Average fare. Review on Raja Natwarlal Songs

Emraan Hashmi films are known to have good music and his pairing with director Kunal Deshmukh has always worked. It is with this anticipation that one looks forward to what their latest offering Raja Natwarlal  has to offer to music buffs. There is one slight surprise though in the choice of the composer as the makers have gone down south and handed over the reins of music to Yuvan Shankar Raja, the son of legendary music maestro Ilayaraja. Lyrics of Irshad Kamil always carry weight and so it is quite exciting to check out this new soundtrack.

The album kicks off with Dukki Tikki with the vocals of Mika Singh and Yuvan Shankar Raja.  Right from the beginning, the song has a strong south influence. As always, Mika sings with great energy but with an affected diction where the listener should make a strong effort to decipher what he is singing.  On the music front, a better beginning was expected from the album and it is to be seen how the hindi speaking belt would react to this song which sounds more like a Tamil ditty. The song will fare better with a good video, but is strictly okay heard in isolation.

Rating: 2.5/5

Shwetha Pandit sings the second track Tere Hoke Rahenge which has an appealing start.  The music and the lyrics evoke a romantic feel in the listeners and the composer does a fine job indeed by creating a pleasant tune which would definitely work with the audience. Shwetha is the right choice for this track as she is able to do justice to the many moods of the song. She is at ease with both high and low notes and  is one reason why the song works in entirety. A good hear.

Rating:3/5

There is a reprise version of Tere Hoke Rahenge  with the vocals of the singer of the season Arijit Singh.  The arrangements remain almost the same, but it is Arijit’s singing which takes the song to a different level. There is a magical quality in Arijit’s voice which ensures that anything he sings rises above the compositions and it is a fine quality indeed which not many artists possess. Coupled with Emraan’s presence in the video, this song will surely rise in the charts and will stay on for quite some time.

Rating:3.5/5

Namak Paare sees Mamta Sharma and Anupam Amod behind the mike. This is an item song which is quite middling to say the least. The music lacks the verve required to make such a track work. The composer closely follows a formula by including whistles and a few beats, but the track would have worked better with a good tune. Mamta Sharma is very consistent;she seldom tries anything different and is still stuck with such numbers. Munni, Fevicol were big hits.Yes, but it is surely time to test new waters. Anupam Amod is average as well and there is nothing to look forward to lyrically.

Rating:2/5

Kabhi Ruhani Kabhi Rumani is the penultimate track sung by Benny Dayal.  With a predominantly Indian orchestration, this one attempts a Sufi kind of sound.  Irshad’s lyrics are impressive and Benny Dayal too is in fine form successfully delivering the slight nuances with good precision. It is indeed surprising to hear him in such a song, as it has become customary for him to appear in energetic dance tracks. This one is the second chartbuster of the album

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Rating:3/5

It is two in a row for Benny Dayal as he makes one more appearance in the last song Flip Your Collar Back. This is more in his territory, but he is not quite in his elements here as the composition itself is not impressive. It is quite difficult to understand what this song is all about as there is a cacophony of sounds all through. It is a highly situational track which might make some sense once the video is out.

Rating:2/5

The album does not quite turn out to be a typical Emraan Hasmi chartbuster. Apart from Tere Hoke Rahenge and Kabhi Ruhani Kabhi Rumani, there is pretty little to cheer about. Dukki Tikki and Namak Paare under deliver and for fans of Hashmi who have been accustomed to hear blazing hits in his films, this album will disappoint them. There was good scope for Yuvan Shankar to make a mark on his debut, but he makes an average start.

Overall Rating: 2.5/5