In Gulaabo, Vishal Dadlani’s swagger rocks the song, but the horn section is no less impressive given how it holds the song. Anusha Mani comes out with guns blazing in ‘zara gandh pehlado’, as does Amit, on the keyboard, producing some zingy retro-pop. The abrupt title callout in Shaam Shaandaar is as pleasant as expecting a long commute in Bangalore that gets cut down by surprisingly benevolent traffic. The dhol and horns led backgrounds and interspersing them with the racy techno music works mighty well. For Nazdeekiyaan, Amit creates a beautifully dreamy soundscape that scales new, orchestral heights towards the end. While Neeti Mohan is pitch-perfect, Nikhil Paul George’s singing is oddly annoying. The marathon-length (9+ minutes!) Senti wali mental, at its heart, evokes memories of Pancham’s Nauker number, Pallu latke, but with a qawali’ish twist. It does get into a mish-mash mode, owing to the song’s duration and narrative style, and Amitabh Bhattacharya’s colloquial man vs. woman banter lyrics keeps the proceedings lively. Amitabh’s lyrics win again in Raitaa phailgaya, an instantly catchy, funky techno-Punjabi ditty powered effortlessly by Divya Kumar. Heady, fun soundtrack by Amit, almost like a, ‘Here, take this!’ to those who didn’t like Bombay Velvet.
Keywords: Shaandaar, Amit Trivedi, #200, 200
Listen to the songs: