Bangistan – Music Review (Bollywood Soundtrack)

bangistan poster

Songs and full artist credits at the end of the review.

After Sahib last year in Bhootnath Returns, composer Ram Sampath brings back singer Rituraj Mohanty for another similarly soulful song Maula and here too he pulls off a stellar rendition; the song largely rides on his skills. An interesting addition in the prayer-like song comes towards the very end, Prakash Sontakke’s short slide guitar solo. Ishq Karenge kind of grows on you, but the filmy qawwali sound is very heard-before. Here too it is the singing that is the highlight – Abhishek Nailwal, Sona Mohapatra and Shadab Faridi are all fab. Feroz Shah’s harmonium phrases stand out in the backdrop. The techno elements are understandably amped up in the EDM version of the song, everything else pretty much remaining the same. Among the two, I prefer the original version. I am guessing the European folksy element in Saturday Night is to go with the part of the movie set in Poland. And that folk touch raises the track from a regular party song to an addictive foot-tapping affair! Typical of songs from that part, the violin (Jitendra Thakur) and accordion (uncredited, programmed I suppose) rule the arrangement even as Benny Dayal, Aditi Singh Sharma, Neeraj Sridhar and Janusz Kruciński do a fine job behind the mic (I could only discern Benny and Aditi’s voices though).

Staying true to its title (and lyrics in general) the composer sets Is Duniya Se Ladna Hai to a very rebellious sort of sound, heavy on percussion, the general dark tone and Suraj Jagan and Abhishek Nailwal’s attitude-loaded singing. The song also has something of a jingle-like sing-along quality to it that works well in its favour. Hogi Kranti is hilarious; lyricist Puneet Krishna creating a spoof to the Hum Honge Kaamyaab kind of anthems (even has a line that goes Mann Mein Hai Vishwaas!) to extol terrorist virtues. The fact that Ram Sampath’s arrangement stays true to the inspirational anthem format – whistles, marching rhythm and some brilliant mandolin/charango by Tapas Roy – adds to the irony. Composer himself delivers the vocals in this one. Meri Zidd starts off like a slow poignant piece before the rock elements kick in and the rest of the song just blazes through, riding on Pratyush Pillai’s guitar (the drums are programmed I am guessing by the lack of credits). Being a dab hand at the genre, Siddharth Basrur handles the singing quite comfortably.

Bangistan. Another impressive soundtrack from Ram Sampath, particularly so given the comedic setting of the movie. And this is the third soundtrack that the man is delivering well for Excel Entertainment. Hope this partnership continues!

Music Aloud Rating: 8/10

Top Recos: Hogi Kranti, Saturday Night, Is Duniya Se Ladna Hai

Full credits:

ALL SONGS COMPOSED by :- Ram Sampath

ALL LYRICS by :- Puneet Krishna

ALBUM ARRANGED & PRODUCED by :- Ram Sampath

PROGRAMMING AND CHIEF MUSICAL ASSISTANT :- Vrashal Chavan

RECORDED and EDITED at OMGROWN STUDIOS by :- Yash Divecha and Nitesh Bisht

MIXED at OMGROWN STUDIOS by :- Yash Divecha

ALBUM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER :- Sona Mohapatra

LINE PRODUCER :- Avneet Gujral

ASSISTANT ENGINEERS :- Nitesh Bisht , Sai Prasad Raman , Harshad Jadhav

Song – Ishq Karenge (Qawwali Version)

Singers – Sona Mohapatra , Abhishek Nailwal , Shadab Faridi
Additional Arrangements – Vrashal Chavan , Emon Goswami
Harmonium – Feroz Shah
Tabla – Hitesh Prasad

Song – Ishq Karenge (EDM Version)

Singers – Sona Mohapatra , Abhishek Nailwal , Shadab Faridi
Arrangements – Aatur Soni
Harmonium – Feroz Shah
Tabla – Hitesh Prasad

Song –  Saturday Night

Singers – Aditi Singh Sharma , Benny Dayal , Neeraj Shridhar , Janusz Kruciński
Arrangements – Subhajit Mukherjee
Additional Arrangements – Vrashal Chavan , Yash Divecha
Violin – Jitendra Thakur

Song –  Maula

Singers – Rituraj Mohanty , Ram Sampath
Additional Arrangements – Vrashal Chavan
Guitars – Shon Pinto , Prakash Sontakke
Bass – Keshav Iyengar
Tabla – Hitesh Prasad , Shankar Kamble

Song –  Hogi Kranti

Singers – Ram Sampath , Abhishek Nailwal
Additional Arrangements – Vrashal Chavan
Charango / Mandolin – Tapas Roy
Violin – Sanchit Choudhary

Song –  Ladna Hai

Singers – Suraj Jagan , Abhishek Nailwal
Arrangements – George Joseph , Vrashal Chavan
Guitars – Pratyush Pillai

Song –  Meri Zidd

Singers – Siddharth Basrur and Ram Sampath
Additional Arrangements – Harshad Jadhav
Guitars – Pratyush Pillai

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