If not for the lyrics (and the severely jaded dholak beats appearing in the latter half of the song, dear SEL please let go of that dholak at least now, this song would have been so much better off without that!) Eena Meena Myna Mo would have passed off for some jazz-classical fusion work from the trio (the classical portion seeming to show traces of raag Darbari by the way). Dunno how much of this would appeal to kids though. Nevertheless, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa finalist Yashita Sharma gets a good Bollywood debut. Suraj Jagan’s Suno Brother is also entertaining with its breezy rock-based orchestration. Jhunjhunmakadstrama is standard Shankar Ehsaan Loy stuff, and reminds one of many of their earlier works, in particular Dhadak Dhadak from Bunty Aur Babli. It is a decent listen nevertheless, thanks to some lovely flute portions by Varad Kathapurkar and Kailash Kher and chorus’ neat vocals.
The title song comes in two versions. First one is a fast-paced track with a mildly devotional tinge to it, presumably due to the chant-like portions dominating the song. Rendered well by Shankar Mahadevan with a pretty much undetectable Alyssa Mendonsa, the only pain in the song is the repeated occurrence of Zokkomon (ya I know it’s the movie’s title and all that, but excuse me for being unable to get used to the word in a Hindi context). The second one too is sung by Shankar, but the song isn’t as engaging as the former, the functional nature of the arrangement making it devoid of much entertainment value. And the closing track, Tum Bin Ye Dil, belongs to that soft tranquil genre which the trio has tried many times in the past and makes your heart melt every time. At times they get Sonu to sing it, at times Shankar and at times, like with this one, Shaan. And he carries out his part beautifully. The keyboard portions by Loy, like with all such past songs, form an integral part of the charm of the song.
A pretty standard offering from Shankar Ehsaan Loy which should do its job for Zokkomon. But the wait for the album of the year from the trio continues.
PS: The first three tracks of the album (Eena Meena, Suno Brother, Zokkomon version 1) have been produced by Tubby & Pareek (the same duo who had done the theme and background of 13B). Good job folks! Wonder when they will start getting mainstream composing projects.
Music Aloud Rating — 7.5/10
Recommended Tracks — Tum Bin Ye Dil, Eena Meena Myna Mo, Suno Brother