Songs and musician credits at the end.
For the second time in a row, an Amit Trivedi soundtrack for T-Series features two songs not from the composer (snuck into the credits as “Additional Songs”, after crediting Trivedi for “Music” in the poster). Of the two, one is a recreation of a two year old song by Guru Randhawa called Patola. As remixes go, this one actually undergoes a reverse transformation of sorts, for the movie. While the original song (composed by Preet Hundal) was an electronic-heavy song featuring rap by Bohemia, Randhawa makes the Blackmail version shorter and more folky in comparison, and loses the rap. Definitely an improvement in a film context, but does not do much for me given that I find the song itself rather ordinary. The second non-AT song appears to be an original, written and composed by Badshah. Happy Happy features on vocals Aastha Gill, the singer with whom the composer has created a bunch of hits in the past. And like those, this one too is a song that rides on a catchy hook that makes it stick better than Patola, despite the average composition and middling lines.
Amit Trivedi’s trusted lyrical partner Amitabh Bhattacharya pens the four songs he composes for the movie. And like a song they came up with early on in their collective career – Emosanal Atyachaar – Bewafa Beauty’s uncharacteristically cheesy synth + dholak led arrangement seems like a nod to an older musical era (interesting that both songs are lyrically kind of centred on unrequited love). Except unlike the former, Bewafa Beauty does not come across as spoofy and therefore does not sustain interest beyond a couple of hearings. Fab singing by Pawni Pandey though. Trivedi himself leads the intense, rage-filled Badla that essentially conveys the movie’s central theme. The composer’s vocal fierceness finds a perfect companion in DIVINE’s equally aggressive rap that he himself writes alongside Dhaval Parab. Trivedi does an even more brilliant rendition in the album’s best song Sataasat, the laid back vibes of which evoke memories of some of his older songs, especially Saali Khushi. That takes nothing away from the song’s entertainment value of course, it is an addictive listen through and through, thanks particularly to the spectacular arrangement (splendid use of Kishore Sodha’s trumpet). I assume the double entendre in the lyrics was a deliberate one. It is only in the melodic Nindaraan Diyaan that the composer’s singing proves inadequate. The song is a pretty good one on other counts, built on a solid tune that sounds lovely in the mellow setting, but lends itself equally well to the Udaan-esque rock-based switch the track undergoes in the second half.
While the writer of Delhi Belly (Akshat Verma) managed to secure a soundtrack that was nearly as good as DB for his directorial debut earlier this year (Kaalakaandi), the director Abhinay Deo does not have as much success with Blackmail, despite having Amit Trivedi on his side. Some engaging songs here, nevertheless.
Music Aloud Rating: 2.5/5
Top Recos: Sataasat, Badla, Happy Happy
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
Musician Credits
1. Song: Happy Happy
Singer: Badshah, Aastha Gill
Lyrics: Badshah
Music And Programming: Badshah
Additional Programming: Aditya Dev
Mix & Mastered By Eric Pillai (Future Sound Of Bombay)
Asst Mixing Engineers Michael Edwin Pillai & Lucky
2. Song: Patola
Singer: Guru Randhawa
Lyrics: Guru Randhawa
Music: Guru Randhawa
Programming: Vee Music
Mix & Mastered: Eric Pillai (Future Sound Of Bombay)
Asst Mixing Engineers: Michael Edwin Pillai & Lucky
Original Credits
Singer – Guru Randhawa Feat. Bohemia
Lyrics – Guru Randhawa, Sabi
Composer – Preet Hundal
Rap- Bohemia
3. Song: Bewafa Beauty
Singer: Pawni Pandey
Music: Amit Trivedi
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Produced & Arranged: Amit Trivedi
Recording Engineers A T Studios Mumbai: Abhishek Sortey & Urmila Sutar Assisted: Firoz Shaikh
Mixed By: Shadab Rayeen, A T Studios & New Edge – Mumbai
Assisted By: Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Mastered By: Donal Whelan, Mastering world – U.K.
Executive Producer A T Studios: Krutee Trivedi
Head Of Production A T Studios: Aashish Narula
Programmed By: Amit Trivedi
Dholak & Percussions: Raju Sardar
4. Song: Badla
Singer: Amit Trivedi & DIVINE
Music: Amit Trivedi
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya,
Rap Lyrics: DIVINE & Dhaval Parab
Produced & Arranged by: Amit Trivedi
Recording Engineers A T Studios Mumbai: Abhishek Sortey & Urmila Sutar Assisted: Firoz Shaikh
Mixed By: Shadab Rayeen, A T Studios & New Edge – Mumbai
Assisted By: Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Mastered By: Donal Whelan, Mastering world – U.K.
Executive Producer A T Studios: Krutee Trivedi
Head Of Production A T Studios: Aashish Narula
Programmed By Amit Trivedi, Vineeth Jayan & Raja Rasaily
5. Song: Nindaraan Diyaan
Singer: Amit Trivedi
Music: Amit Trivedi
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Produced & Arranged: Amit Trivedi
Recording Engineers A T Studios Mumbai – Abhishek Sortey & Urmila Sutar Assisted by Firoz Shaikh
Mixed by – Shadab Rayeen, A T Studios & New Edge – Mumbai Assisted by : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Mastered by – Donal Whelan, Masteringworld – U.K.
Executive Producer A T Studios – Krutee Trivedi
Head Of Production A T Studios – Aashish Narula
MUSICIAN NAMES
Programmed by Amit Trivedi, Raja Rasaily & Gourab Dutta
Guitar by Warren Mendonsa
Violin by Jitendra Thakur
Backing Vocals by Rajiv Sundaresan , Suhas Sawant & Arun Kamath
6. Song: Sataasat
Singer: Amit Trivedi
Music: Amit Trivedi
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Produced & Arranged: Amit Trivedi
Recording Engineers A T Studios Mumbai: Abhishek Sortey & Urmila Sutar Assisted: Firoz Shaikh
Mixed By: Shadab Rayeen, A T Studios & New Edge: Mumbai
Assisted By: Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Mastered By: Donal Whelan, Mastering world – U.K.
Executive Producer A T Studios: Krutee Trivedi
Head Of Production A T Studios: Aashish Narula
Programmed By: Amit Trivedi, Vineeth Jayan
Trumpet By: Kishore Sodha
Music Label: T-Series
