Songs and credits at the end.
Director Neeraj Pandey’s lyricist of choice for his last two directorial ventures – Manoj Muntashir – is retained in his role for Aiyaary’s short soundtrack. In Yaad Hai he is joined by composer Ankit Tiwari, who has had a rather quiet 2017. The long break doesn’t seem to have helped his creativity a lot unfortunately – Yaad Hai is the slow, atmospheric paean of longing that we have heard multiple times in the recent past in mildly varying forms. Not to say that it is not nice; it still has some allure to it, thanks partly to Muntashir’s lines and the vocal efforts by the very Shreya Ghoshal-esque Palak Muchhal and Tiwari himself, but it is also as easily forgotten (ironic when you consider the song’s title). The album’s remaining two songs are composed by Rochak Kohli, getting a promotion from guest composer in Pandey’s last (M S Dhoni – The Untold Story) to lead composer (incidentally he was also lead composer for the 2017 Baby spin-off movie Naam Shabana that had screenplay by Pandey). Kohli’s first track Shuru Kar is an attempt at an inspirational anthem of sorts, but ends up being a tedious listen instead. Amit Mishra and Neha Bhasin handle the singing in this one. The only really interesting aspect about the song is the fact that the songs arranger-programmer Aditya Dev plays the harpejji in the song (couldn’t discern the sound of it much though); this is the first time that I have come across the instrument being played in films by someone aside of A R Rahman. The composer however scores a winner in his other song, the romantic Lae Dooba. While this song too is not particularly fresh in its melody or the acoustic guitar-led treatment, there is enough going on here to make you like Lae Dooba despite that. Primary thing in the song’s favour is the spectacular rendition by Sunidhi Chauhan – there is something really comforting about the way she sings the title phrase!
Aiyaary. Short soundtrack with just one standout song, supplied by Rochak Kohli, Manoj Muntashir and Sunidhi Chauhan. Then again, director Neeraj Pandey’s movies aren’t really remembered for their music.
Music Aloud Rating: 2/5
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
Musician Credits
Song – Lae Dooba
Singer – Sunidhi Chauhan
Composer – Rochak Kohli
Lyrics – Manoj Muntashir
Additional Vocals by Asees Kaur
Programmed by Sourav Roy
Mixed and Mastered by Shadaab Rayeen @ New Edge – Mumbai
Guitars and Plucks by Mohit Dogra & Ankur Mukherjee
Percussion by Sanket Naik
Vocals Recorded by Manasi Tare (Supervised by Shantanu Hudlikar) @Yash Raj Studios
Guitars Recorded by Pankaj Bohra @ Neo Sound
Percussion recorded by Alok Punjani @ Studio208
Additional guitars and vocals recorded at Rochak Kohli Music Studio
Mix Assistants Abhishek Sortey and Dhananjay Khapekar
Music Assistant: Singh Dhruva
Song – Yaad Hai
Singers – Palak Muchhal & Ankit Tiwari
Composer – Ankit Tiwari
Lyricist – Manoj Muntashir
Music Arranged & Produced by DJ Phukan
Music Co-Produced by Jim Satya & Bitupan Phukan
Pianist – Zafar Iqubal Ansari
Piano Recorded by Julien at ENZY Studios
Song – Shuru Kar
Singers – Amit Mishra, Neha Bhasin, Rochak Kohli
Music – Rochak Kohli
Lyrics – Manoj Muntashir
Programmed and Arranged by Aditya Dev
Guitars Performed by Mohit Dogra, Kalyan Baruah
Harpejji Performed by Aditya Dev
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge – Mumbai
Mix Assistants – Abhishek Sortey and Dhananjay Khapekar
Vocals Recorded at Wow and Flutter Studio by Rupak Thakur
Vocals Recorded at Rochak Kohli Music Studio
