Songs and credits at the end.
One of the interesting things about Kahaani’s soundtrack was that it largely belied the dominant dark mood of the movie. It is a different matter altogether that most of the songs never made it to the movie, but director Sujoy Ghosh seems to have opted the same strategy in the sequel as well. The trailer that came out a few days back augurs a serious, edge of the seat drama whereas the soundtrack is as jovial as it could get!
Arijit Singh sings Mehram. The breezy pop format isn’t anything you aren’t particularly familiar with already, but together with the composer’s simple, hummable melody and Singh’s superlative delivery, you will find it hard not to bob your head along. And that Mehram hook is definite earworm material. Cerejo evokes the 80s funk vibes in complementing lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya’s colourful analogy of life’s moments to the luscious East Indian sweet, in Lamhon Ke Rasgulle. The synth-dominated arrangement is trippy (got reminded of Michael Jackson’s Thriller at times) and the composer gets Sunidhi Chauhan and his bandmate Bianca Gomes to do the singing – both of whom are known for their proficiency with such songs and deliver well. It is in the third and final song that the composer delivers his best of the soundtrack. Aur Main Khush Hoon, quite fittingly for its title, carries that happy indie sound that is increasingly going mainstream thanks to a lot of indie proponents of the style finding their way into films. The melody itself is handled with finesse by Ash King, the backdrop sees guitars, ukulele (both played by Clinton Cerejo), piano, accordion and that twanging bass (upright perhaps) coming together in an incredibly cheery blend.
A soundtrack that scores lower than its predecessor in number of songs and their diversity, but not so much on quality. Another classy piece of work this year from Clinton Cerejo. Waiting to see how many of the songs appear on the screen this time.
Music Aloud Rating: 3/5
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
Musician Credits
Mehram
Composer – Clinton Cerejo
Lyrics – Amitabh Bhattacharya
Singer – Arijit Singh
Music Producer – Clinton Cerejo
Guitars – Sachin Mittra & Clinton Cerejo
Recorded By – Hemant Baral & Yash Tiwari @ The Groove Room, Mumbai
Mixed By – Chinmay Harshe @ VerbGrove Studio, Mumbai
Mastered By – Sachin Mittra & Hemant Baral @ The Groove Room, Mumbai
Aur Main Khush Hoon
Composer – Clinton Cerejo
Lyrics – Amitabh Bhattacharya
Singer – Ash King
Music Producer – Clinton Cerejo
Guitars & Ukelele – Clinton Cerejo
Recorded By – Hemant Baral & Yash Tiwari @ The Groove Room, Mumbai
Mixed By – Devang Rachh @ Splice, Mumbai
Mastered By – Sachin Mittra & Hemant Baral @ The Groove Room, Mumbai
Lamhon Ke Rasgulle
Composer – Clinton Cerejo
Lyrics – Amitabh Bhattacharya
Singers – Sunidhi Chauhan & Bianca Gomes
Music Producer – Clinton Cerejo
Additional Production – Ketan Sodha
Recorded By – Hemant Baral & Yash Tiwari @ The Groove Room, Mumbai
Mixed By – Abhisehk Ghatak @ Headroom Studio
Mastered By – Sachin Mittra & Hemant Baral @ The Groove Room, Mumbai
