Fans absolutely cannot wait to see Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol romance each other again when Dilwale hits the big screen on December 18th. Also starring Kriti Sanon and Varun Dhawan, Dilwale is full of romance, action and drama with a touch of comedy and dance thrown in, all done Rohit Shetty style. It is easy to say that Dilwale looks to be a great night at the movies.
For the music of the film, Shetty brought in Pritam, who has been on a great run of musical highlights with his recent OSTs. I have to be honest, after seeing the trailer for the film, I had no idea what the full music of Dilwale might be. So was I surprised at what the composition of songs of the highly anticipated film turned out to be? Read on to find out!
The beginning of Gerua is really grating on the ears, but then we get the lovely flute line and I am musically smiling ear to ear again. The song then transposes with this cool syncopated acoustic guitar and drums, which really adds a nice changeup to the rather classic beats. Full of a pretty melody and a percussive depth, the music is wonderful. It takes you back in time to the classic filmi romantic songs. Even without seeing the breathtakingly gorgeous song picturization, you can just imagine the hero and heroine together in the song. That it is Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol together again makes it even better. The locations and the shots designed by Farah Khan takes the song to an even higher level of epic romanticness. But we are talking about the track alone and Arijit Singh and Antara Mitra are wonderful. I love the emotion they both put into the song and the tone to their voices is beautiful. What I love best about this song is that I get lost in the moment of love between the two, and that is just in hearing the song. The music, the vocals and the lyrics take me there and I want to be there with my hero standing arms out wide and then I am turning into Shah Rukh Khan’s arms…okay I am back. A perfect romantic song that I know I have on replay and I think you will too. The video, as I said, makes this song even more perfect and you must check it out!
Up next is the more modern hip-hop beats of Manma Emotion Jaage. Picturized on Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon, this song is a dance track that features vocals by Amit Mishra, Anushka Manchanda and Antara Mitra. I love the beginning of the track with the wicked vibe that sets up the flavor of the track. The beat is good but it is Amit Mishra’s singing that makes the song to cool. He has this swagger to his voice and it fits the groove, in fact it makes the groove. Both Anushka Manchanda and Antara Mitra feature in more of a rap flavored style and they both bring it. I liked the song, it got me swaying a bit at the computer, but it felt it was missing something. I did not want to get up and try the moves. But full props to Amit Mishra! Give it a spin, it may be your jam.
Oh how I loved the beautiful Janam Janam from the first melodic notes. Not at all what I was expecting, this song is one of my favorites of Pritam. I know that the composer wanted to harken back to the days of Raj Kapoor and Nargis and I was instantly taken there and have I said… I loved it. The orchestration is brilliant and it makes the song resonate even more beautifully. I wanted to hear this song again before it was even over and that to me is the mark of a great song. Once again Arijit Singh proves why he is in such high demand, the whispery yet strong tonal quality to his voice and the emotion he puts in every word is perfect for this love song. I do enjoy hearing him sing. Antara Mitra joins in and like Singh, has this soft yet vibrant flavor that just makes the song. Her gorgeous tone fits the music and the feel of the track. A perfect mix of music and singers, this one definitely makes the list of one of the best of the album and quite possibly on the list of the best of the year. And that is even without seeing the video or even more seeing it within in the film! I have now seen the video and loved it and I do love Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol together sighhhhh. I know this will play even better onscreen and I will love it even more.
I really loved the Spanish infused beginning of Tukur Tukur. The song continues on with a bit more of a folk flavor, with an underlying Spanish guitar, the peppy beat seems to be set in the celebration sounds of Goa. What makes the song is Arijit Singh. With an energetic inflection he takes the song, runs with it and makes it. As it goes along ‘Tukur Tukur’ gets better and better especially in the middle section with Arijit really singing his heart out. This is probably not a song I would want to play again and again, but I think it will play well within a scene in the film. I am very intrigued into what that might be. I say wait for the movie for this one.
Again Pritam had me from the first notes with Daayre. It has a new age-y feeling to the instrumentation. A beautiful composition – you feel that the music is surrounding you as you listen to it, which I love. We are once again treated to Arijit Singh singing with so much emotion that literally you feel each note. I loved Arijit’s runs, they were amazing, but I thought the music was actually a bit overdone and took away from how good they were. The song built musically as it went on and though I preferred the simple beginning, I did get swept away by the full orchestration with the rock underlayment by the end. This was another song that I could not wait to start again before it was even over. Needless to say this has been on repeat. Put this one on your playlists! Like ‘Janam Janam’, ‘Daayre’ makes the list of one of the best of the album and I predict we will see this track on the list of the best songs of 2015.
Premika musically is very interesting, it started off like an orchestral track that got hijacked by a dance mix that then develops into a very fast groove with, and I may be wrong about this, but a disco 70s infusion with a Spanish underlay. Singing with great energy and inflection, Benny Dayal is of course is fabulous. The music transposes a bit in the next section to have more of an EDM style featuring the also fabulous Kanika Kapoor. I really liked the Premi-kaaaa-aaaa-aaaa syncopation hook. Overall though by the end the music was just too much, with too many sounds and I wanted to turn it down, not up. I will say I can see it playing in a club with people getting their dance on jumping to the beat. So give it a listen this one maybe one that plays better while you are on a dance floor or within the scene in the film. Not a miss but not a hit either.
Theme of Dilwale is a mix by DJ Chetas featuring Arijit Singh. Starting off with the ‘Gerua’ melody in flute and piano, you smile and you keep smiling throughout the mix. While adding the synth beats, he kept the original feel of the song and the feel of the whole OST and just enhanced it. I loved the piano lines he added in. I especially loved that Arijit’s runs were featured. They really shined in this song. He created just the right mix of new elements with the basis of the original tracks and it makes for a great song. It honestly is one of the best mixes I have heard.
So to answer the question, was I surprised at the songs of Dilwale? Yes! I am not sure what I was expecting but with Dilwale, Pritam created an OST full of musically interesting songs with amazing singers. Each track offers something that I enjoyed listening too, and even if it was not my favorite song, it still was different and cool. I cannot wait to see this set of tracks within the context of the film. I was excited before to see Dilwale and this has amped up my eagerness even more. Give it a listen, especially to ‘Gerua’, ‘Janam Janam’ and ‘Daayre’.
