Director Anees Bazmee has made hit comedies in the past, but his films have not scored high in the music department. In fact, the last memorable song from a Bazmee film was probably ‘ Teri Ore ’ from the 2008 Singh is Kinng . Now the filmmaker is back after a gap of two years with Mubarakan. And the music of the film primarily features composers of a new generation. Let’s see how much of a difference that has made.
Gourov-Roshin deliver what would probably rate as their best compositions yet with the track ‘ Dil Dhadke Louder Louder’. Albeit, it’s nothing ground breaking, but the traditional Punjabi folk tune (which we have heard in different forms) has been adapted without annoying accoutrements. It’s quite neatly performed by Rinku Giri and Puja Basnet. Lyricist Kumaar’s (Rakesh Kumar) lines incorporate words from ‘ Baari Barsi Khatan Gaya Si ’ which also appeared in Band Baaja Baaraat (2010). Watch out for the composers instrumental coda in the final 30 seconds of the track. Given that Pakistani pop singer Hassan Jahangir’s singing in the original ‘ Hawa Hawa ’ was not exactly top notch, the inclusion of Mika Singh and Prakriti Kakar’s vocals for the Mubarakan version is a definite improvement.
The remix (with modified lyrics by Kumaar) achieves nothing additional in terms of the arrangement. And Gourov Roshin actually might have done better to just reuse the original song with new singers. The composer’s attempt to template a Sufi-ish melancholy has limited success in ‘ Haathon Mein Thhe Haath ’ and the song quickly descends into a daunting listen. The little success it has is mostly contributed by a competent vocal line-up, led by Papon and Altamash Faridi including Aditi Singh Sharma and Arpita Mukherjee.
The second composer on the soundtrack, Amaal Mallik works on two songs: both predictably follow the Punjabi dance route in a hackneyed fashion. ‘ Goggle Song ’ fares relatively better among the two, featuring Sonu Nigam with other vocalists like Malik himself and his brother Armaan, Neeti Mohan and Tulsi Kumar. The other track, ‘Jatt Jaguar’ starts with a promising folk prelude by Navraj Hans before plummeting. It’s an energetic rendition by Vishal Dadlani and Apeksha Dandekar, though not adequate to infuse enough spunk into the song itself.
Bollywood’s new remix favourite Rishi Rich joins hands with resident remix favourite Badshah (and singers Yash Narvekar and Sukriti Kakar) to produce the title song of the film. While it’s not really an out-and-out remix of a particular track, it does seem to incorporate some Pancham sounds here and there. And the end result is rather forgettable.
Typical dance numbers with a dominant Punjabi flavour, which is par for the course in an Anees Bazmee movie.
Vipin Nair writes about music on MusicAloud.com and curates music on Apple Music as MusicAloud
