Songs at the end.
The fact that Shoojit Sircar is a co-producer of Running Shaadi probably has something to do with the presence of Anupam Roy in the multi-composer lineup (making it his first Hindi movie whose name has more than four letters 🙂 ). And Main Faraar Sa is everything you expect of an Anupam Roy song – a nice, very likeable melody, simple, guitar-led arrangement (with some nice touches from the flute). For a change the lyrics aren’t penned by the man (Tanveer Ghazi here), but he does get behind the mic, along with a still lovely-sounding yet rarely heard Hamsika Iyer. One cannot help but wonder why the composer has not landed a project yet in the industry that does not involve Sircar. Kuch To Hai composed by Anjana Ankur Singh and Sandeep Madhavan (man behind Bangalore-based one man electronic act The Burning Deck) starts on a similar vein, taking you on a pleasant, breezy ride helmed by the current Bollywood favourite Jubin Nautiyal. The ride gets even better towards the end as Jubin’s voice fades away to a tumult of horns and drums. The makers get MTV India Creative Head Keegan Pinto to debut as composer-lyricist with Faraar – a song that alludes to freedom in an Udaan-evocative fashion. Despite the familiarity, it is Jubin Nautiyal’s singing that helps the song stay afloat. His second song (which he writes along with Sonal Sehgal) Bhaag Milky Bhaag also takes a similarly inspirational route, but is less impressive. The predictability is higher here, and Sanam Puri’s delivery doesn’t quite seem to carry the required punch. The folksy digression the composer makes to incorporate a cameo from Sonu Kakkar is a nice touch, though, the only surprising element in the song really.
Running Shaadi’s lead composers Abhishek Arora and Akshay Verma compose the soundtrack’s three funnest tracks. It is Bappi Lahiri and Kalpana Patowary’s exuberant delivery of Manoj Yadav’s jolly verse that are the highlight of Pyaar Ka Test. The composers do well to incorporate the disco ode to Bappi da in the arrangement though. In Dimpi De Naal Bhaage Bunty Abhishek and Akshay follow the Punjabi dance track format to a tee and yet the song is incredible fun without letting that repetitiveness come in the way. A large part of it is owing to Shellee’s lyrics (peppered with some of the cutest Punjabi nicknames) and Labh Janjua (who unfortunately passed away late 2015) owning the vocal department as he always has. After Idiot Banna in Dangal we have a Mannerless Majnu in Running Shaadi; an equally light-hearted song that has the composers at their most imaginative. Sukanya Purakayastha makes a fine choice for vocals; the lady presents a well-nuanced rendition.
It’s been a while since I saw a soundtrack with this many composers produce entertaining results. To achieve that with a lesser known set of names is even more commendable!
Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5
Top Recos: Kuch To Hai, Mannerless Majnu, Main Faraar Sa
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
