Arjun Patiala – Music Review (Bollywood Soundtrack)

Songs and musician credits at the end.

This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.

With its rhythm and Kishore Sodha’s trumpets dominating the backdrop, one is quite likely to get reminded of Badtameez Dil while listening to Main Deewana Tera, the only song in the album with a Hindi hook. An entertaining and very earworm-y song, that said, delivered well by Guru Randhawa and Nikhita Gandhi, the former also having supplied the lyrics and co-composed the song with Sachin-Jigar (the two were doing quite fine by themselves, why do they feel the need for a third composer in the equation now?) The threesome also shares credits for Dil Todeya, one of the slower melodic tracks of the album. Not that it is that great a composition, but it would definitely have sounded more appealing had the movie’s main man Diljit Dosanjh not been singing it. The most interesting thing about the song was the use of a kamancha, the Persian bowed instrument. It has been played by Armenian musician Rasa-lila Buniatyan, who apparently lives in Mumbai, so I expect her to feature more often in film songs going forward.

Sachin-Jigar go, well, solo for two other songs, and Sachiya Mohabbatan is one of the better songs from the album. Sung by Sachet Tandon (of another composer duo, Sachet Parampara), the breezy melody sounds heard-before, but is quite hummable and hence sticks. Crazy Habibi vs Decent Munda, marketed as the “mandatory item number”, is pretty much just that – a regular item number that has template Arabic elements (Benny Dayal in charge of Arabic lyrics and vocals) infused amidst the template dance elements. Though Randhawa does not co-compose this one, he does write it and lead the singing. And though not advertised so, the album also has a “mandatory daaru song” – this one comes from a guest composer. Sip Sip is a single that Akash D and Guru Bhullar released late last year on T Series’ Punjabi channel, the song is reused as-is in Arjun Patiala. Once again, standard middling Punjabi dance fare that has nothing memorable about it.

I get from the trailer that the movie does not take itself seriously (I am actually hoping for a genuine laugh riot) – just wish they had taken the music a bit more seriously. Unremarkable stuff from Sachin Jigar which is particularly disappointing when you look at how much their composing frequency has come down.

Music Aloud Rating: 2/5

Top Recos: Sachiya Mohabbatan, Main Deewana Tera

Musician Credits

1. Song – Main Deewana Tera
Singer – Guru Randhawa, Nikhita Gandhi
Music – Sachin – Jigar & Guru Randhawa
Lyrics – Guru Randhawa
Music Label: T-Series
Programming & Arrangements – Sachin – Jigar
Additional Programming – Hrishikesh Gangan
Music Production Head – Romil Ved
Live Instruments:-
Trumpet – Kishore Sodha
Mix & Mastering – Eric Pillai at Future Sound Of Bombay.
Assistant Mix Engineer – Michael Edwin Pillai

2. Song: Crazy Habibi vs Decent Munda
Singer – Guru Randhawa
Music – Sachin – Jigar
Lyrics – Guru Randhawa
Arabic Vocals & Lyrics – Benny Dayal
Programming & Arrangements – Sachin – Jigar
Additional Programming – Hrishikesh Gangan
Music Production Head – Romil Ved
Mix & Mastering – Eric Pillai
Assistant Mix Engineer – Michael Edwin Pillai

3. Song – Dil Todeya
Singer – Diljit Dosanjh
Music Composer – Sachin – Jigar & Guru Randhawa
Lyrics – Guru Randhawa
Programming & Arrangements – Sachin – Jigar
Additional Programming – Hrishikesh Gangan
Music Production Head – Romil Ved
Live Instruments –
Qamancha – Rasa-lila
Mix & Mastering – Eric Pillai at Future Sound Of Bombay.
Assistant Mix Engineer – Michael Edwin Pillai

4. Song – Sachiya Mohabbatan
Singer – Sachet Tandon
Music – Sachin-Jigar
Lyrics – Priya Saraiya
Programming & Arrangements – Sachin – Jigar
Additional Programming – Hrishikesh Gangan
Music Production Head – Romil Ved
Live Instruments:-
Western flute – Shirish Malhotra
Guitars – Kalyan Baruah
Mix & Mastering – Eric Pillai
Assistant Mix Engineer – Michael Edwin Pillai

5. Song – Sip Sip
Singer – Guru Bhullar Ft. Akash D
Music – Akash D
Lyrics – Akash D
Arranger/Programmer – Aditya Dev

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