Whenever a Sooraj R. Barjatya directed film is about to release, one keenly looks forward to the kind of music it will have. The director has had a very good track record as far as the music of his films are concerned. He picked Raamlaxman (Vijay Patil) to compose the music for his debut film ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ when the composer was not at the peak of his career and didn’t have any major projects in his hand. The music of the film became a rage and the composer-director collaborated on two other films namely, ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!’ and ‘Hum Saath-Saath Hain’. Sooraj signed Ravindra Jain (‘Vivah’), a composer who has had a long-standing association with Rajshri Films, at a time when the composer-lyricist wasn’t doing much work in mainstream Hindi cinema.
When it comes to the music of his films, Sooraj has largely followed his heart and that is something that has mostly worked in his favour. ‘Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon’ (Anu Malik) and ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ (Himesh Reshammiya) were the only two times when he chose to work with composers who were at the top of their game. He has taken a similar route with his new film ‘Uunchai’. The person given the task of putting together the soundtrack of his new film is Amit Trivedi, one of the top composers of today. All the songs in the album have been written by Irshad Kamil, whom Sooraj had worked with on his last film ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’.
“Keti Ko”, the first song on the album also happens to be the first song whose video has been released. The song features the four friends (played by Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Danny Denzongpa and Boman Irani) engaging in playful banter and reminiscing about some of their beautiful memories during a fun evening. Amit Trivedi’s tune is playful and engaging. Irshad Kamil’s lyrics play an important role in making this track fun to listen to. The song is in a similar space as “Galti Se Mistake” (‘Jagga Jasoos’).
“Arre Oh Uncle” is a harmless track. However, there is a big issue with it. It reminds one of several other songs one has heard Amit belt out in the last several years. Apart from the tune, the choice of instruments and the overall sound, too, contribute towards reminding one of many such songs composed by Amit. Going by the lyrics, one assumes this song comes at a juncture in the film when the characters played by Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher and Boman Irani decide to climb Mount Everest to fulfill the wish of their dead friend.
“Tu achchi baatein andar ki dil ke samandar ki karte jaana, ek chutki leke ambar ki dil ke paigambar ki chalte jaana…” – the lyrics written by Irshad Kamil are the highlight of “Haan Kar De”, a song which talks about saying yes to things in life and being open to experiencing new things. “Dard agar jo hota hai, yeh samajh tu zinda hai, dard se khafa kyon hai, itna bewafa hai kyon ….” – Irshad writes several other lines that bring out the philosophy in the song wonderfully to the fore. The tune is simple and engaging. For a change, Amit sings a song that suits his voice.
In “Ladki Pahadi”, singer Abhijeet Srivastava, for some reason, tries to imitate Amit. Listen to the portion when he belts out the lines “mujhe leke……. Nevertheless, Abhijeet manages to register an impact with his spirited rendition. This could be the song that introduces the audience to Parineeti Chopra’s character in the film. The breezy tune endears you to it in no time and the lyrics, written by Irshad Kamil, are very good. The song has two alternate versions. The Mohit Chauhan has the same tune and lyrics. The ‘bonus’ version, also sung by Abhijeet, has a somber feel to it.
Javed Ali sounds quite different from his usual self in “Savera”. One can see Sooraj Barjatya’s sensibilities at work here. The song has a pleasant tune to it and reminds one of some of the songs that came out in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Madhubanti Bagchi is called in to sing a folksy part towards the beginning and end of the track. The effect caused by her heavily auto-tuned voice is not very pleasant. Deepali Sathe, who sounds like Sunidhi Chauhan in certain parts of the song, does well.
‘Uunchai’ is not a patch on some of the most memorable albums that have been released by Rajshri Films over the last six decades. It is not even as interesting as the music of Sooraj Barjatya’s earliest films. However, if you keep the comparisons aside and judge the album in isolation, you realize it works to a good extent. Amit Trivedi composes the kind of songs that are in sync with theme of the film and should make a good impact when one sees them come alive on the big screen.