Songs and artist credits at the end (thanks to @chiranjeev100 for song links and helping with the artist credits).
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, which was the first track from the film to come out (what seems like a lifetime ago), has a pretty ordinary tune, but it is what happens in the background that really hooks you to the song. The haunting piano refrain that opens the song, the orchestral violins that take over from there and the horns that join the violins in the interludes (especially the second interlude) are all beautifully done! The melody is also helped much by the fact that Arijit Singh sounds his soulful best behind the mic. The second song of the soundtrack has Amit Mishra rendering the male voice, and quite energetically at that. The song, Bulleya, however is one of the soundtrack’s weaker ones, bogged down by the general heard-before feel (and no, I am not referring to the Papa Roach-related allegations, admit that there is definite similarity in that opening riff but I do not think it is plagiarised) in the rock-qawwali-ish sound. It is only Shilpa Rao’s entry in the second half provides a brief respite from the familiarity. Cutiepie is the other song that doesn’t feature Arijit, headed by Pardeep Singh Sran and Nakash Aziz. Your typical Punjabi dance track this one, engaging but nothing fresh. Good singing however, and particularly neat use of the backing vocals. Another interesting thing about the song is that lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya has been credited for “basic concept of the mukhda melody”.
The achcha chalta hoon start of Channa Mereya still feels odd to my ear, but Pritam develops the song really well, seemingly building on that Shilpa Rao segment from Bulleya. Arijit Singh is in fine form yet again and the guitars (Roland and Amandeep) are the life of the orchestration, Omkar Dhumal’s shehnai being another highlight. Pritam and Amitabh Bhattacharya sort of reprise their Badtameez Dil act with The Breakup Song, albeit with an uncharacteristic subject for a party song. Pritam’s arrangement is catchy as they come, Amitabh’s playful Hinglish lyrics even more so. Jonita Gandhi and Arijit Singh deliver the song with matching exuberance, with a rap cameo by Badshah (had to be there of course). The soundtrack’s best is Alizeh (which is Anushka Sharma’s name in the movie); an incredibly chirpy melody from the composer which he wraps in a church music setting (brilliant use of the choir!). Arijit sings well here too and Shashwat Singh joins him with a rap segment towards the end, but it is Ash King who owns the vocal department, suited as his vocal style is for these kinds of songs.
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Pritam debuts well with Karan Johar, delivering him a soundtrack that is much better than that of his last directed movie way back in 2012.
Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5
Top Recos: Alizeh, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, The Breakup Song
This review first appeared in the Mumbai Edition of The Hindu.
Artist Credits
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
Singer- Arijit Singh
Sound Design- Dj Phukan, Sunny M.R.
Music Programmers- Prasad Sashte, Sunny M.R. , Dj Phukan
Mix- Sunny M.R. & Shadab Rayeen
Master- Shadab Rayeen@Newedge
Assistant – Abhishek Sortey
Recording Engineer’s- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Kaushik Das, Lee Slater
Musicians
Violin I- Rolf Wilson, Morvin Bryce, Natalie Klauda, Ian Humphries, Raja Halder, Jan Regulski
Violin II- Charles Sewart, Michelle Fleming, Debbie Widdup, Kate Robinson
Viola- Meghan Cassidy, Timothy Grant, Eoin Schmidt Martin
Cello- Ashok Klauda, Will Scholfield, Peter Gregson
Oboe/Cor Anglais- Alison Teale
Trumpet- Neil Brough
String Orchestra recording produced by Nikhil Paul George
Bulleya
Singers- Amit Mishra, Shilpa Rao
Sound Design- Dj Phukan, Sunny M.R.
Music Programmer- Sunny M.R.
Mix & Master- Shadab Rayeen@Newedge
Assistant – Abhishek Sortey
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Kaushik Das, Sujith Sreedhar
Electric, Acoustic & Bass Guitar- Roland
Guitar Riff designed by Sunny M.R.
Backing vocal design by Arjun Chandy
Backing Vocals- Arjun Chandy, Geet, Ashwin & Himanshu
Channa Mereya
Singer- Arijit Singh
Sound Design- Sunny M.R, Dj Phukan
Music Programmers- Sunny M.R., Arijit Singh
Mix & Master- Shadab Rayeen@Newedge
Assistant – Abhishek Sortey
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Kaushik Das
Vocal Conductor- Akashdeep Sengupta & Kaushik Das
Production Manager- Supriti Banerjee
Musicians
Acoustic Guitar- Roland
Electric & Bass Guitar- Roland & Amandeep
Dholak- Iqbal Azad, Sanjiv Sen
Sarangi- Ghulam Ali Khan
Shehnai- Omkar Dhumal
Backing Vocals – Keshia Braganza, Gwen Dias
Cutie Pie
Singers- Pardeep Singh Sran & Nakash Aziz
Additional Vocals- Meenal jain & Antara
Sound Design-Sunny M.R., Dj Phukan
Music Programmer- Bharat goel, Sunny M.R., Rohan Chauhan, Dj Phukan, Hyacinth D’souza
Mix & Master- Shadab Rayeen@Newedge
Assistant – Abhishek Sortey
Basic concept of the mukhda melody by Amitabh Bhattacharya
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Kaushik Das,
Akash bambar,Gurjinder singh
Vocal Conductor- Akashdeep Sengupta & Kaushik Das
Production Manager- Supriti Banerjee
Guitars & Ukelele- MOhit Dogra & Dev Arijit
Keys- Firoz Khan
Backing vocals- Neetu Bhalla, N.K Deep Kaur, Bhabita
Sunny, Himanshu, Ashwin, Kaushik & Sachin
The Breakup Song
Singers- Arijit Singh, Badshah, Jonita Gandhi & Nakash Aziz
Sound Design- Dj Phukan, Sunny M.R.
Music Programmer- Sunny M.R., Arijit Singh, Dj Phukan, Rohan Chauhan, Hyacinth D’Souza & Qaran Mehta
Mix & Master- Shadab Rayeen@Newedge
Assistant – Abhishek Sortey
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Kaushik Das
Vocal Conductor- Akashdeep Sengupta & Kaushik Das
Production Manger- Supriti Banerjee
Musicians-
Ethnic Instruments- Tapas Roy
Dholak- Iqbal Azad & Yusuf Sheikh
Alizeh
Singers: Arijit Singh, Ash King, Shashwat Singh, Nikhil Paul George
Music Programmer: Tanuj Tiku
Backing Vocals: Thomson Andrews, Natasha Pinto, Nikhita Gandhi, Suzanne D’Mello, Alan D’Souza, Garry Misquitta
Chorus Design by: Arjun Chandy
Banner – Dharma Productions and Fox Star Studios
Audio on Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd.
(C) 2016 Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd.
