Guest composer Dr. Zeus does quite well in his Lovely, the Punjabi folk tune and its techno accompaniments come in an engaging Arabic-laced package, that is well-delivered by Kanika Kapoor, Ravindra Upadhyay, Miraya Verma and Fateh. The variant called Kamlee doesn’t differ much from the original. But the other Punjabi-based track of the soundtrack from lead composers Vishal Shekhar turns out a far more ordinary affair. A very routine tune presented in a tiresomely standard techno-Punjabi format. Even Manj Musik and Mindy Kaur’s singing sounds boring. In Shankar Mahadevan, Vishal Dadlani, KK and Neeti Mohan, India Waale has a brilliant vocal lineup. The only thing missing is a composition that utilizes their talent well. The song may become a hit riding on that patriotic wave and all that, but there is nothing new about it. Good singing by everyone, as expected. The Remix adds no discernible value to the original. Nonsense Ki Night seems sort of an attempt to recreate the wackiness of Dil Dance Maare, this time with a comic English translation of Hindi proverbs. Not to the same effect unfortunately, the arrangement is catchy but the translations often sound annoying; and Mika’s pronounced nasality doesn’t help either.
In Satakli the composers milk the allure of Marathi folk quite well, heavy percussion and the like, and produce an engaging song. Sukhwinder Singh ensures a high power job on his part. Vishal Shekhar’s style is instantly recognizable in Dance Like A Chammiya, but in a good way this time. With Sunidhi Chauhan at the lead, the duo manage to whip up a groovy dance track, Vishal even lending a hand as supporting vocalist. As has been Vishal Shekhar’s custom in their last few soundtracks, Happy New Year too contains one beautiful melody, and here it is Manwa Laage. Lovely arrangement here, with some particularly awesome use of accordion (I think) – Shreya Ghoshal and Arijit Singh take care of the rest. Guitars dominate the instrumental Heist Theme that conveys the “heist” element quite well, and should make for a very good background piece (assuming there will be something worthwhile in the foreground to go with this). World Dance Medley pointlessly strings together parts of all the songs with minor variations – the only interesting bit being Neeti Mohan’s rendition of the Manwa Laage opening verse at the start.
Happy New Year. Farah Khan continues her tradition of long soundtracks, in her third outing with Vishal Shekhar. Wish I could say the same about the quality.
Music Aloud Rating: 6.5/10
Top Recos: Manwa Laage, Dance Like A Chammiya, Kamlee
