Songs and partial musician credits at the end.
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
Monali Thakur rules Tanishk Bagchi’s guest entry for Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, the breezy (and an original composition) Ho Jaa Awara. The composer does well to convey the wanderlust in the lines, accentuating the highland-ish feel in the sprawling arrangement with the occasional exotic chants et al. Thakur receives good support from her male counterpart here, Ash King. The rest of the soundtrack goes to Sachet Tandon and Parampara Thakur aka Sachet Parampara. And the duo’s title song for the movie indicate that their newfound obsession for that template melancholic song is here to stay – while there is no rock aspect here unlike Bekhayali (Kabir Singh) and Khwabfaroshi (Jabariya Jodi), the overall sound is quite similar. Barring some fine usage of the violin, nothing much that stands out here. While Arijit Singh and Parampara’s singing is good, songs like these help little to shed the former of his sad song specialist image. An alternate version has Sachet Tandon replacing Singh as male vocalist, and I think I would prefer the first version if I were required to revisit this song. There is a third version of the song as well, titled Celebration – that title is a bit of an overstatement in my opinion; with the core melody and a melancholic violin refrain retained, there is only so much “celebratory” you can sound, even with amped up beats et al. To be fair to the composers, it does sound better than the original, more Punjabi dance-aligned, matching its Hindi-Punjabi lyrics (written by Siddharth Garima who write all of the songs). The makers also sneak in a fourth version of the song under a different title, Sun Le Rabb, a slow solo act from Sachet Tandon. At under two and a half minutes, it provides no additional value over the other three versions, and its most interesting portion is the short qawwali twist it takes close to its end.
It is when they get out of melancholic mode that the composers produce the soundtrack’s more enjoyable songs. Movie’s leading man Karan Deol does a brief cameo in Aadha Bhi Zyaada that more notably features a promising debutant (I think) Hansraj Raghuwanshi. The reggae base works really well with the carefree tone of the song. The duo really shifts gears with Ishq Chaliya, a highly groovy dance track that sees some splendid use of horns (some of it oddly sounds like it has been generated by mouth rather than using a real trumpet), and great singing from the composers. Parampara Thakur is in equally good form leading the tranquil, immersive invocation piece Maa Ka Mann. Given the minimal arrangement, a lot rides on the melody here and the composers have a good one in place. The soundtrack’s best track is also a duet between Sachet and Parampara. Dil Uda Patanga is a breezy romantic piece that almost seems to fly like the patanga in its title for most part, grounded only during the folksy detour it takes in the second half.
While their last two outings were average, with Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas composers Sachet Parampara prove that they still have quality music to offer. Also, special thanks to the makers for not subjecting us to another remix of the legendary song after which the movie has been named (a song starring the Deol’s grandpa, not so incidentally).
Music Aloud Rating: 3/5
Top Recos: Dil Uda Patanga, Maa Ka Mann, Ishq Chaliya
Musician Credits
Song: Aadha Bhi Zyaada
Singer: Hansraj Raghuwanshi
Rap: Karan Deol
Song Composer: Sachet – Parampara
Song Producer: Rishi Rich
Lyrics: Siddharth – Garima
Mixed & Mastered: Eric Pillai (Future Sound of Bombay)
Asst Mix Engineer: Michael Edwin Pillai
Song: Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas – Title Song
Singers: Arijit Singh & Parampara Thakur
Song Composer: Sachet – Parampara
Song Producer: Rishi Rich
Lyrics: Siddharth – Garima
Mixed & Mastered: Eric Pillai (Future Sound of Bombay)
Asst Mix Engineer: Michael Edwin Pillai
Song: Ho Jaa Awara
Singers: Ash King & Monali Thakur
Song Composer: Tanishk Bagchi
Song Producer: Tanishk Bagchi
Lyrics: Siddharth – Garima
Mixed & Mastered: Eric Pillai (Future Sound of Bombay)
Asst Mix Engineer: Michael Edwin Pillai
Song: Ishaq Chaliya
Singers: Sachet Tandon & Parampara Thakur
Song Composer: Sachet – Parampara
Song Producer: Rishi Rich
Lyrics: Siddharth – Garima
Mixed & Mastered: Eric Pillai (Future Sound of Bombay)
Asst Mix Engineer: Michael Edwin Pillai
Song: Dil Uda Patanga
Singers: Sachet Tandon & Parampara Thakur
Song Composer: Sachet – Parampara
Song Producer: Rishi Rich
Lyrics: Siddharth – Garima
Mixed & Mastered: Eric Pillai (Future Sound of Bombay)
Asst Mix Engineer: Michael Edwin Pillai
Song: Maa Ka Mann
Singers: Parampara Thakur & Sachet Tandon
Song Composer: Sachet – Parampara
Song Producer: Rishi Rich
Lyrics: Siddharth – Garima
Mixed & Mastered: Eric Pillai (Future Sound of Bombay)
Asst Mix Engineer: Michael Edwin Pillai
Song: Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas – Celebration
Singers: Sachet Tandon & Parampara Thakur
Song Composer: Sachet – Parampara
Song Producer: Rishi Rich
Lyrics: Siddharth – Garima
Mixed & Mastered: Eric Pillai (Future Sound of Bombay)
Asst Mix Engineer: Michael Edwin Pillai
Song: Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas – Version 2
Singers: Sachet Tandon & Parampara Thakur
Song Composer: Sachet – Parampara
Song Producer: Rishi Rich
Lyrics: Siddharth – Garima
Mixed & Mastered: Eric Pillai (Future Sound of Bombay)
Asst Mix Engineer: Michael Edwin Pillai
Song: Suun le Rabb
Singers: Sachet Tandon
Song Composer: Sachet – Parampara
Song Producer: Rishi Rich
Lyrics: Siddharth – Garima
Mixed & Mastered: Eric Pillai (Future Sound of Bombay)
Asst Mix Engineer: Michael Edwin Pillai
