Dobaara – See Your Evil is a horror movie, directed by Prawaal Raman. The film stars real life siblings Huma Qureshi and Saqib Saleem, Adil Hussain and marks the return of actress Lisa Ray. The films music has been composed by Arko Pravo Mukherjee who is fast making his mark in the Bollywood music industry. The soundtrack features a total of 7 songs, 3 of which have alternate versions so that you can listen to them…Dobaara! There are also a host of new names which feature on the soundtrack, and this follows the current trend of allowing new singers and musicians, to progress within the industry.
Kaari Kaari
The first track of the album ‘Kaari Kaari’, is a beautiful, restrained ballad which has soulful vocals by upcoming singer (and a current member of the SaReGaMaPa Lil Champs jury) Asees Kaur. The composer Arko also joins Asees on the vocals, turning the song into a duet. Asees is slowly but surely making her mark in the industry, previously lending her voice to ballads such as ‘Bolna’ from Kapoor & Sons, and Kaari Kaari adds another feather in her cap. The song also has an alternative version which has been sung by upcoming singer Payal Dev (‘Saara Zamana’ from Kaabil fame). The song is a soothing, melodic number and one can tell that the lyrics relate to the story. It is my favourite song from the soundtrack.
Humdard
Singer Jyotica Tangri (of The Voice India and SaReGaMaPa fame) makes her playback singing debut with the haunting ballad ‘Humdard’. Whilst appearing as a contestant on musical reality shows, Jyotica sang many fast paced Punjabi numbers, so it is very surprising to hear her sing a relatively slow number with ease. Jyotica’s edgey vocals in the song represent the thriller aspect in the film. The alternate version of ‘Humdard’ is quite different to the original, as it has been sung by Neha Pandey and Parry G and has an added rap element to it. Not entirely sure an alternate version was necessary here.
Ab Raat
The third song on the soundtrack is called ‘Ab Raat’ and it has been composed by Samira Koppikar (NH10 fame). Arijit Singh has sung the original version of the song, while Samira herself, sings the alternate version along with Jonathan Rebeiro. I personally feel the song is an average number on the soundtrack, with its original version turning into a run of the mill, ordinary, alkost ‘heard before’ Arijit Singh song. I think the original could have done better with a different singer, or only Samira’s version should have been kept on the album.
Malang
The trend of taking UK Asian Artist songs seems to continue in Bollywood music. If you are familiar with your UK Asian Artist names, then Tasha Tah definitely features in the list. She is making her Bollywood debut with the song ‘Malang’ and has definitely brought a different and almost club like sound to the soundtrack. Personally, this song represents my least favourite genre of music, but it must hold an important place in the films story which is why it features on the album. I hope! Sadly this is probably the most skippable track on the album!
One thing that always surprises me when it comes to Bollywood horror films, is that they are often accompanied by a romantic soundtrack. However, Dobaara doesn’t have a strong romantic angle in its music. What I found the most disappointing from the album, was to see three original songs only. It seems that the current trends in the Bollywood music industry are simply reinforcing the lack of creativity, as many composers seem to be taking the easy way out to compose songs, by creating unnecessary alternate versions or recreating previously popular songs. I hope this trend fades away soon and we are given soundtracks which feature only original compositions. My top picks from Dobaara are ‘Kaari Kaari’ and ‘Humdard’. Dobaara released on 2nd June 2017.
