Songs and musician credits at the end (thanks to @chiranjeev100 for helping with the credits)
Hawayein is one of the rare instances in Jab Harry Met Sejal’s soundtrack where composer Pritam takes the tried and tested route for his composition. Not that the song doesn’t work – it is clearly the effectiveness that makes him dip into that pot from time to time – just that with 11 other songs, JHMS has a lot more to offer, both in quantity and quality. The song itself is presented better in its film version, and Arijit Singh delivers both versions. Arijit’s exceptional form is more evident in the finely crafted retro funk styled Beech Beech Mein. Arijit is joined by the equally skilled Shalmali Kholgade and Shefali Alvares, even as Warren Mendonsa and Ernest Tibbs’ guitar chops dominate the song’s groovy soundscape. The singer who possibly has sung the most number of Imtiaz Ali songs – Mohit Chauhan – gets two songs in the soundtrack. In Phurrr (lot of flying references in the song titles; even by Imtiaz Ali standards) he is joined by Tushar Joshi in delivering a melody that Pritam builds over a heady electronic base set by Diplo and Rocky Wellstack (from the remix of Agony by Pinchers, Rocky Wellstack and Jillionaire – thanks to @Prakshid for this info). In the gorgeously ambient Ghar, Mohit plays second fiddle to an ethereal sounding Nikhita Gandhi who also sang two other songs for Pritam earlier this year (including the delightful Ullu Ka Pattha from Jagga Jasoos). While on the subject of Ullu Ka Pattha, there are two songs in the soundtrack that ride on gorgeous acoustic guitars. The melancholic Yaadon Mein has Mohammad Irfan, Jonita Gandhi and Portuguese singer Cuca Roseta singing their heart out, while Mario Pacheco strums his Portuguese guitar in the backdrop (sounds quite close to a mandolin). And Safar where everything comes together just perfectly – a haunting melody that Arijit Singh absolutely owns, atop a sprawling guitar-led soundscape (Aditya Benia, Arijit, Raj Kumar Dewan) that goes perfectly with Irshad Kamil’s poetry about the protagonist’s metaphorical journey.
Rest of the songs all have a Punjabi connection to them, attributable to SRK’s Harry’s Punjabi background (interesting that there is no Gujarati flavoured track to go with Anushka’s character). First among the lot is Radha – Sunidhi Chauhan and a loud (because Punjabi farmers apparently sing over the sound of tractors, as said by SRK in the song video) but effective Shahid Mallya are the life of this sprightly piece. Raula is a finer composition belonging to the same genre, the arrangement is mellower yet on point, and singers Diljit Dosanjh and Neeti Mohan both on top of their game. And Butterfly is the least impressive dance track – despite a bunch of talented singers (Nooran Sisters, Sunidhi Chauhan, Dev Negi, Aaman Trikha) it just comes across as a noisy mishmash. Loved the way Dev (?) says “butterfalaay” though! The vocoded Jee Ve Sohaneya bit that opens the track is apparently from a traditional piece (raag bhupali based, possibly) written by Khwaja Ghulam Fareed, and gets presented in its proper and complete form in the Nooran Sisters’ voice and ladies present a soul-stirring rendition of the same. Incidentally when you search for Jee Ve Sohneya on Youtube, the first entry that comes up is a rendition of the song by Bibi Swarn Noora, grandmother of Jyoti and Sultana Nooran; quite fitting then that Pritam chose the sisters to sing this version. Finally, in Parinda the composer infuses rock elements into a Punjabi folk melody, once again with highly engaging results. While Josh Smith, Nyzel D’Lima (guitars), Ernest Tibbs (bass) and Alan Hertz (drums) constitute the former, Pardeep Sran takes care of the folk piece in style. The longer, alternate version titled Search has Tochi Raina replacing Pardeep, but he isn’t able to create the same magic. Nikhil D’Souza’s English phrases are a nice addition though.
Composing for Imtiaz Ali after a gap of eight years, Pritam returns with a vengeance, giving him the team’s biggest and best soundtrack yet in Jab Harry Met Sejal. The movie’s reviews however seem to imply that it isn’t worth such an effort. A pity, really.
Music Aloud Rating: 4/5
Top Recos: Safar, Parinda, Raula, Jee Ve Sohaneya
This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
Musician Credits
RADHA
Music-PRITAM
Lyrics- Irshad Kamil
Singer- Sunidhi Chauhan, Shahid Mallya
Music Production & Sound Design: Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R.
Music Programming : Sunny M.R., Arijit Singh, Utkarsh Dhotekar and Tony DB.
Vocal cuts: Rohan Chauhan
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha
Music assistants : Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Dev Arijit, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Percussions : Sukanto Singha, Sunny M.R.
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
BEECH BEECH MEIN
Music-Pritam
Lyrics- Irshad Kamil
Singer- Arijit singh, shalmali kholgade, shefali alvares
Music Production & Sound Design: Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R.
Music Programming : rohan chauhan,
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING AND ARRANGEMENT : sunny m.r.
Backing vocals – arjun chandy, akashdeep sengupta
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha, alan hertz
Music assistants :Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Musicians :
Electric & bass guitar – warren mendonsa, ernest tibbs
Horns – andrew lippman (trombone), ludo louis (trumpet and flugelhorn)
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
SAFAR
Music-Pritam
Lyrics- Irshad Kamil
Singer- arijit singh
Music Production & Sound Design: Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R.
