Music Review

EXPECTATIONS

One doesn’t quite comment upon expectations when a product gets together forces like A.R. Rahman and Akshay Kumar in a project which is touted to be one of the costliest ever to have come out of Bollywood. One just plain and simple puts on the album and waits with bated breath to check the kind of variety in store from the seven songs to follow (with thankfully no remixes thrust in).
MUSIC
The most awaited song of the year, ‘Chiggy Wiggy‘, marks the beginning of the album. Why most awaited? Because it not only has Kylie Minogue singing a song for a Bollywood film but has her making a dance appearance while shaking a leg with Akshay Kumar. During the shooting of the song there was quite some frenzy created about her arrival in Mumbai. No wonder one expects nothing but outstanding in Abbas Tyrewala written ‘Chiggy Wiggy’.
What one gets to hear is a song which is a departure from a Rahman composition. That’s because while the first half of the song, where Kylie is heard in her pop avtar, ‘Chiggy Wiggy’ appears to be a Pritam tune with all the peppy effects thrown in. This is not all as the moment Sonu Nigam jumps into the fray; well literally, it suddenly turns into the kind of tune that one associates with Sajid-Wajid or Anand Raj Anand. ‘Bhangra’ mood takes over and while the final result is indeed massy and ensures a ’seeti-maar’ outing, one waits to hear what Rahman has to offer in songs to follow.
It isn’t a long wait as Sukhwinder Singh gives a subtle kick start to ‘Aaj Dil’, a love song set on a beach. Just like dozens of Rahman songs heard in the past, this one takes its own time to register with the listener. Not at all an easy song to have been composed, written and sung, one can well imagine the kind of effort that lyricist Mayur Puri and singers Sukhwinder Singh and Shreya Ghoshal would have put in this song that has a slight Western touch to it. In the first few hearing ‘Aaj Dil’ appears to be a late 90s style composition by Rahman but after a dozen odd hearing, the song just sits pretty much in your head and it is impossible to get rid of this addictive tune.
The song that carries a chartbuster appeal to it though is ‘Fiqrana‘. An amazing composition that has a terrific ‘mukhda’ followed by an equally effective ‘antara’, ‘Fiqrana’ has Vijay Prakash at the helm of affairs who makes most of the opportunity provided to him. He has sung quite a few songs in the past but this one is going to be his ticket to fame for sure. This is also a loss of opportunity for Farhan Akhtar who was the first choice as a singer for the song. An urban contemporary number that boasts of a catchy tune that takes just a couple of listening to be registered, ‘Fiqrana’ is all set to be a hit up the sleeves of Akshay Kumar on whom the song is picturised. Watch out for the song once it arrives on screen.
Rashid Ali, the man who made a terrific impression with his song ‘Kabhi Kabhi Aditi’ [Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na] last year, gets another solo for himself in the form of ‘Bhoola Tujhe‘. One would have expected the music of a thriller like Blue to be all fun and frolic but ‘Bhoola Tujhe’ surprisingly turns out to be a slow and sad number about the protagonist who is wondering aloud about things that went wrong in his life. A core situational song with a Western base to it which can’t be expected to go beyond the narrative of the film.
It’s a lot of metal and rap and reggae with the arrival of ‘Blue Theme‘. Written by Raqeeb Aalam and Sukhwinder Singh, this one is a quintessential Rahman number that can’t be expected to be replicated by any other composer. There are quite a few variations in this theme track that boasts of number of unconventional voices like Blaaze, Raqeeb Aalam, Sonu Kakkar, Jaspreet Singh, Neha Kakkar and Dilshad. Together, this ensemble gathering ensures that the track has good enough spunk and energy to play during multiple points in the film.
After a vociferous ‘Blue Theme’ comes a soft and sober outing in the form of ‘Rehnuma‘ which has it’s start reminding of ‘Khuda Hafiz’ [Yuva]. However, the similarity ends soon after with the background suddenly coming close to that of the Bond theme. Nevertheless, this Abbas Tyrewala written song doesn’t see any shift in momentum and the mood continues with Sonu Nigam joining Shreya Ghoshal. This is yet another track that requires quite a few listening for the tune to be finally grasped by the listener. In terms of production values though, there is definite sophistication that ‘Rehnuma’ carries.
There is a complete departure though in ‘Yaar Mila Tha‘ that is an out and out fun-n-naughty number. In fact one wonders why did the song have to arrive so late in the day since it carried enough potential to be there at the top of the album. It is refreshing to hear Udit Narayan in this number that has Madhushree sounding so close to Alka Yagnik that one is tempted to check the credit details on the album cover. A fun outing between a married couple, ‘Yaar Mila Tha’, which is written by Abbas Tyrewala, has a complete Indian appeal to it and just like ‘Chiggy Wiggy’ which kick started the album, this one too hardly sounds like a Rahman composition even though the background vocalists follow his school of composition.
OVERALL
Blue is a good album and has all in it to make a good impression at the music stands. In a way, the album comes at just the right time when there is quite some variety in store this Diwali. While All The Best has a rock base to it and Main Aur Mrs. Khanna boasts of a melodic outing, Blue practically mixes up genres and ensures at least four popular songs in ‘Fiqrana’, ‘Chiggy Wiggy’, ‘Yaar Mila Tha’ and ‘Aaj Dil’.
OUR PICK(S)
‘Fiqrana’, ‘Chiggy Wiggy’, ‘Yaar Mila Tha’, ‘Aaj Dil’
Ratings:
Music: (4/5)

Lyrics: (3/5)