Despite that obvious Zoobi Doobi evocation in the tune, Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire manage to whip up a very engaging mock-whodunit title song for Bobby Jasoos. While the composer fuses a multitude of sounds ranging from brass to Carnatic, Kirkire joins in with Hyderabadi urdu speak-infused Hindi lyrics. And Neeraj Sridhar has a ball of a time singing it with the ladies’ chorus. In fact three of the four songs in the soundtrack are light-hearted, possibly in keeping with the general mood of the movie. The other two songs aren’t as effective as the first one though. Sweety ends up being very monotonous, and has just Aishwarya Nigam and Monali Thakur’s energy going for it which proves insufficient. Jashn is better, but only just. The heard-before feel is prominent, but the wackiness of the arrangement (once again some South Indian elements) and the singing by Shreya Ghoshal and Bonnie Chakraborty sort of prop the song up. It is in the one remaining song that Moitra strikes gold though, along with Shreya and his other current favourite, Papon. While in the original version of Tu he gets Shreya to croon a dreamy melodic bit while Papon sings the semiclassical lead segments, the composer very nicely shows us the other side by reversing the roles in the Reprise. And in the background are some pleasant sounds – guitars, the occasional hint of sarangi, harmonium and a surprise Carnatic inclusion here too, the veena. Loved the second interlude where the Hindustani lead tune is played the Carnatic way.
Going by the trailer of Bobby Jasoos, this soundtrack seems about right. But given that Shantanu Moitra is composing after almost a year, I wish there was more.
Music Aloud Rating: 7.5/10
Top Recos: Tu, B.O.B.B
(link via @Prakshid)
