Songs and musician credits at the end.
One of the initial thoughts on seeing the promos of Dil Bechara (and courtesy of twitter I know that I was not alone in thinking so) was the potential for A R Rahman’s soundtrack to carry a flavour of the music he did for Imtiaz Ali. And there are indeed moments in Dil Bechara where the mind wanders back to some such compositions. Take, for instance, the mandolin+banjo hook (Tapas Roy) and the general flippancy of Maskhari that is quite likely to take you back to a song that had a similar-ish title – Matargashti. Not that either of it makes the song any less of a fun ride, aided by the buoyant arrangement (using kanjira for percussion is a surprisingly nice touch) and Amitabh Bhattacharya doing some maskhari of his own with the lines (peeda haari balm maskhari!). Surprised to note that this is the only second soundtrack that Bhattacharya has done with ARR (discounting the one song in the 2.0 Hindi dub) – first being Lekar Hum Deewana Dil (which interestingly also had an Imtiaz connection, having been directed by his brother). It is good to hear Sunidhi Chauhan sing for ARR after a long time, and on top of her game too, alongside the talented Hriday Gattani. Sunidhi isn’t the only singer to reunite with the composer after a hiatus – Taare Ginn, one of the album’s top tracks, sees Mohit Chauhan behind the mic with the ever-reliable Shreya Ghoshal – both in incredible form here. Rahman’s renewed love affair with harmonies is in full display in Dil Bechara’s soundtrack, and this song presents one of the best instances of it, as the leisurely waltz of Taare Ginn and the double timed Jabse Hua verse are interwoven to splendid effect. Add to that a backdrop that features a combo of lush violins (Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra) and the composer’s own piano riffs, and a characteristic scale change post the half way point – you will have a hard time moving past this one! And the icing on the cake is the minute-long outro that has Suresh Lalwani taking centrestage with his violin. It is the piece that Lalwani plays here which forms the basis for the poignant instrumental theme piece The Horizon of Saudade, a piece that succeeds in accentuating the yearning in the melody.
When A R Rahman sings L mein joda O V E in the title song, my mind goes back 24 years to a childhood favourite from Kaadhal Desam/Duniya Dilwalon Ki – Hello Doctor. And like Hello Doctor, this song too conveys similar sentiments of the lovelorn in a light-hearted manner – Amitabh once again on point with his quirky Hinglish lyrics. Though I have not been a big fan of the composer’s singing in recent times, here his languid rendition is a great fit for the track. Loved the amped up guitars (bass in particular) in the “party” version of track titled Friendzone, but prefer the original version otherwise. Composer presents a new age Mayya Mayya in the album’s other dance track, Afreeda; an Arabic flavoured fusion piece delivered by a foreign singer. The singer in this case is Palestinian songstress Sana Moussa who has previously sung for Rahman in Muhammad: The Messenger of God. And the fusion happens with hip-hop, the rap portion written and delivered by Raja Kumari. Not among my top favourites of the album, but quite a catchy piece all the same. Jonita Gandhi and Hriday Gattani play off each other with some gorgeously constructed harmonies in the placid Main Tumhara. The minimal yet expansive soundscape highlights the singers beautifully; Navin Iyer’s flute solo in the interlude being the only other significant element in the backdrop. As usual, I have saved the best for last – Mera Naam Kizie and Khulke Jeena Ka are currently my absolute favourites from the album, despite stiff competition from the rest – two absolutely infectious compositions carrying a very European sound about them. Mera Naam Kizie, that makes a reference to the movie’s lead characters (after whom the movie was originally meant to be titled as well), has a delightful old-world jazz-y charm to it; I assume this one plays during the Paris trip that is referenced in the trailer – you can sense a bit of Matargashti here too. Poorvi Koutish and Aditya Narayan (another voice one is hearing after a long time, and not just for ARR) are both terrific in their delivery, and the woodwinds (clarinet/oboe? – pity there are no credits provided for this) which are as much of a prominent presence in the song as the singers, are given the final minute to close the song off in spectacular fashion. In Khulke Jeene Ka Rahman’s harmonies are in play right from the word go, as Arijit Singh and Shashaa Tirupati’s voices are overlaid for pretty much the entirety of the song, singing the same lines in different registers – I love how they keep alternating between the lower and higher registers. Amitabh’s words seem to encapsulate the “carpe diem” message of the movie quite effectively here. And then there is that scale shift soon after the three-minute mark, with a walking bass line to boot – brilliant end to a brilliant song.
The year may not have too many movie releases in Bollywood, but music-wise 2020 already seems to have trumped 2019. After 99 Songs just four months back, A R Rahman delivers another whopper in Dil Bechara! And once again, the entire soundtrack gets released in one shot – and it is albums like these that make me realise how much I missed this experience!
