You can listen to the soundtrack here.
Respect for Big B and other related sentiments apart, there is nothing particularly special about the tribute song Bachchan. Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lines are well written (with nice additions of Bachchan’s own dialogues in between), Sukhwinder Singh’s rendition neat, but the tune is severely lacking in freshness. Amit Trivedi does prop it up with some fabulous use of rubab, but that alone is not enough to hold your interest beyond a few listens. Things start looking up with Akkad Bakkad – clever adaptation of a folk tune (which I can’t place) a la Dhak Dhuk with some beautiful elements in the arrangement (watch out for the violins and shehnai in particular). And a fabulous job by Mohit Chauhan. Murabba is even more brilliant – Amit using a train-based rhythm as a base to an Arabic flavored tune (ahir bhairav raag, possibly) and layering it with some delectable use of brass instruments; even that oud-like instrument sounds wonderful. Javed Bashir singing the song is the icing on the cake! The duet version of the song sung by Kavita Seth and Amit Trivedi shares only its title with the Javed Bashir version; it is at the other extreme as far the song is concerned. And not as awesome either. Yes, there are some interesting violin phrases and everything, but the arrangement is too Amit Trivedi-ish for its own good. Pretty much the same thing can be said about Bombay Talkies duet version too; a very heard before feel that cannot be shaken off despite the plethora of instruments that Amit lays before us – from guitars to kanjira to dhol. Brilliant singing from Kailash Kher and Richa Sharma though. The alternate version scores higher for its nostalgic value, as the composer sets Swanand Kirkire’s lines (which appear in the duet version as well) to a medley of old Hindi tunes and gets Udit Narayan, Shaan, Mohit Chauhan etc. to sing (could not identify the lady).
A mixed bag from Amit Trivedi highlighted by two exceptional songs. Bombay Talkies.
Music Aloud Rating: 7/10
Top picks: Murabba (solo), Akkad Bakkad, Murabba (duet)
@MNR: in bombay talkies i consider only two songs brilliant, like i mentioned in the review. but even the other songs had some high points in their arrangement. hence it deserves a 7 i felt. on the other hand in aashiqui 2 the songs had a heavy hangover. it is not that i hate the bhatts, but it is high time they changed their style of music. over the past few years the case has been that whoever the composer is, the sound remains the same. i m frankly bored of that. and i gave it 6.5, not 6. just 0.5 less than this one.
you seem to be a hardcore amith trivedi fan……..i agree he is talented…….but album like bombay talkies should be degraded expect for bachan track……still 7/10…..aashiquie had a couple of chart buster u give it damn 6/10…… kyun re………..do you really hate bhat