Issaq – Music Review (Bollywood Soundtrack)

Issaq_2013 posterYou can listen to the soundtrack here.

The title song composed by Sachin Jigar follows the very regular (yet likable, I must add) saccharine sweet melodic format; Mohit Chauhan doing the vocals only adds to that familiarity. Excellent work on the flute by Paras Nath though (the man who did that lovely flute bit in the movie Oh My God, and was also seen in the Hitesh Sonik episode of Coke Studio). Smita Jain adds wonderfully to Mohit’s vocals in the slightly pepped up duet version, though that does very little to mitigate the déjà vu. Where the composers really strike gold is in their second, Jheeni Re Jheeni. Riding on Rashid Khan and Pratibha Bhagel (debutant?)’s fabulous rendition of Neelesh Mishra’s words that Sachin & Jigar complement with a sedate arrangement (highlighted by that beautiful sarangi), this one is a keeper. Krsna has already proven his way with folk songs; Enne Unne merely reinstates the fact. An engaging arrangement and an interesting mix of singers – Papon, Mamta Sharma, Keerti Sagathia, Tarun Sagar – all of whom do their part well. The composer also reunites with his lyrical partner from debut, Rajshekhar penning the wacky lyrics for this one.

Malini Awasthi absolutely nails the singing part of Bhagan Ke Rekhan Ki even as Krsna provides a simple yet very endearing orchestration; the shehnai I particularly loved. Pitching in with effective cameos in the second half are Raghubir Yadav and the chorus. Rest of the soundtrack comes from composer No. 3 Sachin Gupta. And his first song Bhole Chale features some trippy and well done guitar-led arrangement. Singer Rahul Ram renders it with the energy he is known for – only he is surprisingly and very noticeably off scale – and that stops it from being the song of the soundtrack.  The composer is in more familiar territory with the rock-flavored Aag Ka Dariya but it is Ankit Tewari’s power behind the mic that makes this work. The unplugged version is a better work in fact, courtesy a sedate flute + piano combo backing Sachin’s own soulful rendition.

Issaq. Yet another multi-composer venture that yields entertaining results.

Music Aloud Rating: 7.5/10

Top Recos: Jheeni Re Jheeni, Bhagan Ke Rekhan Ki, Aag Ka Dariya (Unplugged)

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