Bluffmaster and Ek Chalis Ki Last Local. Two titles that comes to mind when one listens to Johny Gaddaar. The composers are certainly not the same but the genre of music is. Not all will find it appealing, however if you enjoyed the above albums then you have a good chance of liking many aspects of Johnny Gaddaar.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have taken the most unexpected turn. For a trio that have delivered the average and mediocre styled albums in the last few months, this album comes as a big surprise. Anyone who likes a change will certainly call this a good surprise.
The albums kicks off with the title track Hey Johnny. It’s been recorded in three languages: Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. If you’re looking for a poetic numbers than this album is certainly not your cup of tea. Johnny Gaddaar is an album that is crude, realistic and consists of street-wise lyrics. Words are not hidden in poetic language instead delivered like it is meant to be understood. Hey Johnny is exactly this. The music is eerie and glides towards the genre of rock music. The new generation will absolutely love it however all those that need poetry or those who are accustomed to the typical Bollywood and Indian style music will find the track of much disturbance.
Move Your Body… an overrated phrase in the Indian music industry but one that has been given a different meaning in this album. The music is a mix between retro-Bollywood and Punjabi and tune that will most certainly be rocking nightclubs! The lyrics continue on the trend of street-smart words without any poetic covering and they do tend to get a bit relative due to the repetition of the chorus but, the overall composition makes up for it. This song has also been recorded in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.
Dhokha is a track that upon listening can be immediately pointed out as a background track. Anousha Mani’s voice manages to take one back to the days of Hema Malini and Zeenat Aman. An entirely listenable number but not as impressive as the first two tracks.
For all those who didn’t quite enjoy ‘Hey Johnny’ the album provides for a remix. The most intriguing aspect of this remix is that it does not rely on the additional beats and layered music but rather on other effects that enhance the song.
Along with remix of ‘Hey Johnny’ comes the “Phat Mix” of ‘Move Your Body’: not too impressive since the original itself was fine.
Johnny Breakbeat Mera Naam pays tribute to the legendry Dev Anand’s ‘Johnny Mera Naam’. With lyrics and songs from Dev Anand’s classic comes a combination of compositions used in the title track. This track certainly does not stand out but maybe something someone would like to be playing in the backdrop.
Now comes a fantastic track that may catch many people’s attention, Revenge of the 70s! A track that’s purely instrumental and is an ode to musical geniuses like Lakshmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji and more.
Following in trend for the last two tracks that pay tribute to various people, The Caper Begins is a sinister instrumental track, also meant as a background score to accompany the movie. It Reminds me much of background scores from both, Hollywood and Bollywood movies of 70s, especially of the various James Bond movies.
Toss is yet another instrumental track that accompanies compositions from the title track, however in a darker setting.
Till now the album was paying tributes to the 70s, however Confidence is one for the 60s! Yet again we hear the eerie, dark, and intriguing genre of composition used with a mixture of background scores from action or climax sequences of that era.
For all those who think that the current music trend is absolute rubbish and cherish track of centuries back, this album even provides a solution for that. “Bhule Bisre Geet” pays a tribute yet again to music of pervious eras. Lyrics from “Ghade ki Suiya” and “Dholki” provide a great time travel experience.
Johnny Gaddaar is certainly not for everyone’s taste, but it’s sure to have its’ own audience. The first two tracks are so outstanding that they cater for whatever the others lack. It’s an terrific album in its own way.