Music Programming : Sunny M.R., Arijit Singh
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha
Music assistants : Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Dev Arijit, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Musicians :
Electric and acoustic guitars – arijit singh, aditya benia
Fretless bass – raj kumar dewan
Production Manager: Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
YAADON MEIN
Music-Pritam
Lyrics- Irshad Kamil
Singer- jonita gandhi, mohd. irfan, cuca roseta
PORTUGUESE LYRICS – CUCA ROSETA
Music Production & Sound Design: Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R.
Music Programming : NIKHIL PAUL GEORGE, Ketan Sodha , ramon ibrahim, sunny m.r.
PORTUGUESE GUITAR PERFORMANCE AND ARRANGEMENT : MARIO PACHECO
PORTUGUESE GUITAR & CUCA ROSETA RECORDED BY PEDRO SERRANINHO @ ATLANTICO BLUE STUDIOS
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha
Music assistants : Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
BUTTERFLY
Music-Pritam
Lyrics- Irshad Kamil
Singer- Sunidhi Chauhan, dev negi, nooran sisters, aaman trikha
Music Production & Sound Design: Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R.
Music Programming : prasad sashte
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING : sunny m.r.
backing vocals – laddi dhaliwal, jelly manjitpuri, neetu bhalla, babita, asa singh, amit, tushar, akashdeep, abhishek, manoj, shubham
Mixed and Mastered by eric pillai @ future sound of bombay
Assistant engineer : michael edwin pillai & lucky
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha
Music assistants : Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Musicians :
Ethnic strokes – tapas roy
Tumbi – jelly manjitpuri
Algozee – gurpreet singh
Dhol – naseeb singh
Sarangi – harpinder kang
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
GHAR
Music-Pritam
Lyrics- Irshad Kamil
Singer- nikhita gandhi, MOHIT CHAUHAN
Music Production & Sound Design: Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R.
Music Programming : tanuj tiku,
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING : dj phukan
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha
Music assistants : Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Musicians :
Electric & acoustic guitars – warren mendonsa
Tabla – jeetu shankar
Sarangi – dilshad khan
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
PARINDA
Music-Pritam
Lyrics- Irshad Kamil
Singer- pardeep sran
Music Production & Sound Design: Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R.
Music Programming : nyzel dlima, sunny m.r.
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha, alan hertz
Music assistants : Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Musicians :
Drums – alan hertz
Electric & acoustic guitars – josh smith, nyzel dlima
Bass guitar – ernest tibbs
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
PARINDA (SEARCH)
Music-Pritam
Lyrics- Irshad Kamil
Singer- TOCHI RAINA, NIKHIL D’SOUZA
Music Production & Sound Design: Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R.
Music Programming : nyzel dlima, sunny m.r.
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha, alan hertz
Music assistants : Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Musicians :
Drums – alan hertz
Electric & acoustic guitars – josh smith, nyzel dlima
Bass guitar – ernest tibbs
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
RAULA PE JAANE DE
Music-Pritam
Lyrics- Irshad Kamil
Singer- diljit dosanjh, neeti mohan
Music Production & Sound Design: Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R.
Music Programming : sourav roy, Sunny M.R., Abhijit vaghani, abhijit nalani
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha
Flamenco guitar dub conducted by – daniel garcia diego
Music assistants : Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Musicians :
Ethnic strokes – tapas roy, chandrakant
Nylon guitars – ridu shaw
Flamenco guitar – josete ordoñez
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
HAWAYEIN
Music-Pritam
Lyrics- Irshad Kamil
Singer- arijit singh
Music Production & Sound Design: Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R.
Music Programming : sourav roy,
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING : sunny m.r.
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha
Music assistants : Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Musicians :
Ethnic strokes – tapas roy
Electric & acoustic guitars – roland fernandes
Bass guitar – raj kumar dewan
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjeE
HAWAYEIN – FILM VERSION
Music-Pritam
Lyrics- Irshad Kamil
Singer- arijit singh
Music Production & Sound Design: Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R.
Music Programming : sunny m.r., Utkarsh dhotekar
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha
Music assistants : Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Musicians :
Ethnic strokes – tapas roy
Electric, acoustic & bass guitar – roland fernandes
Hang drum – sunny m.r.
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
JEE VE SOHANEYA
MUSIC – TRADITIONAL
LYRICS – IRSHAD KAMIL & TRADITIONAL
Singers – nooran sisters
MUSIC PRODUCTION & SOUND DESIGN : SUNNY M.R.
MUSIC PROGRamming : sunny m.r.
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha
Music assistants : Tushar Joshi, Amit Sawant, Shubham Shirule, akashdeep sengupta
Musicians :
Electric and bass guitars – roland fernandes
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
PHURRR
MUSIC – pritam, diplo
LYRICS – IRSHAD KAMIL
singer – mohit chauhan, tushar joshi
MUSIC PRODUCTION : diplo, rocky wellstack
all hindi melodic compositions by pritam
pre mixing : sunny m.r.
Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen @ New Edge
Assistant engineer : Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Recording Engineers- Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Aaroh Velankar, aniruddh anantha
Production Manager : Anupam Amod, Manoj Harsh, supriti banerjee
