Listen to the songs here. Complete musician credits at the end (Thanks to Rujul for helping with this).
One of the most remarkable things about this album is singer Orunima Bhattacharya, composer Gaurav Dagaonkar’s partner in his band Synchronicity. The lady sounds as composed rendering the classical nuances of Barfaani as she does mischievous in the folksy, raucous Aye Saiyaan. Talking of the former, Barfaani is a masterly piece of work from Dagaonkar that is immensely impressive in both versions, the other one sung by Armaan Malik. Ghalib Asad Bhopali’s finely written verse introduces a new term to the mainstream through the song’s title. Aye Saiyaan is apparently based on a folk song from UP. The earthy tone of the track evokes memories of Anaarkali of Aarah that came out earlier this year. While I still am not a fan of the remixing trend, Dagaonkar to his credit does fair justice to the RD Burman-Anand Bakshi song Ghunghta in his rework for Bandookbaaz. More importantly, he makes a fine choice of vocalist in Neha Kakkar who is in exceptional form here. There is something about singer Papon’s rich voice and languid rendition style that makes it a perfect fit for retro flavoured melodies. In Chulbuli that magic works yet again, even as the composer gives the tune a charming European style backdrop. Once again Ghalib Asad Bhopali’s choice of words deserves special credit. The final song, Khali Khali, has some standout moments in the arrangement, but the song’s melancholy gets monotonous and daunting after a while.
Gaurav Dagaonkar, after the occasional unremarkable song in low profile movies, finally strikes gold in Babumoshai Bandookbaaz!
Music Aloud Rating: 3.5/5
Top Recos: Chulbuli, Barfaani, Aye Saiyaan
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
Musician Credits
Barfaani
Music: Gaurav Dagaonkar
Singer(s): Armaan Malik/Orunima Bhattacharya
Lyrics by: Ghalib Asad Bhopali
Programmers: Nilesh Dahanukar, Tanveer Singh Kohli
Guitars / Dobro: Shomu Seal
Guitars recorded by: Ajinkya Dhapare @Satellite Studios
Mixed and Mastered By: Amey Londhe @Audio Garage
Chulbuli
Music: Gaurav Dagaonkar
Singer: Papon
Lyrics by: Ghalib Asad Bhopali
Additional Vocals: Vivek Hariharan
Programming / Arrangements: Dipanjan Guha
Mixed and Mastered by: Pankaj Borah
Ghunghta
Programming / Arrangements: Nilesh Dahanukar
Additional Music Production: Prateek Gandhi (AUM Studios)
Guitars: Arvind Haldipur
Additional Guitars: Sanmeet Waghmare
Chorus: Vivek Naik, Rahul Chitnis, Santosh Bote
Mixed and Mastered by: Pankaj Borah
Recording Engineers: Lijin Jolly Alex, Hemant Khedekar (Songbird Studios)
Assistant Engineer: Ajinkya Dhapare (Satellite Studios)
Original Composer: Rahul Dev Burman
Original Lyricist: Anand Bakshi
Film: Dhongee
Aye Saiyaan
Music: Gaurav Dagaonkar
Lyrics: Ghalib Asad Bhopali
Programming / Arrangements: Nilesh Dahanukar
Harmonium: Satyajeet Prabhu
Rhythm and Percussions: Satyajeet Jamsandekar
Guitars: Arvind Haldipur
Mixed and Mastered by: Pankaj Borah
Recording Engineers: Amey Londhe (AudioGarage), Bhaskar (EmSquare Studios), Hemant Khedekar (Songbird Studios)
Khaali Khaali
Music composed & produced by: Debjyoti Mishra, Abhilash Lakra & Joel Dubba
Singer: Mohit Chauhan
Lyrics: Ghalib Asad Bhopali
Guitars, keys & programming: Abhilash Lakra
Song mixed and mastered by: Abhilash Lakra
