BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG- MUSIC REVIEW

Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy! Expectations are really high when their credentials are attached to a music album. More so if it's a film directed by Mr. Raykesh Om  Prakash Mehra. Even more if Excel Entertainment is producing the film! Excel Entertainment has had a pretty strong association with S-E-L since the days of Dil Chahta Hai. But Raykesh ,whose earlier two films were hugely appreciated for the music, produced by AR RAHMAN, has first time paired with S-E-L. BMB is an acid test for Mehra as his last venture Delhi 6, to be gentle, was disastrous. Furthermore it's a comeback of sorts for the terrific trio who have been out of the mainstream music scene for quite some time. 

GURBANI- The album starts off on a soulful note, with Daler Mehandi successfully creating a mood of peace with his rendition of Gurbani! This short track creates an atmosphere of calmness and Daler displays his command over soft singing here.

ZINDA- Make way for Siddharth Mahadevan folks! Zinda is essentially the high octane track that an album like BMB should have. Distortion guitars, heavy metal influences thrown in and synced with a voice that i mistook for Shankars's at the high notes, makes you keep Zinda on the repeat mode! Sung with great energy, and written beautifully (Prasoon Joshi), Zinda is the quintessential chartbuster which has the ability to pull in audiences to the theaters. 

MERA YAAR- Javed Bashir delivers this romantic track (shades of Sufi-ana and folk music) and how! A soothing background music laced with local and folk sounds coupled with electric guitars and Bashir's earthy vocals take this track to a different level altogether. The song begins to grow on the listener by the end of the 1st minute of the track and trust me you wouldn't want this track to end. But the real winner here is the lyricist.

ISHQ karu ya karu IBAADAT ekk hi gal hai ( to love her or to offer prayers, it is one and the same). Simplicity at its very best. Prasoon Joshi wins you over with his wonderful poetry. There is an unbelieveable air of calmness and composure around this track. The best song from the album? Hell YES!

MASTON KA JHUND- This is a situational track. It is written beautifully and sung equally well by Divya Kumar. From the outset it sounds like a song composed by Sneha Khanwalkar because of the unusual sounds that have been used to create music. Filled with power-packed singing, this track is brimming with energy. But being a situational track it is left to be seen as to how is this track utilised in the film.

BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG- This track is aimed at carrying forward the impact of various scenes at important junctures in the film. Though the music is good and so are the vocals by Arif Lohar but this track loses all the shine in front of ZINDA. 

SLOW MOTION ANGREZA- Even the spirited vocals of Sukhwindar Singh and Shankar Mahadevan cannot save a  mediocre composition from being mediocre. This song fails to provide any impact whatsoever.

O RANGREZ- And as you think that the magic of S-E-L has almost vanished after listening to the last 2 tracks, O Rangrez comes up and restores faith in the genius of S-E-L. Sung brilliantly by Javed Bashir and Shreya Ghoshal, Rangrez forces you to sit back, forget about the thing called time and fall in love with the premise that the song sets up. The slow mix of tabla with sarangi creates a magical effect instantly!  And there are some wonderful lines by Mr. Joshi here as well. At certain points Bashir's voice does sound like that of Shafqat Amanat Ali’s (particularly at the high notes). This song works as a slow poison. Shreya Ghoshal's vocals sound simply divine, and if that is not all, Veena is synced in along with the instruments and the end result is a sheer classic.

An absolute gem of a track for the patrons of Indian Classical Music.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag boasts of songs which fit into situations in the movie. So Maston ka Jhund and Slow Motion Angreza might make cinematic sense when seen on the big screen. Something is still amiss from this album. Call it too much of situational songs or use of experimental sounds way too often, the album despite having two to three excellent songs, depends heavily on the success rate of the situational songs along with the movie.

Still, the album is worth listening to. O rangrez, Mera Yaar and Zinda are the standout compositions.

An above average album for sure.

*3.5 STARS*