Tu Meri will work well for Hrithik’s moves onscreen (a preview of which is out already), but doesn’t achieve much else musically, heavily bogged down by the dated sound. Vishal Dadlani writes and sings this one (the main lyricist is Anvita Dutt), both of which play a fairly incidental role. Uff fares relatively better, there is enough imaginativeness in the arrangement that evens out the familiar tropes (particularly loved the way the shift to the dholak-led segment was handled), and there is also the sprightly rendition by Benny Dayal and Harshdeep Kaur trying her hand a genre that she is not often associated with.
Vishal Shekhar nail the yesteryear disco sound (excellent bass line!) in Bang Bang though, neatly incorporating the Michael Jackson nod as well (which Hrithik seems to have brilliantly carried onto the screen too, looking at the teaser). Benny Dayal and Neeti Mohan are fabulous behind the mic. Meherbaan doesn’t have the freshest of tunes, but composers manage to make the best song of the soundtrack out of it, incorporating some interesting digressions in a standard melodic arrangement and a wonderful effort from Ash King, Shilpa Rao and Shekhar Ravjiani. The unplugged reprise version isn’t as effective since it is a lot dependent on the tune. Nevertheless it wins on the singing, Shekhar Ravjiani being the main man in this case with some nice backing support.
Not since Shanghai (way back in 2012) have I heard a soundtrack from Vishal Shekhar that had any more than two quality songs. And that wait continues past Bang Bang.
Music Aloud Rating: 7/10
Top Recos: Meherbaan, Bang Bang, Uff
