The biggest selling point of Happy Bhag Jayegi so far had been the return of actress Diana Penty, almost four years after her debut in Cocktail . Now, with the launch of the movie’s music album, there are also a few good songs to look forward to. What’s interesting is that the lyrics have been penned by the movie’s writer-director Mudassar Aziz. The music has been composed by Sohail Sen, a man whose last memorable soundtrack was Mere Brother Ki Dulhan , (2011). So does Sen trun a corner with Happy Bhag Jayegi ?
The first song to be released, ‘ Gabru Ready To Mingle Hai ’, is sung by Mika Singh. It is a folksy dance piece laced with electronic elements. I have developed a liking for the song despite it not being very impressive when it was launched. Neeti Mohan and Tarannum do a fine job of supporting Singh, even rapping to Dee MC’s lyrics.
‘ Happy Oye ’ is about the central character, Penty’s Happy Kaur. Aziz uses the word Jugni to describe the character’s free-spiritedness. The actor’s debut also had a Jugni song (so did Aanand L. Rai’s Tanu Weds Manu ). Sen’s opening refrain sounds like a throwback to the Cocktail song, but it turns out to be a fresh tune, and a very good one at that. Harshdeep Kaur and Shahid Mallya deliver exceptionally well (Kaur was also part of the Jugni song in Cocktail ). This too is a folk-electronic mix, but a more imaginative and enjoyable one.
‘ Aashiq Tera ’ starts off well, a familiar melody riding on Chandakant’s mandola , before breaking into a filmi qawwali mode around the titular hook. The qawwali elements add to the déjà vu , but it still makes for good listening, thanks to a wonderful rendition from Altamash Faridi.
The arrangement by Prakash Peter has some nice moments like Chandrakant’s rabab solo in the second interlude. The theatrical rock-based finish is however an overkill.
Arijit Singh sings his heart out in the doleful ‘ Zara Si Dosti ’. Unfortunately, the singing weighs down the song with its all-too-familiar melancholic tropes, done to death in the Bhatt movies in particular.
Javed Ali leads the melodic ‘ Yaaram ’ and delivers soulfully and spotlessly. Peter produces a pleasant melange highlighted by the flute (Naveen), mandolin (Chandrakant) and guitars (Abhilash). Naveen in particular is in fine form here.
There are three songs from the soundtrack that I would back. Hope Sen continues on an upward graph from here on. The highlight of the soundtrack are the vocalists.
Vipin Nair is a co-founder of MusicAloud.com where he writes music reviews and other music-related things.
Happy Bhag Jayegi
Top recos: ‘ Happy Oye ’, ‘ Aashiq Tera ’, ‘ Yaaram ’
Music composer: Sohail Sen
Lyricists: Mudassar Aziz (rap lyrics for ‘Gabru Ready to Mingle Hai’ by Dee MC)
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