This review first appeared in the Mumbai edition of The Hindu.
Songs and musician credits at the end.
The amusing coincidence in composer Amit Trivedi getting involved in a song titled Namo Namo just weeks after he did a song called Achche Din has not escaped the notice of music buffs – the former does not however have anything to do with the PM of course, it is an ode to the deity whose temple the movie is centred on. And a fine ode it is too – earnest, eminently hummable and supported by an arrangement that beautifully conveys the highland feel. Kishor’s sitar and Vishnu Vijay’s flute find particularly fab usage throughout the song, it is only in the composer’s own singing that the song is found wanting on occasion. Another track where the composer does really well is Jaan ‘Nisaar, a song that is presented in two versions. The song has a very soothing melody (that, for some reason, takes my mind back to Rajesh Roshan’s Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaaye), backed by a mellow pop rock-ish setting. The two versions don’t differ much aside of the singers – Arijit Singh and Asees Kaur respectively delivering Amitabh Bhattacharya’s well written lines. It is Kaur’s version that appeals to me more, her voice seems better suited for the song, and she produces a beautifully nuanced rendition.
Arijit gets one more track in the album, another pleasant romantically themed piece titled Qaafiraana. Once again Bhattacharya is in top form with his writing, but the song isn’t as appealing as the former. The singing is on point though – Singh is joined in the song’s second half by Nikhita Gandhi (whom I briefly mistook for Jasleen Kaur from the way she sounded!). As are the odd elements in the arrangement, like Paras Nath’s flute and the highland-ishness of the occasional santoor. Sweetheart is where Trivedi dips too much into the tried and tested, and as a result, ends up with a run of the mill dance track. Exuberant singing by Dev Negi, to name one of the very few takeaway aspects from the song.
One forgettable song out for four, in Amit Trivedi and Amitabh Bhattacharya’s relatively short soundtrack for Abhishek Kapoor. Given the composer-director team’s track record though, one expected better.
Music Aloud Rating: 3/5
Top Recos: Jaan ‘Nisaar, Namo Namo, Qaafirana
Musician Credits
Song: Namo Namo
Singer: Amit Trivedi
Lyricist: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Crew:
Composed & Produced by Amit Trivedi
Recording Engineers A T Studios Mumbai – Abhishek Sortey & Urmila Sutar
Assisted by Firoz Shaikh
Mixed & Mastered by Shadab Rayeen, A T Studios & New Edge – Mumbai
Assisted by Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Executive Producer A T Studios – Krutee Trivedi
Head Of Production A T Studios – Aashish Narula
Musician Names:
Programmed – Amit Trivedi, Raja Rasaily & Krishna Kishor
Percussions – Krishna Kishor
Flute – Vishnu Vijay
Sitar – Kishor
Mandolin & Strings – Seenu
Backing Vocals – Rajiv Sundaresan & Suhas Sawant
Song: Qaafirana
Singers: Arijit Singh & Nikhita Gandhi
Crew:
Composed & Produced by Amit Trivedi
Recording Engineers A T Studios Mumbai – Abhishek Sortey & Urmila Sutar Assisted by Firoz Shaikh
Mixed & Mastered by Shadab Rayeen, A T Studios & New Edge – Mumbai Assisted by Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Executive Producer A T Studios – Krutee Trivedi
Head Of Production A T Studios – Aashish Narula
Guitar – Sanjoy Das
Musician Names:
Programmed – Amit Trivedi, Raja Rasaily, Vineeth Jayan & Meghdeep Bose
Flute – Paras Nath
Strokes & Bass Guitar – Meghdeep Bose
Song: Sweetheart
Singer: Dev Negi
Music: Amit Trivedi
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
DOP: Tushar Kanti Ray
Action Director: Dave Judge & Sunil Rodrigues
Editor: Chandan Arora
Background Score: Hitesh Sonik
Sound Designer: Allwin Rego & Sanjay Maurya
Crew
Composed & Produced by Amit Trivedi
Recording Engineers A T Studios Mumbai – Abhishek Sortey & Urmila Sutar Assisted by Firoz Shaikh
Mixed & Mastered by Shadab Rayeen, A T Studios & New Edge – Mumbai Assisted by Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Executive Producer A T Studios – Krutee Trivedi
Head Of Production A T Studios – Aashish Narula
Musician Names
Programmed – Amit Trivedi, Raja Rasaily
Percussions – Sanket Naik
Strokes – Tapas Roy
Backing Vocals – Rajiv Sundaresan, Suhas Sawan, Arun Kamath & Rishikesh Kamerkar
Song – Jaan ‘Nisaar (Arijit)
Singer – Arijit Singh
Lyricist – Amitabh Bhattacharya
Crew
Composed & Produced by – Amit Trivedi
Recording Engineers A T Studios Mumbai – Abhishek Sortey & Urmila Sutar Assisted by Firoz Shaikh
Mixed & Mastered by Shadab Rayeen, A T Studios & New Edge – Mumbai Assisted by Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Executive Producer A T Studios – Krutee Trivedi
Head Of Production A T Studios – Aashish Narula
MUSICIAN NAMES
Programmed – Amit Trivedi, Gourab Dutta & Meghdeep Bose
Guitar – Sanjoy Das & Meghdeep Bose
Bass Guitar – Meghdeep Bose
Song – Jaan ‘Nisaar (Asees)
Singer – Asees Kaur
Lyricist – Amitabh Bhattacharya
Crew
Composed & Produced by – Amit Trivedi
Recording Engineers A T Studios Mumbai – Abhishek Sortey & Urmila Sutar Assisted by Firoz Shaikh
Mixed & Mastered by Shadab Rayeen, A T Studios & New Edge – Mumbai Assisted by Abhishek Sortey & Dhananjay Khapekar
Executive Producer A T Studios – Krutee Trivedi
Head Of Production A T Studios – Aashish Narula
MUSICIAN NAMES
Programmed – Amit Trivedi, Gourab Dutta & Meghdeep Bose
Guitar – Sanjoy Das
Bass Guitar – Meghdeep Bose
