Pakistani band Soch do a wonderful job of adapting their song from Nescafe Basement, Awari, for Ek Villain; the inclusion of a female vocalist (Momina Mustehsan) and the toned down dream style arrangement work like a charm. Mohit Suri’s star from last year Mithoon has three songs here. The resale value that Mithoon’s melancholic template has is amazing I must say; but for some nice elements in the arrangement like the harmonium, everything about Banjaara reminds of some work that the composer has done in the past, and yet it works. Of course there is the fine rendition by Mohammad Irfan too. Zaroorat is more monotonous that way, and it is only Mustafa Zahid’s soulful vocals that make it engaging at least to an extent. Mithoon’s third song is sung by man who completes every soundtrack these days, Arijit Singh. A nice placid melody, Humdard, that the singer aces. The man who steals the show however, with his one song, is Ankit Tiwari. Galliyaan is splendidly arranged, combining classical and rock elements inside a lounge remix-ish format. Particularly loved the violin and flute (shades of darbari perhaps). Only thing that annoyed me is the over-processing of the composer’s vocals. The unplugged version too features some gorgeous violin, even as the heroine Shraddha Kapoor does a fairly decent singing debut beside Ankit.
Ek Villain. Another soundtrack high on the déjà vu quotient with pretty much the same people involved, but Ankit Tiwari emerges the better one this time.
Music Aloud Rating: 7.5/10
Top Recos: Galliyaan, Awari, Banjaara
Complete songs (link via @Prakshid)
