Jabariya Jodi/ Hindi film

By Narendra Kusnur

Film: Jabariya Jodi
Music: Tanishq Bagchi, Sachet-Parampara, Vishal.Mishra
Genre: Hindi film
Label: Zee Music
Rating: ** 1/2

If it wasn’t for two ballads, the Jabariya Jodi soundtrack would be as avoidable as a drive through flooded streets. Sadly, filmmakers want to promote the most terrible songs under the label of party music, and many listeners miss out on the goodies.

So here we begin with a remix of the Yo Yo Honey Singh-Ashok Mastie song ‘Glassy’, now renamed ‘Khadkey Glassy’. No prizes for guessing it's been remixed by Tanishq Bagchi, who adds a few ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ and traffic jam sounds to make it sound like a barroom brawl with cutlery thrown all over.

To add to your woes, this song has another remix, where singer Jyotica Tangdi uses lines that sound like an alcohol ad. And hello, this Sidharth Malhotra-Parineeta Chopra film is set in Bihar. Why is this non-classy Glassy sung in Punjabi?

Then you have ‘Zilla Hiley’ where the dhol and drums are so loud they sound like they’re in doldrums. Singers Dev Negi, Monali Thakur, Raja Hassan and Pravesh Malik combine in this thesis about the movement of a woman’s waist. What a waste.

Thankfully, the mental massacre ends there, at least temporarily. Bagchi slows down and is in good nick on ‘Dhoonde Akhiyan’, a soothing piece where the duo Rashmi-Virag write ‘Duniya deewani, ishq na jaane, dil toh bas dil ko pehchane, nainon as naina takraaye, na jaane dhoonde akhiyan.’ The vocals by Yasser Desai and Altamash Faridi are pleasant.

On the Siddharth-Garima-penned ‘Khwabfaroshi’, composers Sachet-Parampara continue in the same style of their Kabir Singh hit ‘Bekhayali’. The build-up, lead guitar solo and refrain are similar, but the good news is that this rock-inflected song is more raw and cutting-edge. Singer Sachet Tandon displays a good range and plenty of soul, with Parampara Thakur on a short portion. While this number is first-rate, one hopes Sachet-Parampara don't always use this as a winning formula.

The other songs are composed by Vishal Mishra. ‘Ki Honda Pyaar’ is in two versions – an Arijit Singh solo and a Neha Kakkar-Mishra duet. Once again, we hear a Punjabi touch, and though the song is strong on melody and arrangement, there seems to be little lasting appeal. Kakkar’s diction seems forced.

Finally, we have the Jyotica Tangdi-Vishal Mishra song ‘Machardaani’ which is as painful as a mosquito bite, rambling about how a man wants to remove the mosquito net because it’s too hot. What?

As we said, the Jabariya Jodi soundtrack is boosted by only two numbers. Catch them on YouTube – the rest can happily stay away.