Music Aloud Rating: 4/5
Top Recos: Too many to list!
Musician Credits
Dil Bechara
Song Composed Produced and Arranged by: A R Rahman
Singer: A R Rahman
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Music Supervisors:
Hriday Gattani
Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Additional Vocals : Poorvi Koutish, Hriday Gattani
Guitars : Keba Jeremiah
Strings : Sunshine Orchestra, conducted by V J Srinivasa Murthy
Additional Arrangements and Programming
T R Krishna Chetan
Jerry Vincent
Santosh Dayanidhi
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Suryansh
Mixed by
Pradvay Sivashankar
P A Deepak
Mastered by
Suresh Permal
Mastered for iTunes: Riyasdeen Riyan
Taare Ginn
Song Composed Produced and Arranged by: A R Rahman
Singers: Mohit Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Music Supervisors
Hriday Gattani
Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Solo Violin : Suresh Lalwani
Charango : Achyuth Jaigopal
Flute : Rasika Shekhar
Strings : Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra
Additional Vocals : Hiral Viradia
Additional Arrangements and Programming
Jim Satya
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Parag Chhabra, Suryansh
Mixed by
Pradvay Sivashankar
P A Deepak
Mastered by
Suresh Permal
Mastered for iTunes: Riyasdeen Riyan
Khulke Jeene Ka
Song Composed Produced and Arranged by: A R Rahman
Singers: Arijit Singh, Shashaa Tirupati
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Music Supervisors
Hriday Gattani
Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Additional Vocals : Hriday Gattani
Guitars & Ukelele : Keba Jeremiah
Flute : Kamalakar
Additional Arrangements and Programming
T R Krishna Chetan
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Nakul Abhayankar
Mixed by
Pradvay Sivashankar
Mastered by
Suresh Permal
Mastered for iTunes: Riyasdeen Riyan
Main Tumhara
Song Composed Produced and Arranged by: A R Rahman
Singers: Jonita Gandhi, Hriday Gattani
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Music Supervisors
Hriday Gattani
Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Flute : Navin Iyer
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Parag Chhabra
Mixed by
Pradvay Sivashankar
Mastered by
Suresh Permal
Mastered for iTunes: Riyasdeen Riyan
Maskhari
Song Composed Produced and Arranged by: A R Rahman
Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan, Hriday Gattani
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Music Supervisors
Hriday Gattani
Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Additional Vocals : Arjun Chandy, Hiral Viradia
Mandolin, Saz, Banjo : Tapas Roy
Acoustic Guitars : Keba Jeremiah
Electric Guitars : Hriday Gattani
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Suryansh
Mixed by
Pradvay Sivashankar
Mastered by
Suresh Permal
Mastered for iTunes: Riyasdeen Riyan
Afreeda
Song Composed Produced and Arranged by: A R Rahman
Singers: Sanaa Moussa, Rajakumari
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Rap Lyrics: Rajakumari
Music Supervisors
Hriday Gattani
Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Guitar – Keba Jeremiah
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran, Kumaran Sivamani
Mixed by
Pradvay Sivashankar
Mastered by
Suresh Permal
Mastered for iTunes: Riyasdeen Riyan
Mera Naam Kizie
Song Composed Produced and Arranged by: A R Rahman
Singer: Aditya Narayan, Poorvi Koutish
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Music Supervisors
Hriday Gattani
Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Additional Voice
Arjun Chandy
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran
Mixed by
Pradvay Sivashankar
Mastered by
Suresh Permal
Mastered for iTunes: Riyasdeen Riyan
Friendzone
Song Composed Produced and Arranged by: A R Rahman
Singer: A R Rahman
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Music Supervisors
Hriday Gattani
Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Guitars : Rhythm Shaw, Dhruv Viswanath
Mouth Trumpet – Hriday Gattani
Vocal Arrangement
Arjun Chandy
Additional Vocals
Deepthi Suresh, Rakshita Suresh, Lavita Lobo, Shenbagaraj, Santosh Harirahan, Vignesh
Narayanan, Arjun Chandy, Hiral Viradia
Additional Arrangements and Programming
Hyacinth D’souza
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran
Mixed by
Pradvay Sivashankar
Mastered by
Suresh Permal
Mastered for iTunes: Riyasdeen Riyan
The Horizon of Saudade
Song Composed Produced and Arranged by: A R Rahman
Music Supervisors
Hriday Gattani
Hiral Viradia
Musicians
Solo violin : Suresh Lalwani
Guitars : Keba Jeremiah
Additional Arrangements and Programming
Jim Satya
Sound Engineers
Panchathan Record inn, Chennai
Suresh Permal, Karthik Sekaran
Mixed by
Pradvay Sivashankar
Mastered by
Suresh Permal
Mastered for iTunes: Riyasdeen Riyan
