Soundtrack – Music Review (Bollywood Movie Soundtrack)

You can listen to the soundtrack here.

There isn’t much to speak of the lyrics of Banao, but Papon’s singing and the acoustic guitar-led breezy arrangement are all you need care about in this melody. Very soothing, very engaging. Papon shows his classical adeptness in his second song of the soundtrack, Naina Laagey, a rerun from the 2009 Midival Punditz album Hello Hello. The singer’s voice takes on a Hariharan-esque texture in this track, and he executes the classical nuances beautifully. Also a rerun from the same album is Atomizer sung by Gaurav Raina (one half of the Punditz) and Karsh Kale. This one is more the usual Midival Punditz fare, electronica+dhol+processed vocals set to a retro-esque disco template. Fit for the dance floor, not so for regular listening. MPKK (thats what the ensemble of Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale is called, for the uninitiated) get their regular singer Vishal Vaid to sing Ek Manzil which arrests your attention with that spectacular cello-based opening sequence (which later appears in an unadulterated and more elaborate form in The Soundtrack Theme, I later realised). With its haunting quality and Vaid’s KK-ish soulfulness, this song might as well have been from a Bhatt movie! Vaid sings one more song for the album, the sinister Arabic-flavoured Fakira. This one is again very remix-y, high on techno elements. Makes for a good listen though, thanks mainly to Vaid.

Main Chala is another track for the Asian Underground aficionados, Kailash Kher rendering a semi-classical piece (based on raag Ahir?) set to an electronic base. As usual, impeccable singing by Kailash, and a very imaginative arrangement from the composer trio. The pick of (the) soundtrack though, is the instrumental track called Symphony of the Streets. It is lovely the way Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale infuse everyday street sounds like cycle bells and car brakes into the synth-based melody. The last original track of the album is also techno-based, Anushka Manchanda singing the attitude-loaded song aptly titled What The F. Interesting track again, but only if you prefer the genre. Anushka totally aces the singing, having made these kind of songs pretty much her speciality (core competence, if I may 😉 ). And finally there are two remixes, both of Kishore-da songs. The first is a lounge-based rearrangement of the RDB Laxmikant Pyarelal classic Ruk Jaana Nahi, Suraj Jagan doing the honors behind the mic. But the mix didn’t quite work for me, mainly coz Jagan doesn’t do anything new, and the relativity factor works totally against him. On the other hand, the composers give a different spin to their remix of Yeh Jeevan Hai, bringing in folk singer Malini Awasthi who sings the song in her own way. Ergo, this remix turns out a much better listen.

Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale’s first full-fledged Bollywood soundtrack, Soundtrack, is for most part along the lines how Bollywood music followers would know their style to be. And hence, the album might not cut ice with many except the electronic fusion lovers. But even those who don’t follow the genre I would strongly advice to listen. It’s worth it. Of course, you can listen to the link I provided at the start and decide for yourself. 🙂

Music Aloud Rating: 8/10

Top Recos: Symphony of the Streets, The Soundtrack Theme, Naina Laagey, Main Chala