Based on the short story ‘Khokababur Pratyabartan’ written by Rabindranath Tagore, ‘Darbaan’ is an emotional tale of a young man (Sharad Kelkar) and a person (Sharib Hashmi) who served his family for years and has been like a family member to him. The fact that the film deals with human relationships makes one believe that it would have a good scope for music. When you check the credits, you realize there are four original tracks. While three songs have been composed by Amartya Bobo Rahut, one has been set to tune by Raajeev V Bhalla. The lyrics have been written by Manoj Yadav, Siddhanth Kaushal and Akshay K Saxena.
Manoj Yadav writes some wonderful lines that give a philosophical bent to “Khushmizaaj”, a song that talks about life and the relationship shared by two individuals. The song has a happy, positive vibe to it which reflects in the way it has been composed, arranged, written and sung. The wonderfully laidback energy in the song comes across beautifully in the drawl-like manner Arijit renders a couple of portions. Here is a song you might want to play on a loop while going out on a drive with your loved ones.
Though titled “Rang Bhariya”, the lead male vocalist, thankfully, pronounces the phrase in the right manner (“rang bhareya”). Gulraj Singh has a good voice which was quite evident in the way he had sung “Pakeezah”, a song he had written and composed for ‘Ungli’ (2014). This time around, he lets Amartya give him directions behind the mic and he does a very good job behind the mic. A tuneful number that benefits hugely from Indian-styled orchestral arrangements. The arrangements, the tune and the overall vibe of the song faintly remind one of “Kabira” (‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’). Amrita Singh’s voice is heard briefly in the song but she leaves a huge mark with her rendition.
As you listen to “Dil Bandar”, you realize it might have been picturised on a child actor in the film. Tushar Joshi manages to bring out the playfulness in Amartya’s tune and the innocence in Siddhant Kaushal’s lyrics wonderfully to the fore with his rendition. Watch out for the way he sings “tu…oo…oo…oo…ooo”. The orchestral arrangements are nice and play an important role in keeping you engrossed in the song. While this is, perhaps, not a song you would like to hear multiple times at a stretch, it is tuneful enough and should work very well with accompanying visuals.
Raajeev V Bhalla comes behind the mic to croon his own composition “Behti Si”. While the tune is reminiscent of some of the songs composed by Anupam Roy, Raajeev’s voice also sounds similar to Roy’s. The child vocalist’s (Rashi Harmalkar) voice accompanied by the sound of an ukulele amplifies the positive energy in the song. Akshay K Saxena’s lyrics are simple and complement the tune well. This song fits in well with the rest of the songs in the album.
The (full) album of many films releasing on OTT platforms tend to release after the film or very close to the release of the film. The music of ‘Darbaan’ has released eleven days before the film releases on a streaming platform and that is quite a welcome change. Amartya Bobo Rahut shows some good range as a composer in the three songs he has put together for the film. Guest composer Raajeev V Bhalla, too, pitches in with a fairly engaging song. The songs are pleasant and should work very well within the narrative structure of the film.