Songs and musician credits at the end.
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
After ending the last decade with a period film about a Maratha warrior, composers Ajay Atul start their ‘20s innings with another song in a very similar setting (just one song this time though, the rest of Tanhaji’s soundtrack has been done by others). The duo themselves do not appear to have shed the memories of that last project, as Maay Bhavani carries a bit of a hangover from Mere Mann Mein Shiva. Despite the derivative aspect though, this ends up a slightly better affair, buoyed by the mellower melodic passages and the delivery led by Sukhwinder Singh and Shreya Ghoshal. With its heavier folk bent, the album’s other devotional song is a more entertaining listen however, Mehul Vyas’s Shankara Re Shankara sung by Vyas and Adarsh Shinde (the latter I assume delivers the brief Marathi portion). And thanks to the choice of instruments in the backdrop, this is the only song in the soundtrack that, at seems to belong closest to the time the movie is set in (the lyrics, it must be added, do help dilute that effect a fair bit).
The composing duo who had a fairly busy 2019 – Sachet Tandon and Parampara Thakur – get the other half of the soundtrack. And after the token devotional song entries, Sachet-Parampara’s first offering is the token battle anthem. While this song too follows a pretty formulaic approach, the core refrain – delivered in multiple forms throughout the piece – lends it a rousing, haunting quality, particularly the way the chorus sings it. That tune though, seems to be reminiscent of some older melody (mind goes back to the theme tune of the 2017 Tamil film Vikram Vedha). The composers’ other song is a romantic melody titled Tinak Tinak – a pleasant piece that is very well arranged (the plucked strings and shehnai in particular are well employed throughout the song), and Harshdeep Kaur in top form behind the mic. The problem I have is again the song not quite sounding like it belongs to the period, or even the region in this case – in fact the song sounds so contemporary filmi most of the time, the lyrics could well be the standard Punjabi-Hindi mix and it would fit right in. A special mention to Pritesh Mehta who did the music production here – possibly one of the last projects he did before his untimely and unfortunate death last year.
Tanhaji. Enjoyable, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Music Aloud Rating: 2.5/5
Top Recos: Shankara Re Shankara, Tinak Tinak, Ghamand Kar
Musician Credits
1. Song: Shankara Re Shankara
Singer – Mehul Vyas, Adarsh Shinde
Music – Mehul Vyas
Lyrics – Anil Verma
Produced By – Pritesh Mehta
Additional Music Producer – Mehul Vyas
Chorus – Umesh Joshi, Vijay Dhuri, Sagar Lele, Swapnil Godbole, Vivek Naik, Rahul Chitnis,
Yash Kulkarni, Gaurav Dandekar, Dattamestri, Karan Kagale.
Bass – Jerson Anthony
Shennai – Madhukar Dhumal, Raju Dhumal, Omkardhumal
Strokes On Mandolin N Saz – Tapas Roy
Live Rhythms & Percussions Arranged & Conducted By Dipesh Varma
Percussions Performed By Dipesh Varma, Satyajitjamsandekar, Rahul Rupawate & Omkar Salunkhe
Recorded At – Yash Raj Films Studios
Mixed & Mastering At – Yash Raj Films Studios
Mixed By – Vijay Dayal
Additional Mix By – Chinmay Mestri
Mastered By Alen Kirkman
Choreographer -Ganesh Acharya
2. Song: Maay Bhavani
Singers: Sukhwinder Singh, Shreya Ghosal
Music Composer Ajay – Atul
Lyrics – Swanand Kirkire
Add. Vocals Umesh Joshi, Swapnil Godbole, Yash Kulkarni, Devendra Chitnis
Recorded By Vijay Dayal
Assisted By: Chinmay Mestry @ Yrf Studios.
Mixed By: Pramod Chandorkar @ Soundideaz Studio
Music Composed, Arranged & Produced: Ajay – Atul
Music & Rhythm Conducted By: Ajay – Atul
Choreographer: Bosco – Ceaser
Additional Programming –
Mastered By: Donal Whelan At Hafod Mastering (Wales)
Indian Percussion: Dipesh Verma, Keyur Barve, Raju Kulkarni.
3. Song: Ghamand Kar
Singers: Sachet Tandon & Parampara Thakur
Music: Sachet-Parampara
Lyrics: Anil Verma
Music Arranged And Produced By : Sachet-Parampara And Harshavardhan Rameshwar
Ad-Lib Vocals: Harshavardhan Rameshwar
Marathi Vocals: Ganesh Chandanshive
Mix And Mastered By Aftab Khan At Headroom Studios
Assisted By Vatsal Chevli
Choreographer – Ganesh Acharya.
4. Song: Tinak Tinak
Singer: Harshdeep Kaur
Music: Sachet-Parampara
Lyrics: Anil Verma
Additional Vocals: Sachet Tandon
Music Produced By: Late. Pritesh Mehta
Mix And Mastered By Aftab Khan At Headroom Studios
Assisted By Vatsal Chevli