Agneepath – Music Review (Bollywood Movie Soundtrack)

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 Ka 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: 9/10
Top Recos: Hard to handpick. I loved all of them!

Vipin says:

@bhowmik: good you pointed out. i am surprised I rated it 8.5 then. have corrected it to 9, at least in hindsight it totally deserves a 9. 🙂 and you can get vishwatma on musicindiaonline. just search for it. and the viruddh song is on youtube.

Bhowmik says:

After reading the fabulous review, I was disappointed seeing the ratings. It surely deserved more than 8.5. Nothing to take away from the review though. Wanted to know, where can I get the other devotional songs, that you’ve mentioned in the review.

Jitesh Jadhav says:

Awwwesome