Abhishek Kapoor’s return to direction after a hiatus of nearly three years sees him reunite with his composer of choice for the last two ventures – Amit Trivedi. Instead of Swanand Kirkire though, who penned songs for those two movies, Kapoor goes with Amitabh Bhattacharya. Let’s see if the Kapoor-Trivedi team have managed to hit the musical high they did with Kai Po Che and Fitoor .
- ‘Jaan ‘Nisaar’
- ‘Namo Namo’
- ‘Qaafirana’
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 our Prime Minister 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 are particularly fabulous in the song. Sadly, it’s only in the composer’s own singing that the song is found wanting. Another track where the composer does really well is ‘Jaan ‘Nisaar’, a song that’s presented in two versions. The song has a very soothing melody (that, for some reason, that recalls 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 Bhattacharya’s well written lines. It is Kaur’s version, a beautifully nuanced rendition that appeals more, as her voice is better suited for the song.
Singh gets another pleasant romantically themed piece, ‘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 mistook for Jasleen Kaur initially). The track also benefits from the odd elements in the arrangement, like Paras Nath’s flute and the highland-ishness of the santoor. ‘Sweetheart’ is where Trivedi goes for the tried and tested, ending up with a run-of-the-mill dance track. Dev Negi’s exuberant singing is one of few takeaways of the song.
In short Kedarnath ’s soundtrack has one forgettable song out of four. Given the composer-director team’s track record though, one expected better.
