You can listen to the soundtrack here.
With its orchestration touching cacophonous levels, crude voice of the singers (six of them – Kirti Sagathia, Arun Ingle, Vishal, Mandar Apte, Chintamani Sohoni, Dibakar Bannerjee, R N Iyer) Bharat Mata Ki Jai is as street song-y as it gets, and with the director’s cameo at the sarcastic lyrics, works out to be quite an engaging piece. In fact the composers Vishal Shekhar improve the feel even further in the remix by throwing in some whistles as well. The folk+English lyrics by Anvita Dutt and the arrangement invoke memories of Gulaal in more places than one, except this one is more on the wacky side. Richa Sharma sings after a break, well-supported by the composers who form the chorus. Sad that we don’t hear this lady more often. A third song that follows a similarly buoyant template is Morcha, a percussion-led brass-like template being used for an anthemic sound. Another talented singer ending his long break with this song is Raja Hasan.
After that beauty called Bhare Naina in Ra One, Vishal Shekhar team up again with Nandini Srikar for Duaa, a song that once again makes brilliant utilization of the singer’s classical prowess. The best part of the song happens in the last 1 minute and 15 seconds, the singer building up gradually to a blissful alaap-based finish. Not be understating Arijit Singh and Shekhar Ravjiani’s lovely support role of course. In any case, Shekhar gets another fab number to his own, Khudaaya. And he makes the most of it, delivering quite nicely Neelesh Mishra’s words. The lounge-ish remix actually suits the base tune, and hence works to an extent. There is no contribution from the composers in the closing track, Srivatsa Krishna’s chanting of Vishnu Sahasranama.
After that brilliant start to 2012, Vishal Shekhar continue their good form, spinning off another winner for Shanghai. Quite different from the past Dibakar Bannerjee soundtracks, but engaging nevertheless.
Music Aloud Rating: 8/10
Top Recos: Duaa, Khudaaya, Bharat Mata Ki Jai
