Thursday, January 22, 2015

Hawaizaada Music Review



“Fly high!” 

Music: Rochak Kohli/ Mangesh Dhakde/ Ayushmann Khurrana/ Vishal Bhardwaj
Lyrics: Vibhu Puri
Ratings: * * * * (4 stars)


1. Hawaizaada Dil
Ayushmann Khurrana’s regular musician collaborator Rochak Kohli (who is also the singer here- though sounds very Mohit Chauhan’ish) delivers yet another romantic breezy track for his film. Its country-like arrangement-- prominently guitar, ukulele-- is responsible for its breeziness which is further escalated by violins midway with military march-like drums seeping in this song set in colonial India. 

2. Daak Ticket
Rochak Kohli continues the freshness from the last song and actually gets Mohit Chauhan to blow it further and no other singer would have done this song rightly that has “khari khasta, bun maska, cutting chai” in it. Spotless Javed Bashir starts this inspiring track with a bang, and the entire track moves dramatically with highs and lows with the multi-layered instrumentation never sounding cluttered! 

3. Maaza My Lord
Mohit Chauhan is, again, fun in this mischievous banter set on Goan folk- extremely well composed by Mangesh Dhakde. But the song’s old-world charm is due to Neeti Mohan who is so affectionate in her part.

4. Dil-E-Nadaan
Ayushmann Khurrana turns composer for this one and gives Ghalib’s Dil-e-Nadaan a very modern filmy touch. The song draws a line between these two eras of music as soon as it starts with a contemporary guitar, but then it constantly crosses that line, welcomes tabla and sitar into the arrangement, and comes back again and repeats- which is where the beauty of this composition lies. Though Khurrana’s voice is not a suitable fit for a ghazal, he rides on this line, managing his comfort zone, aspiring for subtle high notes and then delving into kafiya and radeef of the ghazal, quite smoothly.

The “reprise” version eliminates the need to fall on classical instruments to be bracketed as a ghazal and is more modern in its treatment- electric guitars, synth. It incorporates another line of Ghalib in the voice of Shweta Subram as filler.  

5. Udd Jayega
Rarely it happens in a multi-composer soundtrack that an alike vision is carried throughout the album even by different composers involved. Mangesh Dhakde, in this one, reciprocates the dramatization of song as in Kohli’s Daak Ticket, but with only lead singer- effective Sukhvinder Singh- and takes help of chorus for the transitions between highs and lows.

6. Dil Todne Ki Masheen
Vishal Bhardwaj steps in as a guest composer and out of his comfort zone along with (terrific) Rekha Bhardwaj with this lavni number. Though it is unlike any item number this couple has ever given us (Beedi and Namak, both from Omkara- which in my opinion are among the best item songs ever), it does have Vishal Bhardwaj stamp over it. 

7. Yaadein Gatthri Mein
An extremely short and emotionally heartfelt extension of Udd Jayega in female voice by Harshdeep Kaur. 

8. Turram Khan
Good to see that Kohli isn’t like those greedy composers who would go on to sing each and every song they compose, and give opportunity to singers with matching vocal chords. This one is on the similar lines of Hawaizaada Dil, but with those bluegrassy guitars, I find it even better. Papon is gorgeous in this and Monali Thakur in her bit is good too.

9. Teri Dua
Mangesh Dhakde presents a spectacular line-up of singers- Wadali Brothers (who give me goosebumps), Lakwinder Wadali, Harshdeep Kaur, Ravindra Sathe, Sukhwinder Sathe- in this another variant of Udd Jayega which is based on qawalli and then rushes into a bhajan in only its about 4 minute length. Leaves you to greed more.

4 composers. 10 songs. Is even a single one a letdown? Hell, no. Each one picks you from a high of the previous and leaves you on another. Forgot to mention how consistently throughout each song, Vibhu Puri (also the director of the film) keeps the lyrics fresh and in accordance with the setting of the film. One of the best albums of the year is here!

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