Songs and musician credits at the end.
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
Given that Kabir Singh has been directed by Sandeep Vanga who did Arjun Reddy, I am not sure if he has recreated every song situation from Telugu here (the total number of songs is definitely same), but at least with two songs whose videos are out, I was able to find an equivalent from the original soundtrack. First of those is Sachet Parampara’s Bekhayali, stand-in for the “breakup song” Telisiney Na Nuvvey. In their arrangement, the duo appear to follow composer Radhan’s rock-flavoured sound at least to some extent (they even recreate the processed sarangi riff in the first interlude, albeit with a new tune) and fare decently in comparison, highlighted by Kalyan Baruah’s pyrotechnics on the electric guitar. It is the song’s melody however that is a total letdown, that now generic and done to death melancholic template that belies the imaginativeness the composers have shown in their short career so far. If I were to pick a favourite among the two versions of the song (which differ only in terms of singer), I would prefer Arijit Singh’s over the main version sung by Sachet Tandon. Sachet and Parampara do slightly better in their second song, the pleasantly romantic Mere Sohneya written by Irshad Kamil – surprisingly the only song with Punjabi lyrics in the album. The composer duo themselves deliver this duet commendably, even as Shahibe Aalam shines in the backdrop with his shehnai. Vishal Mishra is the other composer to get two songs in the album, and his first, Kaise Hua that he sings himself, replaces Emitemito from the original, and again appears to channel the Telugu song’s arrangement style in part. Yet again in comparison this comes off as inferior, the lack of freshness once again taking away from the song’s appeal. Good singing by Mishra though. The prelude of the composer’s second, Pehla Pyaar, takes me back to the opening of Tumse Hi Din Hota Hai from Jab We Met. And this one Vishal Mishra gets right – there is a fine, soaring melody in place to go with Kamil’s fab lines, that Armaan Malik renders to a tee.
Given its waltz-y base and the fact that it is a female solo, I am inclined to think that Amaal Mallik’s Yeh Aaina is the analogue for my favourite from Arjun Reddy, Mari Mari. As it happens, here too this is my top song from the album. Mallik’s sweeping arrangement builds very well on the innate charm of the waltz format and with Shreya Ghoshal in lovely form singing the immensely likeable melody, this one is a total winner. Mithoon writes and composes the two versions of Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage, sung respectively by Arijit Singh and Jubin Nautiyal. And with Mithoon it is yet again the same problem that has marred his songs for a while now – there is nothing new in offer here, just another melodic template that has been milked dry long back. There is some variation between the two versions – in terms of melody, arrangement and lyrics, but by and large, both variants come across as humdrum. Finally, there is the song by Akhil Sachdeva, Tera Ban Jaunga, the weakest of the soundtrack. Because not only is the song itself weak, it is also “complemented” by sub-standard rendition. I have never been a fan of Sachdeva’s singing, but here he comes across as the better singer since he is accompanied by Tulsi Kumar.
Kabir Singh. Barring a couple of tracks, unremarkable multi-composer fare. Sad that director Sandeep Vanga had to settle for this in Bollywood, after having extracted a brilliantly diverse soundtrack out of Radhan for Arjun Reddy. Oh well, at least he did not have to include a remix.
