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Rockstar – Ali Zafar (Coke Studio Season 8, Episode 2)
Beyond putting good looks to good use in Bollywood as a questionable second lead, it’s good to see Ali Zafar keeping in touch with his musical past, returning to Coke Studio after 6 years. For Rockstar, he turns Nickelback’s famous song of the same title, on its head – into a fantastic parody. Singing in an impressive falsetto, Ali goes, ‘I’m a superstar, mujhe roz hota hai pyaar’. Elsewhere he sings, ‘My name is AZ, sweet baby… baby you’re the one… but allowed toh hain naa chaar’, echoing Nickelback’s ‘The girls come easy (and the drugs come cheap)’. Ali pulls of this madness in impressive style, with a flashy Broadway style tune to boot.
Kinna sona – Bhaag Johnny (Hindi – Mithoon)
Long before Mithoon settled into his disappointing, droning current sound, he composed pure gems like ‘Maula mere’ (Anwar, 2007). He had nailed the pop-Sufi sound so well back then. So, it’s heartening to see him bring that back with Kinna sona, in Bhaag Johnny. Sung beautifully by Sunil Kamath, though with predictably cringe-worthy lyrics by Amitabh Verma, the tune and Mithoon’s music is incredibly engaging, with little nifty touches like the sax that plays after ‘Kinna sona tu sona to haan’.
Maya O Maya – Courier Boy Kalyan (Telugu – Karthik)
Maya O Maya is composer (and singer, of course) Karthik’s way of giving us what is a textbook template of an instantly likeable uptempo pop song. It checks every single box in the feel-good pop genre – catchy, persistent rhythm, flowing horns, an addictive ‘Aiyo aiyo Rama’ hook and of course, Karthik’s endearing vocals. All this… including a cool mandolin’ish second interlude!
Ove janiya – Katti Batti (Hindi – Shankar Ehsaan Loy)
Mohan Kannan, of the band Agnee, breathes life into this immersive song that can best be described as Punjabi-Soul. Composers Shankar Ehsaan Loy let the tune’s inherent beauty permeate by keeping the orchestration wonderfully restrained and appropriate using keyboard and a mild percussion to great effect. Lyricist Kumaar too helps the process with his easy Hindi-Punjabi mix.
Title song – Subramanyam For Sale (Telugu – Mickey J Meyer)
Subramanyam For Sale, the entire soundtrack, is decidedly Mickey out of his comfort zone and playing to the gallery in style, including a remake of Raj-Koti’s evergreen Khaidi No.786 number, Guvva Gorinka. The highlight of the soundtrack is however the flamboyant title song that uses a punchy 80s pop sound, complete with a percussion-only second interlude that reminds one of the 80s dance battles between the hero and the villain! The song gains immensely from Rahul Nambiar’s full-throated singing, incidentally.
