Songs and soundtrack credits at the end.
One thing I like about Mohit Suri vis-à-vis the music in his films is his practice of regularly refreshing his composers (even while maintaining the same sound), which has led to him introducing a host of new artists over the years. Even in Saiyaara, you can see a few new names in the credits. Before going there though, also present in the lineup is the director’s one constant since his Murder 2 days, Mithoon. And Mithoon’s Dhun, which he also writes (bit of a Words hat-tip in his lines it would seem – “tere iss dil ko churaane ke liye..hai yahin ek dhun” a la “words are all I have to take your heart away”? The song is even called “tune”! 😀 ), comes with the familiarity that has riddled a lot of his songs post Tum Hi Ho; that piano refrain, the fact that Arijit Singh is behind the mic, all being contributing factors. The title song sees another of Suri’s recent regulars, Tanishk Bagchi (another thing I appreciate about the director – leveraging the “original” side of Bagchi rather than employing him for more remixes, albeit with mixed results) collaborating with two debutants, Faheem Abdullah and Arslan Nizami (check out their indie portfolio, they’ve created some impressive Kashmiri folk-based stuff). This too starts in a familiar fashion, Abdullah with a soulful delivery of a melancholic melody backed by Bagchi’s resonant piano phrases, before more layers get added on (some big names here – Warren Mendonsa and Kalyan Baruah on guitars, Krishna Kishor on drums etc) drawing you further and further into the song. That rousing segment in the second verse (yaadon ke taare..) took me back to days when we used to have bands from across the border like Jal, Roxen etc. The reprise version strips away the heavy arrangement elements, replacing them with acoustic guitars, flute and tabla/dholak. Writer Irshad Kamil fashions this as a response to the original lines while retaining a couple of refrains including the titular one. Shreya Ghoshal delivers in style as she always does, while Nizami joins her towards the end with a sufi-esque alaap. I liked the fact that they got Shreya to hum the hook that gets played on violin and guitars in the main version.
My current favourite from the soundtrack is Sachet-Parampara’s Humsafar, thanks primarily to the solid melody that they set the song to; big fan of that humming refrain from the prelude that reappears through the track in multiple forms. Fine job from Irshad Kamil on the lyrics once again, and that intense walt-y metre gives it the additional punch. As do the guitars (Kalyan Baruah, Bibhash Buragohain, Sagar Sathe) dominating the backdrop. Barbaad sees another debutant – Rishabh Kant aka The Rish who composes and writes the piece (have to say I prefer him in his former role). Breezy song that is delivered well by Jubin Nautiyal, with some nice work from the composer, especially in the interludes (saaz by Arbaz Khan in the first, sarangi by Dilshad Khan in the second). Like Saiyaara, this one too has a reprise version that is quite differently arranged from and much shorter than the main version. Composer does manage to retain the atmospheric feel of the track though, in this Shilpa Rao-sung version. The haari main outro is a nice touch. Vishal Mishra is the man tasked with giving us a respite from the sombre mood, and he does it well alongside lyricist Raj Shekhar, with the sprightly Tum Ho Toh. A very hummable melody that Mishra sings himself, joined in the second half by another promising-sounding debutante, Hansika Pareek.
Saiyaara. A soundtrack that is very much consistent with the Mohit Suri brand, and my favourite from that category in a long time.
Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5
Top Recos: Humsafar, Saiyaara, Tum Ho Toh
Soundtrack Credits
Song: Saiyaara
Music: Tanishk Bagchi, Faheem Abdullah, Arslan Nizami
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
Singer: Faheem Abdullah
Director of Choreography: Vijay Ganguly
Music Production: Tanishk Bagchi, Ganesh Waghela
Additional Production: Krishna Kishor
Mixed & Mastered By: Eric Pillai (Future Sound Of Bombay)
Recording Engineer: Calvin Fernandes
Recording Studio: Aural Dimension Recording Studio
Music Supervisor: Yash Anand
Guitars: Kalyan Baruah, Warren
Piano: Tanishk Bagchi
Rhythm: Krishna Kishor
Bass: Napier Peter Naveen
Keys: Rajesh, Melvin
Chorus (Female): Kamalaja, Alisha, Fathima, Aarthi
Chorus (Male): Rahul, Suganth, Abijith, Sanjay
Song: Barbaad
Music: The Rish
Lyrics: The Rish (Rishabh Kant)
Singer: Jubin Nautiyal
Director of Choreography: Vijay Ganguly
Music Production and Programming: DJ Phukan
Mixed & Mastered By: Eric Pillai (Future Sound Of Bombay)
Recording Studio: Trinity Sounds Studio
Music Supervisor: Yash Anand
Live Sarangi: Dilshad Khan
Electric Saaz: Arbaz Khan
Electric Guitars: Ishan Das, Daanish Sharma, Arbaz Khan, The Rish
Acoustic Guitars: Ishan Das, Arbaz Khan
Live Synthesizers: The Rish, Asad Shabbir
Backing Vocals (Female): Harjot Kaur
Song: Tum To Toh
Music: Vishal Mishra
Singers: Vishal Mishra, Hansika Pareek
Lyrics: Raj Shekhar
Director of Choreography: Vijay A Ganguly
Music Production: Vaibhav Pani
Arranged By: Vishal Mishra
Mixed & Mastered By: Trihangku Lahkar
Music Assistants: Kumar Gaurav Singh, Trihangku Lahkar, Bitupon Boruah
Recording Engineer at VMS: Trihangku Lahkar
Recording Studio: VMS
Music Supervisor: Yash Anand
Acoustic & Electric Guitar: Kandarpa Kalita
Additional Guitars: Vaibhav Pani
Song: Humsafar
Music: Sachet-Parampara
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
Singers: Sachet Tandon, Parampara Tandon
Director of Choreography: Vijay A. Ganguly
Intro Ad-lib Lyrics: Prashant Pandey
Music Production: Sachet-Parampara, Nikhil-Swapnil, Swapnil Tare, Vaibhav Pani, Raghav Sharma
Mixed & Mastered By: Shadab Rayeen at New Edge Sound Studios
Recording Studio: SP Studios
Music Supervisor: Yash Anand
Guitars: Sagar Sathe (at YRF Studios)
Electric and Acoustic Guitars: Kalyan Baruah
Additional Electric Guitars: Bibhash Buragohain
Beatboxers: Ishita Jagta, Shivali Shripad Joshi, Sadhana Bhikaji Tawde
Song: Dhun
Song Composed, Arranged & Produced By: Mithoon
Lyrics: Mithoon
Singer: Arijit Singh
Director of Choreography: Vijay A. Ganguly
Music Production: Godswill Mergulhão
Creative Head (Dhun Song): Anugrah
Mixed & Mastered By: Eric Pillai (Future Sound Of Bombay)
Recording Engineer: A Manivannan, Eli Rodrigues
Recording Studio: Living Water Music
Music Supervisor: Yash Anand
Assistant Mixing Engineer: Michael Edwin Pillai
Music Assistants: Anugrah, Godswill Mergulhao, Eli Rodrigues, Kaushal Gohil
Guitars: Kalyan Baruah
Mithoon’s Management: Vijay Iyer
Mithoon’s Staff: Navnath Bacche, Ganesh Raut & Sanjeev Utekar
Song: Saiyaara Reprise – Female
Music: Tanishk Bagchi, Faheem Abdullah, Arslan Nizami
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
Singer: Shreya Ghoshal
Alaap Vocals: Arslan Nizami
Director of Choreography: Vijay A. Ganguly
Music Production: Tanishk Bagchi, Ganesh Waghela
Additional Production: Krishna Kishor
Mixed & Mastered By: Eric Pillai (Future Sound Of Bombay)
Recording Engineer: Vedant Uttarkar
Recording Studio: The Sanctuary Audio Visual Studio
Music Supervisor: Yash Anand
Song: Barbaad Reprise – Female
Music: The Rish
Lyrics: The Rish (Rishabh Kant)
Singer: Shilpa Rao
Director of Choreography: Vijay A. Ganguly
Music Production & Arrangement: The Rish (Rishabh Kant)
Mixed & Mastered By: Hanish Taneja (Studio Alika)
Recording Studio: YRF Studios (By Abhishek Khandelwal)
Music Supervisor: Yash Anand
Acoustic and Electric Guitars: Bhushan Chitnis
Additional Guitars: Bibhash Buragohain
Live Piano and Synthesisers: Rishabh Kant
Backing Vocals: Akanksha Bhandari
