Judgementall Hai Kya – Music Review (Bollywood Soundtrack)

Songs and musician credits at the end.

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

Aah, how the times change. From once gaining a foothold in Bollywood via remixes, Badshah now has his songs subjected to remixes by others. The song in contention in Judgementall Hai Kya is the rapper-composer’s (and soon to be actor as well) 2015 single with Navv Inder, Wakhra Swag, and the remixer is of course the current favourite Tanish Bagchi. While the addition of Lisa Mishra and rapper Raja Kumari definitely spruces things up on the vocal front (Bagchi himself pens the lines Mishra sings, while Raja Kumari writes her rap portions), the adaptation itself, like most recent recreations, is an inferior product to the original. The pacing and the arrangement of the original (that piano sampling et al) had made it stand out from the run-of-the-mill Punjabi songs, Bagchi manages to drag it back down with his refurb. After having done a motivational song in Helicopter Eela last year, composer Daniel B George gets roped in here for another one in a similar vein. Kar Samna is however a more aggressive, louder composition, in keeping with the movie’s dominant theme. Sung by Amir Khan, Brijesh Shandilya, Protijyoti Ghosh and George, and lasting just over a minute and a half, the song fails to rise above its functional role.

Composing for her first “mainstream” film in the relative scale of things, Rachita Arora does two songs for Judgementall.. Para Para appears to be an ode to the crazy nature of the protagonist, and Arora uses that an opportunity to do a throwback to R D Burman’s composing quirks – even singer Arun Dev Yadav makes allusions to the maestro in his rendition replete with growls et al. While the arrangement provides multiple highlights as a result (really liked the use of Bhushan Suryakant Patil’s sax), the song comes off as a mishmash, however. The composer regains her form in the title song – a song where she almost seems to draw inspiration from the guest composer in her last movie, NUCLEYA. The trippy electronic piece is punctuated with melodic passages (delivered by six-year old Nivedita Padmanabhan and the composer herself) and Jaspreet Jasz’s rap. Arjuna Harjai, who was last seen in Lucknow Central two years back (his name was spelled Arjunna Harjaie then – numerology?) does the final song here, Kis Raste Hai Jana that provides a pleasant reprieve from the loud soundscape. Harjai has a charming melody going here that he sings himself, with Surabhi Dashputra – both competent singers although the latter has a bit of a Jasleen Royal vibe about her.

Judgementall Hai Kya features multiple composers I wish to hear more of and in a more prominent way, but what they produce here is not quite reflective of what they are capable of.

Music Aloud Rating: 2.5/5

Top Recos: Kis Raste Hai Jana, Judgementall Hai Kya

Musician Credits

Song: The Wakhra Song
Singers: Navv Inder, Lisa Mishra & Raja Kumari
Music – Tanishk Bagchi
Programmed and Arranged by Tanishk Bagchi
Rap – Raja Kumari
Lyrics – Tanishk Bagchi
Rap Lyrics – Raja Kumari
Mixed and Mastered: Eric Pillai at Future Sound Of Bombay
Mix Assistant Engineers – Michael Edwin Pillai
Dubbing Coordinator – Chayan Rio Ghosh
Original Music Composer: Badshah
Original Lyricist: Navi Kamboz

Song Name: Para Para
Music Composer: Rachita Arora
Lyrics: Prakhar Varunendra
Singer: Arun Dev Yadav
Music: MuzikFactory (OmDixant)
Music Programming: Dixant Shaurya
Saxophone: Bhushan Suryakant Patil
Music Assistants: Chandra Thakur & Khushwant Daido
Mixed and Mastered by R Nitish Kumar
Chorus: Arun Dev Yadav, Dixant Shaurya, Om Sharma
Recorded: Muzik Factory Studios

Song: Judgementall Hai Kya
Music: Rachita Arora
Singers: Jaspreet Jasz, Rachita Arora & Nivedita Padmanabhan
Lyricist: Prakhar Varunendra
Music Arranger: Nitish Rambhadren
Mixed and Mastered: Shadab Rayeen
Additional Arrangement: Daniel Chiramal

Song: Kis Raste Hai Jana
Music: Arjuna Harjai
Singers: Surabhi Dashputra & Arjuna Harjai
Lyricist: Kumaar
Arranger: Arjuna Harjai

Song: Kar Samna
Music: Daniel B. George
Singers: Amir Khan, Brijesh Shandilya, Protijyoti Ghosh and Daniel B. George
Lyricist: Prakhar Vihaan
Produced, programmed and arranged by Ujjwal Kashyap and Protijyoti Ghosh
Engineered by Jhutan Bhowmik, Hrishikesh Patil
Mixed and mastered by Ikramuddin Lochoor

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