Songs at the end.
Nagesh Morwekar is outstanding in Dolby Walya, matching the song’s craziness and energy perfectly, even as Ajay-Atul concoct a heady mix of percussion-heavy folk music and electronic elements in the backdrop. The accelerated electronic coda with the chipmunk-ish voice is overkill though. Bring It On seems to be a sort of reprise to Dolby – the melody carries similarities, there is the Bring It On connection and a similarly percussion-laden arrangement. The pacing here is even more mental, at times lending the song an almost unsettling level of energy! Ajay Gogavale handles the vocals here, doing a fine job at it.
Ajay sings two more songs – Gondhal and Vaat Disu De. As obvious from its title, Gondhal is set to the format of the Marathi art form, and is once again very folky, with the Ajay-Atul trademark orchestral diversion during the interludes. Ajay is in great form here too delivering the raag todi-flavoured devotional piece, with able support from the chorus. In Vaat Disu De we have the song of the soundtrack – a melodic piece that once again bears testimony to the composers’ love for folk. The melody here carries a slight South Indian flavour (a whiff of Carnatic raga anandabhairavi at times, it seems) and the sprawling soundscape features some beautiful violins which in combination with the percussion at times takes one back to Sairat Zaala Di. The singing is once again top notch; Ajay is joined by Yogita Godbole here. The retro-styled Mona Darling goes through multiple mode-shifts in four and a half minutes. First of which is handled by Suman Shridhar, a sprightly segment that starts in an almost O P Nayyar-esque fashion. Shridhar then passes the baton on to Shreya Ghoshal and Sonu Nigam as the song turns into a filmy waltz piece, delivering it in style. Kunal Ganjawala brings the song to a close amidst an explosion of horns. In fact the brass section is put to good use throughout the song.
Ajay Atul’s music here is largely on the lines of what they are known for, and the result is once again supremely engaging.
Rating: 3.5/5
Top Songs: Vaat Disu De, Dolby Walya, Mona Darling
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
