Bejoy Nambiar has always had intriguing music in his films, his signature being an ensemble of exciting indie music talent and their sexy picturisations. The Mani Ratnam protégé won more fans for the way he used a re-imagined version of the Mohammad Rafi classic ‘Khoya Khoya Chaand’ in Shaitan than for the film itself.
His next, David, followed suit. Nambiar can be credited to have ushered in the indie world into Hindi film music. Now, with Wazir , he is put somewhat outside his personal space. Wazir , being produced and written by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, has brought in his own favourite Bollywood regulars such as Shantanu Moitra.
It’s not that Nambiar hasn’t shown affinity towards popular film composers; he worked with Anirudh Ravichander, the man behind ‘Kolaveri Di’ in David . But when you hear ‘Tere Bin’, you find the imprint of Chopra’s previous collaborations with Moitra.
Moitra has the tendency to repeat himself. The part that goes.. ‘tere bina marna nahi’ will straightaway remind you of ‘Ferari Mon’, a song from one of Moitra’s best works, the Bengali film Antaheen . But the intention is pure and the song has its own identity. It is rendered with warmth and depth by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghosal
Ankit Tiwary seems like a rather odd fit for a film by Nambiar. But a T-series favourite, with a knack for delivering hit sufi-rock style ballads, Tiwary thankfully does a pretty good job with ‘Tu Mere Paas’. Yes, he needs to experiment before his style reaches its expiry date, but he composes a likable, if slightly sentimental, song of love and melancholy.
It’s unfortunate that overuse of the word ‘maula’ in songs has made it into a cliché in the Hindi film music lexicon. ‘Maula’, a standard qawwali, thankfully sounds clutter-free because of some fresh arrangement by Moitra, and the chord changes are particularly effective.
My favourite is ‘Khel Khel Mein’, where the Nambiar stamp is evident. Using one of the best tracks of Delhi-bsed fusion band Advaita with a monologue by Bachchan (first heard in the trailer of the film) seems to be the kind of juxtaposition Nambiar enjoys. It makes for a very addictive, on-loop listen.
‘Tere Liye Mera Kareem’, composed by Prashant Pillai, sounds grim, raw and powerful. Pillai makes great use of vocal harmony with the electric guitar riffs to compelling effect. The Wazir theme by Gaurav Godkhindi captures the pulse of a thriller. Expect it to underline crucial scenes and to certainly grow on you .
Overall, Wazir is a good album, one that has imagination, relevance for its narrative and that doesn’t seem to insult the tastes of listeners.
Wazir
Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Writer and producer: Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Music: Shantanu Moitra, Ankit Tiwary
