Producer Boney Kapoor collaborated with music composer A. R Rahman for the first time on ‘Pukaar’ (2000). The music of the film was received very well and one looked forward to the producer and composer collaborating on another project soon. At that time, nobody would have imagined that the two of them would join hands for a project after a gap of two decades.
The second time Kapoor and Rahman came together was for ‘Mili’ (2022). The film had a mix of breezy and intense songs that stayed true to the theme of the film but could not reach out to a large number of listeners. ‘Mili’ had songs written by Javed Akhtar who, interestingly, had written just one song (“Kay Sera Sera”) for ‘Pukaar’ after Majrooh Sultanpuri, who had done the rest of the songs, decided he would not work on another song that was added at the last minute.
Boney and Rahman collaborate for the fourth time on ‘Maidaan’, a biographical sports drama directed by Amit Ravindernath Sharma. Amit’s earlier films (‘Tevar’ and ‘Badhai Ho’), one of which was co-produced by Boney himself, did not have great soundtracks to boast of. However, one has good expectations from the music of ‘Maidaan’. A large number of films produced by Boney, after all, had good music to boast of. ‘Maidaan’ marks the first collaboration between Rahman and lyricist Manoj Muntashir Shukla.
The album opens with “Mirza”, which was also the first song to be released from the film in the form of a single. As you hit the play button, you hear Richa Sharma rendering some beautiful poetry written by Manoj Muntashir Shukla in her voice. The opening portion raises your expectations from the song. “Mirza”, to put it simply, is a pleasant song that talks about homecoming but it is not something that offers something new. The tune composed by Rahman is likeable but not memorable. The song benefits tremendously with the presence of two dexterous vocalists in the form of Richa Sharma and Javed Ali.
Since a part of the film is set in Hyderabad and coach Syed Abdul Rahim, played by Ajay Devgn in the film, is from the same city, we get a Telugu sports anthem-like song in the form of “Ranga Ranga”. “Saraswathiputhra” Ramajogayya Sastry, the song boasts of some interesting percussive sounds arranged by Kumaran Sivamani and played by Guberan, Tapas, Karthick Vamsi, Raju and Lakshmi Narayana. The rap portions have been written and performed by MC Heam. Rahman’s tune is supposed to be lively and fun but it hardly makes an impact.
“Dil Nahi Todenge”, a song that seems to have doubled up both as a sports anthem and a patriotic number, reminds one of several songs from the ‘50s including S.D. Burman – Majrooh Sultanpur’’s “Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke” (‘Nau Do Gyarah’). It also reminds one of the patriotic number “Qadam Qadam Badhaaye Jaa”. Apart from Javed Ali’s rendition, there is nothing about this song that stays with you. This one is a rather bland song which might make some impact with the visuals.
Designed as a sports anthem, “Team India Hai Hum” ends up being a song that seems to be trying too hard to sound like a sports anthem. Both A. R. Rahman (musically) and Manoj Muntashir Shukla, Slowcheeta and Davinder Singh (lyrically) seem to have been asked to use certain elements that are used in sports anthems and motivational numbers and use them to stitch a new song together in that space. If shot well, the song could register some impression. However, as a standalone audio track, it does not work at all.
The album concludes with “Jaane Do”, the longest (6 minutes and 47 seconds) track on the album. Going by the overall sound and feel of the song, one expects it to arrive in the penultimate moments of the film. The song, which tries to evoke emotions, sounds easy on the ears but you barely remember any aspect of it once you finish listening to it. The song is in a space similar to that of “Jaage Hain” (‘Guru’). The latter, of course, was a much superior track.
‘Maidaan’ is not as memorable as ‘Pukaar’. Not an above-average soundtrack like ‘Mili’ either. It is the least impressive work the composer has done for Boney Kapoor till date. With Rahman and Manij Muntashir Shukla joining hands to create a soundtrack for the first time, there is a lot that one had expected. Rahman, however, ends up creating a largely tepid soundtrack for this biographical sports drama.