Javed saab’s existential banter in Socha hai and the very colloquial, relatable lyrics in Pichle saat dinon mein come alive in Farhan Akhtar’s slightly old’ish, but adequately grungy vocals. The title song’s guitar riffs – courtesy Ehsaan Noorani – and the punchy tune are spot on! The ladies aren’t far behind either – they’re in fact scintillating – Dominique Cerejo in the breezy Ye tumhari meri baatein and Caralisa Monteiro in the delightfully serene Phir dekhiye. Zehreelay is powerfully and convincingly heavier and metal’ish than the rest, while Farhan’s earnest, if not perfect vocals convey the feelings in Tum ho toh beautifully. The adventurous Sindbad the Sailor, with Farhan and Raman Mahadevan crooning together is intermittently engaging. The true highlight of the soundtrack is the live version of Pichle saat dinon mein – the trio successfully create a stadium-rock of anthemic proportions. Director Farhan Akhtar pulls off his new role as a singer with panache in this soundtrack. But, with minimal direct references to conventional and well known rock idioms, the musical trio are truly the heroes of this lively, innovative and thoroughly enjoyable soundtrack. Despite the cliché, I’ll take this as the most appropriate moment to say, Rock on dudes!
Keywords: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonca, Javed Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar, Prachi Desai, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny, Koel Puri, Suraj Jagan, Raman Mahadevan, Dominique Cerejo, Caralisa Monteiro