This review first appeared on the Mumbai Edition of The Hindu.
Songs and full credits at the end.
The biggest selling point of Happy Bhag Jayegiso far had been the return of actress Diana Penty, almost four years after her debut in Cocktail . Now, with the launch of the movie’s music album, there are also a few good songs to look forward to. What’s interesting is that the lyrics have been penned by the movie’s writer-director Mudassar Aziz. The music has been composed by Sohail Sen, a man whose last memorable soundtrack wasMere Brother Ki Dulhan , (2011). So does Sen trun a corner with Happy Bhag Jayegi ?
The first song to be released, ‘ Gabru Ready To Mingle Hai ’, is sung by Mika Singh. It is a folksy dance piece laced with electronic elements. I have developed a liking for the song despite it not being very impressive when it was launched. Neeti Mohan and Tarannum do a fine job of supporting Singh, even rapping to Dee MC’s lyrics.
‘ Happy Oye ’ is about the central character, Penty’s Happy Kaur. Aziz uses the word Jugni to describe the character’s free-spiritedness. The actor’s debut also had a Jugni song (so did Aanand L. Rai’s Tanu Weds Manu ). Sen’s opening refrain sounds like a throwback to the Cocktail song, but it turns out to be a fresh tune, and a very good one at that. Harshdeep Kaur and Shahid Mallya deliver exceptionally well (Kaur was also part of the Jugni song in Cocktail ). This too is a folk-electronic mix, but a more imaginative and enjoyable one.
‘ Aashiq Tera ’ starts off well, a familiar melody riding on Chandakant’s mandola , before breaking into afilmi qawwali mode around the titular hook. The qawwali elements add to the déjà vu , but it still makes for good listening, thanks to a wonderful rendition from Altamash Faridi.
The arrangement by Prakash Peter has some nice moments like Chandrakant’s rabab solo in the second interlude. The theatrical rock-based finish is however an overkill.
Arijit Singh sings his heart out in the doleful ‘ Zara Si Dosti ’. Unfortunately, the singing weighs down the song with its all-too-familiar melancholic tropes, done to death in the Bhatt movies in particular.
Javed Ali leads the melodic ‘ Yaaram ’ and delivers soulfully and spotlessly. Peter produces a pleasant melange highlighted by the flute (Naveen), mandolin (Chandrakant) and guitars (Abhilash). Naveen in particular is in fine form here.
There are three songs from the soundtrack that I will be going back to, which is more than what can be said about the past few soundtracks that Sen has produced. Hope the man continues on an upward graph from here on. The real highlight of the soundtrack have been the vocalists though, some fabulous singing here.
Music Aloud Rating: 3/5
Top Recos: Happy Oye, Aashiq Tera, Yaaram
Full Credits
Song: Aashiq Tera
Music Sohail Sen
Lyrics:Mudassar Aziz
Singers:Sohail Sen featuring Altamash Faridi
Music programming:Sohail Sen,Praful Karlekar
Additional programming: Abid Syed
Music Arranged by :Prakash Peter
Rhythm arranged by:Sameer Sen,Sanjeev Sen
Rabab&mandola: Chandrakant
Guitars:Abhilash
Song: Yaaram
Music Sohail Sen
Lyrics:Mudassar Aziz
Singers:Javed Ali
Music programming:Sohail Sen,Praful karlekar
Additional programming: Abid Syed
Music Arranged by :Prakash peter
Rhythm arranged by:Sameer Sen,Sanjeev Sen
Mandolin: Chandrakant
Flute:Naveen
Guitars:Abhilash
Song: Zara si dosti
Music Sohail Sen
Lyrics:Mudassar Aziz
Singers:Arijit Singh
Music programming:Sohail Sen,Vaibhav shah
Additional programming: Abid Syed
Music arranged by: Sohail sen
Guitars:Abhilash
Song: Happy Oye
Music Sohail sen
Lyrics:Mudassar Aziz
Singers: Harshdeep Kaur and Shahid Mallya
Music programming:Sohail Sen,Vaibhav Shah
Additional programming: Abid Syed
Rhythm arranged by:Sameer Sen,Sanjeev Sen
Guitars:Abhilash
Song: Gabru
Music Sohail sen
Lyrics:Mudassar Aziz
Singers:Mika Singh,Neeti Mohan, Tarannum Malik, Danish Sabri,
English rap lyrics: Dee MC
Music programming:Sohail Sen, Vaibhav Shah.
Additional programming: Abid Syed
Rhythm arranged by:Sameer Sen,Sanjeev Sen
Recorded by:@ YRF studios, Vijay Dayal, Dipesh Sharma , Chinmay Mestry
Mixed by: Vijay Dayal and Chinmay Mestry
Album mastered by: Donal whelan @ masteringworld.com
