How do you get yourself to review work of a composer who’s so above the usual crowd? Who’s music is beyond the average man’s understanding. Who continues to defy the trends of the industry and delivers something truly new each time. In case you have not guessed yet, the person I’m talking about is the now National Award winner Amit Trivedi!
I cannot speak for all music critics out there, but I personally find it incredibly difficult to translate his music into words for audiences. Yet it must be done so here’s presenting the music review of Rajkumar Gupta’s much talked about thriller No One Killed Jessica, inspired from the Jessica Lal case. The cast of the film needs no introduction consisting of Rani Mukherjee and Vidya Balan. Amit Trivedi joins hands with the lyricist in conjunction with whom he delivered his National Award Winning album Dev D, Amitabh Bhattacharya. Naturally one shouldn’t be expecting average Bollywood music from a Trivedi album, especially when it is endorsing a film like No One Killed Jessica.
The album starts off the with the very eccentric Dilli Dilli track, which has already won hearts of audiences from the initial promos. The track is unpredictable yet predictable in the sense that it is exactly the type of number that you’d expect from a Trivedi album. It’s loud, it’s raw and it’s fabulous! Tochi Raina, Shriam Iyer & Aditi Singh Sharma breath life into this track. Amit Trivedi continues to showcase his talent of mixing various vocals to create one winning number. The fusion created by the raw Hindi lyrics, Indian notes and rock music is the true highlight of the album. If ‘Emotional Atyachaar’ was the chart rocking number from Dev D that stole the show, for NOKJ it may just be ‘Dillli Dilli’! (There’s also a Dilli Hardcore version that bares little difference to the original sadly.)
If you thought ‘Dilli’ was off the hook and ‘crazy’ than you ain’t heard anything yet! Wait till the rocking team of Aditi Singh Sharma, Anushka Manchanda, Biswasjit Chakraborty, Raja Hassan, Shriram Iyer, Sonika Sharma, Sonu Kakar & Tochi Raina step in their fulto Indian-Tapori avatar with Aaali Re! There is no sign of diplomacy in this number, it is as uncensored as a song could get in an album and above all, it remains to be so loveable! To an extent it initially starts off to be a tapori-chick-rock number, but then the guys come in to take the crazy to a whole new level. What you end up with ultimately is a song that can’t be slotted into any particular genre. As for which instruments are used that can only be identified by the composer himself. Amitabh Bhattacharya surely deserves awards in abundance for coming up with the most ‘interesting’ words to describe the character of Meera (Rani Mujherjee). Let’s just say, you’ll end up with a whole new vocabulary list after this number. Listen, enjoy and perhaps just to be safe, keep away from your folks if they’re still into old school music!
Aitbaar turns the ‘crazy’ levels down a little bit. Vishal Dadlani, Mame Khan and Robert Omulo are heard on this number. It’s clearly a number right up Vishal’s alley and perhaps no one could have pulled it off as well as he did. Mame Khan’s voice mixes in an interesting way with Vishal’s where the two are similar in ways but also can be distinguished from each other. Perhaps the only downside to this track is the mediocre English rap that just breaks the flow of the track. The track could have easily done without the rap because Vishal’s voice leaves no stone unturned. He pulled off the ‘rap’ feel quite well with Amitabh’s Hindi lyrics. This one ends up being a strictly ‘average’ number.
For all those complaining up till now that the loudness of the album is hurting their ears then you’ll be in for a treat with Dua. Meena Jain leads the group of singers consisting of Raman Mahadevan, Amitabh Bhattacharya and Joi Barua who provide the very uplifting chorus for the number. It’s a soft piano piece that boasts of quality lyrics. Once again Trivedi creates a great blend of vocals with Meena’s very Indian and feminine voice contrasted beautifully with the male vocals. Just when you think he track is making you fall asleep it picks up at a steady rock beat that adds to the uplifting and inspirational feel of the number. This one is a clear showcase of Trivedi’s versatility.
Shilpa Rao comes in next with the only solo number of the album, Yeh Pal. This may well be a number that may go unnoticed amongst the loudness and catchy tunes of the initial tracks in the album, however for me this one was the true ‘album-stealer’! Shilpa’s vocals are simply breathtaking in combination with the bass strings in the background in the initial portion of the track. The extended musical interlude towards the end is the real highlight of the song. A great blend of instruments is at display with a beautiful string orchestra leading the pack. This one is clearly a track made to bring out a larger feel onscreen, however it works as beautifully on its own. Such is the power of composition, which is the true highlight of this fabulous song.
Sadly all goods things have to come to an end eventually and so ends the album of No One Killed Jessica. Amit Trivedi lives up to the high expectations that now will forever follow him everywhere after the National Award and immense commercial success of Aisha and Dev D. The album turns out to have something for all music lovers, be it someone who likes Trivedi’s crazy eccentric music or someone who would much rather a soft soulful number. Ultimately, an album certainly worth checking out!