Music Aloud Rating: 2.5/5
Top Recos: Yeh Aaina, Pehla Pyaar, Mere Sohneya
Musician Credits
1. Song: Bekhayali
Singer – Sachet Tandon
Music Director – Sachet-Parampara
Lyrics – Irshad Kamil
Music Produced By – Kalyan Baruah and Sachet – Parampara
Additional Music Production – Ramee
Acoustic Guitars – Rhythm Shaw
Electric Guitars – Kalyan Baruah
Acoustic Guitars recorded at Sound Forest Studios
Mixed and Mastered by Aftab Khan at HeadRoom Studios
Mix Assistant – Vatsal Chevli
2. Song :- Kaise Hua
Singer :– Vishal Mishra
Music :- Vishal Mishra
Lyrics :- Manoj Muntashir
Music Arrangement :- Vishal Mishra
Music Production :– Vishal Mishra , Gaurav Vaswani, Shubham Srivastava
Rhythm Design By – Vishal Mishra & Kamal Kishore
Music Assistant :- Shubhansh Tiwari & Kumar Gaurav Singh
Studio Assistant :- Shubham Srivastava
Acoustic & Electric Guitars :– Shubham Srivastava
Drums :– Darshan Doshi
Strings Arranged & Produced By – Gaurav Vaswani
Vocal Production & Design :- Vishal Mishra
Mixing & Mastering by :– Shadab Rayeen @New Edge
Assistant Engineer :- Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
All Instruments & Vocals Recorded at – VM Studios by Shubhansh Tiwari Drums Recorded at :- The Click Studio
3. Song: Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage ( Mithoon feat. Arijit Singh)
Singer: Arijit Singh
Song Composed and Arranged: Mithoon
Lyrics: Mithoon
Music Production: Godswill Mergulhao
Drums Programmed: Bobby Shrivastava
Music Assistants: Anugrah, Godswill Mergulhao & Kaushal Gohil
Song recorded at LIVINGWATERMUSIC
Song Mixed & Mastered: Eric Pillai at Future Sound Of Bombay.
Mixing Asst: Michael Edwin Pillai.
4. Song : Mere Sohneya
Singers: Sachet Tandon & Parampara Thakur
Music : Sachet-Parampara
Lyrics : Irshad Kamil
Music Produced By : Sachet – Parampara and Kalyan Baruah
Acoustic Guitars: Rhythm Shaw
Shehnai : Shahibe Aalam
Mixed and Mastered by Aftab Khan at Head Room Studios
Mix assistant : Vatsal Chevli
5. Song – Tera Ban Jaunga
Singers – Akhil Sachdeva, Tulsi Kumar
Music – Akhil Sachdeva
Lyrics – Kumaar
Music Produced, Mixed & Mastered – Aditya Dev
Live Guitars – Krishna Pradhan
Guitars Recorded at Taaleem Studio by Pankaj Kaushik
Vocals Recorded at Aditya Dev’s Studio
6. Song: Yeh Aaina Amaal Mallik Feat. Shreya Ghoshal.
Singer: Shreya Ghoshal
Music : Amaal Mallik
Lyrics : Irshad Kamil
Music Team :
Music Producers : Sourav Roy & Amaal Mallik.
Song Mixed & Mastered By : Eric Pillai at Future Sound Of Bombay.
Mix Assistant : Michael Edwin Pillai.
Song Recorded by : Rahul Sharma (AMV Studios) & Pankaj Bohra (Neo Sound)
7. Song – Pehla Pyaar
Singer:- Armaan Malik
Music :- Vishal Mishra
Lyrics :- Irshad Kamil
Music Produced by :- Vishal Mishra , Shubhansh Tiwari
Additonal Production:- Shubham Srivastava
Music Arranged by :- Vishal Mishra , Shubhansh Tiwari
Music Assistant :- Shubhansh Tiwari & Kumar Gaurav Singh
Studio Assistant :- Shubham Srivastava , Kamal Kishore
Music Recorded at :- VM Studios by Shubhansh Tiwari
Vocals & Guitar Recorded at :- VM Studios by Shubhansh Tiwari
Mixed & Mastered :- Shadab Rayeen @New Edge Studios
Assistant Engg. :- Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Acoustic Guitar by :- Warren Mendonsa , Shubham Srivastav
Bass- Vishal Mishra
Vocal Production & Design – Vishal Mishra
8. Song – Bekhayali (Arijit Singh Version)
Singer – Arijit Singh
Music Director – Sachet-Parampara
Lyrics – Irshad Kamil
Music Produced By – Kalyan Baruah and Sachet – Parampara
Additional Music Production – Ramee
Acoustic Guitars – Rhythm Shaw
Electric Guitars – Kalyan Baruah
Acoustic Guitars recorded at Sound Forest Studios
Mixed and Mastered by Aftab Khan at Head Room Studios
Mix Assistant – Vatsal Chevli
9. Song : Tujhe Kitna Chahein Aur (Film Version)
Mithoon Featuring Jubin Nautiyal
Song Composed & Arranged By Mithoon
Lyrics By Mithoon
Music Production By Godswill Mergulhao & Bobby Shrivastava
