Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Lyrics: Gulzar
Label: YRF
Just like some of the old records that used to have the film’s dialogues before every song, most songs in “Kill Dil” too are preceded by poetry, narrated by Gulzar. The “Kill Dil” title track is the first and probably the best song on this album. It has the quintessential action-thriller theme song quality, with whistling and racy beats. This song, and every other track in the album, has old world melodies fused with either modern arrangements, or rock beats and electronic music. But the “Kill Dil” track becomes what it is mainly because of the solid talented singers — Shankar Mahadevan and Sonu Nigam. The two singers go into high-pitched notes, falsettos and part-doodling with great finesse.
“Happy Budday,” sung by Sukhwinder Singh, is a very ordinary composition. It uses a very jaded concept and even though the lyrics by Gulzar attempt to be smart, they don’t leave a lasting impression. The track alternates between electronic dance music beats and traditional dhol and trumpets. It ends up sounding schizophrenic. There’s just too much happening here and not to great effect.
“Sajde” is a romantic song, which starts off as an old world tune and moves on to rock music, and then goes back to melody. Arijit Singh sings the intense portions and the lighter ones with equal conviction. But Nihira Joshi Deshpande’s voice is the refreshing factor here.
“Bol Beliya,” is full of drama, and Sunidhi Chauhan and Siddharth Mahadevan bring it to the fore with their singing. It reminds you of tracks like “Khuda Gawah” and “Kagaz Kalam” from “Hum.” These songs had the same urgency and drama. The hook, “Bol Beliya,” works. It is a percussion-heavy track, with drums rolling and dhols beating throughout.
Adnan Sami’s voice is perfect for a song like “Sweeta,” which is steeped in the spirit of the ‘50s. Hand drums, harmonica and violins light this easy-on-the-ears song.
Udit Narayan makes a comeback with the number “Daiyya Maiyya,” accompanied by Shankar. Rasika Chandrashekhar sings a small portion in old style. It is always refreshing to hear Narayan’s sweet voice. Gulzar writes interesting lines for this one — “kash tu pujari hota, aarti utari hoti, kafi rozgari hoti teri thali mein. Kash tu bhikari hota, cash ka vyapari hota, kaudi na udhari hoti, teri pyali mein.”
“Nakhriley” is sung by Shankar Mahadevan, Ali Zafar and Mahalaxmi Iyer, and is a qawwali composition. It is a fun number with an upbeat element to it. But it sounds like many different songs from the ‘90s without making its own distinct identity. It is a number that can grow on you if you enjoy the video.
Since the entire album is composed in the retro spirit, how can it be complete without a heartbreak song? And it comes in the form of “Baawra,” which is very filmy, despite a few fresh lines by Gulzar like “dil wali naukri ne maara.” Again, this song starts as a soft number, then goes on to become intense, with electric guitar riffs and heavy drumming, and later turns into an Indian classical rendition, and it keeps going back and forth between styles.
This is a pattern that runs through the whole album, and it gets a little tedious if you listen to the entire album as a whole. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have composed keeping in mind the subject and treatment of the film, which is retro, filmy and contemporary at the same time. The album reminds us of the early ‘90s songs that had dramatic lyrics and melodies, and where the lyrics had good meaning, but weren’t necessarily poetic.
All in all, “Kill Dil” is a fun album with some decent melodies, catchy tunes and interesting arrangements. The only flaw is that the music directors try to do a bit too much. But Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy still get three stars for trying to break through the clutter, and succeeding to a large extent.
Rating: ***
(*Poor, ** Average, *** Good, **** Very Good, ***** Excellent)