Songs and full credits at the end (thanks to @karaboondi for the tip-off about this soundtrack!)
Phuntroo is being marketed as a “science fiction love story”. Going by the soundtrack’s high melodic content the emphasis seems to be on the love story aspect. And it is indeed on the melodic stuff that composers Hrishikesh Saurabh Jasraj (Hrishikesh Datar, Saurabh Bhalerao and Jasraj Joshi) score high. Jasraj Joshi finely delivers the mildly waltz-y and incredibly soothing Ti – Mi. While guitars and keys dominate the arrangement, Asif Khan’s trumpet and the claps add a nice touch to the proceedings. Ka Watate takes on a pensive sound (VTV title track) and has Rohit Raut leading the vocals. The employment of guitars (Priyabrata Satpati) is once again splendid (the sinister touch in the opening refrain almost took me back to the title track of Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya), the singing even more so. Asif Khan’s trumpet plays a prominent role in the soundtrack’s best, Kasa Jeev Guntala, one that the composers set to a delightful retro jazz-flavoured arrangement. The melody is delivered to a tee by Hrishikesh Ranade and Ketaki Mategaonkar who is also the movie’s leading lady. Ketaki (who sounds a lot like Monali Thakur I thought) also gets a solo version of the track. She is a good singer, no doubt, but the song doesn’t work as well as the duet; the song seems to derive much from the vocal interplay, the harmonies, the quirks added by Hrishikesh et al. Alakh Niranjan Tu is the only track that deviates from the melodic route, carrying a heavy, dark techno-laden sound for most part. The song works, but not as much as the rest, and largely owing to the singing by Jasraj Joshi (and the occasional recital by lyricist Vaibhav Joshi).
Haven’t heard anything from Hrishikesh-Saurabh-Jasraj before (in fact wasn’t even aware of anyone except Jasraj until today morning), but Phuntroo is entertaining music from the trio, they definitely have their melody game on point.
Music Aloud Rating: 8/10
Top Recos: Kasa Jeev Guntala (duet), Ti – Mi, Ka Watate
