhe Chhod Ke makes for a nice listen in both its versions, thanks to the allure of the ghazal-esque arrangement from lead composer Ouseppachan and fabulous vocals by Hariharan and Shreya Ghoshal respectively. The plucky Every Day charms in parts, especially the Ouseppachan-trademark violin sequence that opens the track. The composer lends his vocals as well alongside Shaktishree. Dakkanaga seems like the composer’s attempt to do a Bombay Dreams-like piece, except this one pretty much falls flat. Shaktishree and Suchith Sureshan do a decent job on the singing though. The theme starts off well, but the composer attempts to pack too much into the 4.5 minute-piece and ends up making it a mish-mash. Of the three guest composers, Nirmalya is the only saving grace, more owing to the cuteness factor of two kids singing the song. If Nirmalya is as young as she sounds, not a bad job composing. K Niran’s Baat Yeh Kya loses out to the datedness of the tune and template, but the man is a good singer, having a very Karthik-like feel to his voice and style. And I don’t know if it was just me, but the percussion sounded wrong in multiple places! And the less said about Rudolfsan’s O My Queen the better. While I have never been a fan of Franko as a singer, here he is totally annoying.

For a movie described as a “musical” on its website, Dam999’s music disappoints big time.

Music Aloud Rating: 5/10

Top Recos: Mujhe Chhod Ke

Abhishek Dasgupta

Solo albums released by band members are an interesting concept. Working in bands can be an act in restraint, there might be lot of constraints in place. Truly great bands are never one act plays, where rest of the band contribute back ground score. Solo albums give the individual artists an opportunity to follow their own creative urges and can turn out to be a very rewarding experience. For a listener it is a chance to rediscover their favorite artist’s music in a new avatar.
Shor Bazaar, the quirky rock group from Mumbai shot to nationwide fame with their single “Savita Bhabhi”. The song is a tribute to India’s favorite porn star Savita Bhabhi , a cartoon character. What a pity! In a country of one billion we don’t even have a porn star of our own. It is actually an ode of sorts to the average Indian urban male’s frustrations and desperations. It is an outright funny song which I think is a attribute of the band. The song has a very catch riff and is built around it.

This review though, is of the first solo EP released by one of the guitarists of the band, Abhishek Dasgupta.

Balram
 ABHISHEK DASGUPTA – BALRAM by Abhishek_DG
The song seems to be about a staple b-grade daku movie sequence. It was a dark and stormy night, the damsel was in distress. The baddies were after her chaddie and the just before the defilement happens the hero appears. He beats up the thugs are rescues the fair maiden and saves her honor. The way Dasgupta has pieced this song together is quite brilliant. The lines are hilarious, I especially like way he has sung this line “Yeh Ghinoune Iraade bane Chinta ke Mudde “ It basically a guitar driven song and Dasgupta being a guitarist has flaunted his skills on this track. There are two guitar interludes in this 2:27 minutes long song and they are very pleasing to the ear.

Chor
ABHISHEK DASGUPTA – CHOR by Abhishek_DG
This starts with a blues-like rhythm and then shifts to create a very interesting strumming pattern. In the song you hear a frustrated soul lamenting his misfortune of having to share his dwelling with his treacherous mischievous room-mates, which is something I can totally relate to (my tongue is in cheek). Dasgupta has used sliding guitar to devastating effect in this song and when you finish listening, the sound remains in your head. I also liked the way he has sung the song, it lends it a certain lazy, bored feeling.

Chandramukhi
ABHISHEK DASGUPTA – CHANDRAMUKHI by Abhishek_DG
This stoner track is a song about a heart breaker, which some of us can relate to. This song has some very cool turns of phrase and is written in the same vein as the other two songs in the EP. What I didn’t understand was the inclusion of the bhajan “Raghupati Raghav Rajaram” in the song. It’s another matter that I really loved the way Dasgupta inserted the Vishnu Digambar Paluskar hymn into a doper song.
Even though all the songs came be slotted into comedy rock genre that shouldn’t dilute any serious effort gone into this impressive EP. It is almost composed in the form of a well-written CV and I hope it will take Dasgupta to greater heights.

You can download the songs from his facebook page or from his reverbnation page.