After delivering a brilliant album with Mausam and proving his detractors wrong, Pritam is back with the soundtrack to Desi Boyz, an out and out commercial entertainer. David Dhawan’s son Rohit makes his directorial debut with Akshay Kumar and John Abraham reuniting to play male strippers! Promising not to be as bawdy as his dad’s films, Rohit Dhawan definitely has everything going in his favour with a great cast and naughty storyline. Pritam has scored some fabulous music to Akshay Kumar films from Singh is Kinng to Action Replayy but after the lacklustre and noisy soundtrack to Thank You expectations are high for this biggie. The music for the film immediately hooks the listener in but can Pritam really stay away from going overboard and throwing in the kitchen sink too?
The album starts with a bang with, Make Some Noise For The Desi Boyz, which has some immediate appeal with its pulsating drums and Bob’s forceful intro. The song almost sounds like it would be a hip-hop track but once the potent electric guitar riffs come on, it truly impresses alongside all the sound effects that are typical Pritam. It is a runaway hit, especially with KK varying up his voice and having a lot of fun on this track and adds a Punjabi flavour that beats Neeraj Shridhar who would be the usual fit for a song like this. The bridge is excellent with a funky guitar riff that gives that song an extra kick, which completely works. A must listen! As usual, the song has a remix, which instead enhances the club feel with an unnecessary rap verse, and it dulls the enthusiasm and fun of the original song and overdoes the Euro-pop sound. Skip it!
The album continues to hit a good stride with, Subha Hone Na De, which opens with a fun opening verse and then launches into club mode with the electronica sound. Yet the song is not completely into the Euro-techno pop sound and has a disctinctly Indian vibe to it, especially with Mika leading the way here. Mika sounds awesome on this track, as he adds that Punjabi swagger he brings to all his songs, but in an electronica song like this he is equally at home and even sounds okay with the autotune. Shefali Alvares also sounds lovely on the track and makes the song less clubby and dreamier, which definitely helps elevate that song to another level. The remix of the song fares a lot better than the previous song, as it sounds innovative and has so many layers to it to enjoy. Though it slows the song down a tad more, it allows the listener to savour the great vocals of Mika and Alvares. When the song finally speeds up the tempo, it sounds very David Guetta-like which enhances the danceable mood of the song. The song is obviously one of the main strengths as they repeat the song as Tu Mera Hero rearranging the same verse and chorus a bit. This one adds more autotune to both singers which doesn’t really help much but it is essentially the same track, so do listen to the first one. However if you want a full on electro track and some awkward rapping from Mika then choose this one!
We finally get to the favourite on the album, Jhak Maar Ke, which has a strong hook with a familiar strumming guitar alongside the shehnaii effect and then it is heartening in finally hearing Neeraj Shridhar makes his entry with the opening verse! This may just the usual commercial song to appeal across the board, but it is such fun to listen to that you forget about the typicality of the songs and same beats we’ve heard before. What makes it that extra something is Harshdeep Kaur who tries a song less traditional and sounds like she is having some fun too. Neeraj Shridhar is as usual, ever dependable in making the song what it is, a fun desi number that everyone can dance to and enjoy. The composition of the song sounds a lot like ‘Chor Bazari’, which was another gem, and has that twangy guitar throughout mixing alongside the dhol, which always works. The remix version sounds terrible and dulls the singers’ voices and sounds very underprepared. The mix of electronic beats and playing up the Indian elements really does not mesh and makes the song sound overdone.
The next song, Allah Maaf Kare, sounds uncannily similar to ‘Razia’ from Thank You’ and the reworking of a previous song makes this one somewhat stale. Yet this version with Sonu Nigam and Shilpa Rao sharing vocals is much smoother composition and plays up the Western elements more. The song is composed nicely and allows the singers to have fun with the material. Yet the autotune and chipmunk voices are very distracting and hamper this song. The song is not terrible but it is neither anything special, it is a simpler rehash of a previous song that adds nothing to the overall album.
It is always lovely to hear Shaan’s voice, and he does not disappoint in Let It Be, which sounds like a nice breezy indie romantic number. The composition immediately impresses with the delicate guitar strumming in the back and folksy recorder there, which makes it a novel sound for a Pritam number. The Hinglish lyrics do not add much but the gist of the speaker regretting his mistakes and wants his gal to stick by him is eloquently penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya. Shaan sounds evocative in all the right parts and so smooth on this track. A cute romantic song!
The music to Desi Boyz is a nice mixed bag of good tunes that will no doubt capture the charts and listeners too. Pritam follows up his gem album Mausam that impressed the music connoisseurs with Desi Boyz proving he can still score a commercial film equally well. The songs are a good bunch of fun and danceable tracks which is the main objective, and the only downers are some of the remixes, but do enjoy this one!
