Ram Gopal Verma movies have always been a mark for unique and brilliant music (Rangeela( and Mast(). Therefore, it goes without saying that one expects a little bit of musical brilliance from his latest venture Agyaat – The Unknown, even though it is of a horror/thriller genre with little to no room for musical numbers.
Agyaat stars Telugu artiste Nitin who is making his debut into Hindi cinema and RGV favourite Nisha Kothari (Aag). It has music by Bapi-Tutul, lyrics by Prashant Pandey, Sandip Singh and Sarim Momin. The soundtrack consists of six songs and showcases the vocal talents of several unfamiliar playback singers amongst which is Shweta Pandit (‘Joshile Jawan Ho’ – Fight Club).
Agyaat – The Unknown becomes known to the world on 7th of August.
The album commences with Jai Shiv Bam Shambu by Runa Rizvi. It is a techno dance number with a mix of Hindi and English lyrics, well sung by Rizvi. An up-beat number that may not merit a channel change if it comes over the radio, but apart from that it is quite unimpressive. Lyrics are a mesh of mediocre screams of Jee Le and Pee Le and other such run-of-the-mill statements. If you are into easy, pumping numbers to nod your head to, ‘Jai Shiv Shambu’ is not bad, but if you are looking for R D Burman’s ‘Jai Jai Shiv Shankar’ or another hit RGV number like ‘Khallas’ get ready to be disappointed.
Next is Kiss You Day and Night, another modern dance number with a romantic element in the same line as ‘Jai Shiv Bam Shambu’, as in it also has Hinglish lyrics. It is sung well by Earl and Banjotsana who both suit the trendy music. The lyrics again are nothing to brag about. The song starts of well but the chorus is very weak, devoid of any characteristics of a catchy number. On the bright side, the rest of the song is strictly okay, mostly due to the Bapi-Tutul’s good musical arrangement. If only they worked more on the chorus, as it gives the audience are bad first impression of the song. The song also appears as a remix, which begins quite slowly for a remix and makes one lose interest in it. If one does, do not worry, you have not missed much as the remix is as ordinary as the original, if not worse than that.
Just when you are about to think that this album is not worth your while, comes Khoobsurat sung by the immensely talented yet considerably underrated Shewta Pandit (one of the six singing debutantes from Mohabatein) and Vicky Joshi. A melodious, soft romantic duet sung to perfection by Pandit and Joshi, it stays true to its name, it is simply beautiful. Joshi is an excellent amalgamation of Shaan and Kumar Sanu and both he and Pandit sound great together. The music is brilliant. It is slightly modern, foot-tapping, and an all-round contemporary number that will definitely win hearts.
Sun Sakhte Ho is next and it gives you a taste of what Agyaat is all about, an unknown, unseen terror impossible to escape or hide from. Bapi and Keka Ghosal embrace the sinister and suspenseful ambience of the number and give quite eerie performances. It might not have as much of an effect when you just listen to it, but when combined with frightening visuals the song will definitely send chills down peoples’ spines.
Jungle Jungle, a loud and junglee number sung by Jankee Parikh and Imran breaks the album’s good streak. The wild music combined with the unruly vocals of Jankee makes the song a noisy experience.
The album ends with Na Koi, an instrumental sprinkled with Shewta Pandit’s vocals. In the same line as ‘Sun Sakhte Ho’, it reflects the feel of the movie, in that the music is foreboding, spine-chilling and sinister. However, the track is entirely situational and therefore holds not entertainment value on its own.
In summary, it might be better if the music of Agyaat – The Unknown is remains unknown to most people. Musically, it presses all the right buttons but unfortunately the buttons have been pressed before and we all know what the results are. While the movie may be a thrilling horror, the soundtrack is anything but. ‘Khoobsurat’ is the only track worth your time and money.
