You can listen to the soundtrack here.
While a lot of buzz is on about the resemblance Tera Kya Hoga Johny bears with Johnny Gaddar, the title song is another factor that could add to that belief with a similarly enigmatic tone in the orchestration, albeit with a slight Punjabi flavor to it. And I am not sure if it’s coz of the comparison mode I got into, I didn’t find the song that appealing despite Sukhwinder Singh’s spritely rendition, the repetitiveness of the arrangement its undoing. Of Ali Azmat’s two compositions for the movie, the first, Teri Parchhaiyan is a track from his 2005 album Social Circus, a beautifully haunting rock-based track, typically Pakistani in its feel. And his rendition is perfectly soulful, almost like a whisper in places (I have embedded the original video at the end of the post). The second track Tore Naina is a song that featured in his 2008 album Klasinfolk as Baalma. Ali Azmat had also played the song alongside Rahat Fateh Ali Khan on Coke Studio the same year, the first song to be played on the cult show (I have included the video of the Coke Studio performance below). A fabulous folksy melody based on Raag Kalyan, Azmat himself does the vocals here too, and brilliantly so.
I didn’t find Pankaj Awasthi’s works in Anwar and New York very exciting, but in Shab Ko Roz, a dark sufi-ish song, he does create quite an impression, with an arrangement reminiscent of such songs as Sheher from Gulaal in its overall feel and arrangement. And Pankaj’s raw voice is indeed the perfect medium for the song to be delivered. His other track, Lehron Ne Kaha, however, would have sounded better in someone else’s vocals. It has an interestingly intriguing arrangement though. Labh Janjua enters with a regular formulaic Punjabi track Heeriye and sings it with ease. Nothing very special about the tune per se. And Shreya Ghoshal closes the proceedings with Shehar Ki Rani which is another middling composition having nothing much going for it except Shreya’s ebullient rendition. There seems to be an attempt to bring about an Arabic flavor which doesn’t quite work out. I haven’t had access to the names of the music directors for individual songs so I am just going to assume that the last two and the title song were done by Abhishek Ray.
Sudhir Mishra’s movies have generally been known for their offbeat yet impactful music. And a couple of snags aside, Tera Kya Hoga Johny manages to keep up.
Music Aloud Rating — 7.5/10
Recommended Tracks — Teri Parchhaiyan, Tore Naina, Shab Ko Roz
