F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b

Ranbir Kapoor films have become a must-wait-for event and Pritam’s music the reverse – must-avoid-if-possible. Yet, surprise! What’s this mellifluous music we hear trailing off our TV sets and music players? Is it really Barfi music composed by Pritam? It is and a delicious blend of warmth-quirk-melody at that! Here’s the music review by the almost-resident MFC music reviewer @rohwit. This post was originally written for and published here. But Rohit being a friend, we thought he wouldn’t really mind if we stole it. 😉 Enjoy the spoils!

Ala Barfi! – Right from the first moment when you hear the whistle, you know this song is all about fun! A narrative of the alleged ‘sad’ life of Barfi, the song takes a lighter take on the situation rather than brooding over it (Sanjay Leela Bhansali, take note). There are 2 versions of this song. One is sung by Mohit chauhan and one by Swanand Kirkire. The version by Mohit Chauhan is peppier and stays true to the mood that the song aims to create. Swanand kirkire on the other hand, gives a naughtier touch to the song (so much so that ‘Munna mute hee aansu bahaye’ part doesn’t leave any impact in his version as much as it does in Mohit’s). Both versions are good in their own right. I liked the Mohit Chauhan version better because it’s easy on ears. At times, with the Swanand Kirkire version, the voice is too heavy for a song that is to be sung lightly. In Mohit’s version, in each ‘antra’, you can hear some brief ‘tom and jerry prank style music pieces’ even as Mohit sings. Kudos to Swanand Kirkire for penning  superb lyrics though.

Main kya karu – The song starts very quickly and in a very kya karu from ‘Wake Up Sid’ mood. The song doesn’t have an elaborate music setting before the singer starts. Nikhil Paul George starts the song with less than 6 seconds of music into the track. The ‘guitar resignation of a note’ at every ‘uff’ in the song is cleverly placed. The ‘antras’ have a ‘hopeless in love’ mood to them which is immensely relatable and melodiously performed. The song again is very easy on ears and has a lazy feel to it due to the absence of ‘orchestra overload’ sort of music setting. Liked. Super liked.

Kyon – Papon, (I mean THE Papon!) starts the song with a very 1970’s beat accompanying him. You almost miss a romantic accordion from the setting. The sweet violin arrangement makes it up very well though. Excellently penned by Neelesh Misra, the song makes just enough space for Sunidhi Chauhan to take over one antra and leave us mesmerized. Excellent display of two master artists at work. The only grouse I have is that I left wanting to hear Sunidhi Chauhan for one more Antra. Thoroughly enjoyable and hummable. Papon, sing more for us, will you? Please! The 25 second-odd simple twinkling music arrangement towards the end of the song puts us back to sleep and the song ends.

Phir le aaya dil (Reprise) – Sung by Arijit Singh in a contemporary music setting (yes, with faint tabla throughout the song) and ghazal-like lyrics. This sums up the song best . The use of piano in between and the general mood of this song is just too good. There is another version of this song as well and we will go there in a minute but this song has more layers because it’s not an out-n-out ghazal. The vocals of Arijit are apt for the song (And reminded me of Shail Hada. Where’s he by the way?) Pritam, is that you? Really? Pleasantly surprised! For me, the best song of the album.

Phir le aaya dil – Sung by Rekha Bhardwaj, this composition is an out and out ghazal – very linear in it’s approach. Not many layers. Not sure if this will feature in the film. We have heard Rekha Bhardwaj sing many a ghazals such as this one so it doesn’t come as a surprise that she hugs the lyrics, hi-5’s the music setting and sings with her usual aplomb.

Aashiyan – Excellent accordion play starts this song and Shreya Ghosal greets us smiling. Nikhil Paul George makes another appearance and compliments Shreya Ghosal superbly. This is a happy song. There is  flute  and voilin play in between and it does to us just what good music should!  Yes, music to the ears. The adorable ‘almost’ yodelling is placed perfectly in the song and you can’t help but smile everytime it comes up. Excellent arrangement, this.

Sawali si raat – Beautiful piano starts the song and guitars drift away in the background. Arijit Singh whisper-starts the song. The song talks about ‘sleep’ but the singer sounds clearly out of place in this song. Not comfortable with the subdued singing, Arijit perhaps wasn’t the right choice of the song. The tune nevertheless is quite hummable (Youtube ‘versions’ of this ahoy!). The only blip on the otherwise excellent album and for this, I can’t penalize Mr. Pritam.

Phir le aaya dil (by Shafqat Amanat Ali) – A very ‘raabta‘ like start (initial notes remind you of the Siyah Raatein version of Raabta), piano and a gentle music arrangement, thankfully aided by sarangi this time starts this song and Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan gets on with it. The moment you hear this song you feel it is the ‘cleanest’ arranged and presented song of all the versions. Best part – you cannot (and should not) compare the 3 versions of this song. Arijit Singh’s version is blessed with more ‘feel’. Rekha Bharadwaj and Shafqat’s version is more directed towards singing it right. I cannot get over the excellent use of our very own ‘Sarangi’ in this version though. Not nitpicking but please do pay chotu attention to the way Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan pronounces ‘Baaki’. This is the version that will make you cry a bit, yep.

Special mention – Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan has to be appreciated for not choosing similar songs and falling into the ‘Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’ sahab wala ‘typecast’ groove.

Aashiyan – Nikhil Paul George goes on and about in this solo version. While the duet version sounds fresh with Shreya Ghosal (and if you have heard that version already), you will miss her voice in this one because the energy is a little low. The tempo, music arrangement (save for voilins) is pretty much the same. The only difference that I could make out was the spacing between the opening lines of the mukhda. The lines are spaced using violins so that the listener doesn’t feel that the male voice is singing the female part as well. Not a song that would make you buy this album on a stand alone basis but compliments the album very well.

It’s already been said, blogged and screamed that Pritam has outdone himself with this album and I will just reiterate it shamelessly! You can visualize the film when you hear the songs. If the teaser of Barfi looks like picture perfect painting, the music adds beautiful colors to it. Thrilled beyond words, Pritam has given us one of the best music albums of this year!

Take a bow, Pritam…I owe you a 5 star chocolate, for this tasty Barfi!