Salim Merchant sounds delightful singing the sprightly Aye Khuda, Hanif Sheikh creating a pop feel with the arrangement. The remix shows promises at the beginning with an ambient sort of start, but then progresses into a more or less routine affair. Paathshala is tailor-made for dance floors, heavy on electronic elements, and Vishal Dadlani is awesome as usual on the vocals. And the director quite sensibly avoids the redundancy of a remix for this song. Respect for that! Dunno if its just me, but Lucky Ali sounds slightly awkward in his rendition of Bekarar, especially on the higher notes. Having said that, the song is a very engaging one, Hanif again showing a pop-bias in his arrangement. If not for the high pitch and the occasional electric guitar, it might have sounded like another good ol’ Lucky Ali track. The remix is passable, not diluting the original arrangement much.
Mujhe Teri has Hanif joined by guest composer Vijay Lama to produce another pleasant melody. Only negative is Tulsi Kumar‘s vocals. I somehow find it hard to get used to her voice, the only time I enjoyed it was in Haafiz Khuda (8×10 Tasveer). And whenever I see Tulsi Kumar’s name in credits the automatic response is to check on the music label. Quite amusingly I am yet to a name other than T-Series! The addictive combo of Kailash Kher‘s vocals and the flute is the mainstay of the sufi-ish Teri Marzi. It is amazing how you don’t get fed up of Sufi songs howmuchever you hear them. That is not taking any credit off Hanif Sheikh’s orchestration. Remix of this song should have been avoided. And as expected it sounds rather unbefitting. Paathshala Theme which closes the proceedings is peculiar so to say, starting off on a slow harmonica version of Aye Khuda before abruptly changing gears to a bouncy chorus signifying school life. In any case the track lasts just over two minutes.
Hanif Sheikh can take a bow after this commendable debut. Hope he delivers equally, if not better, in his subsequent projects as well.
Music Aloud Rating: 7.5/10
Recommended Tracks: Teri Marzi, Aye Khuda, Paathshala