Hate Story 2: Music Review

Starring Surveen Chawla & Jay Bhanushali

Music Directors: Mithoon, Meet Bros Anjjan, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Rashid Khan

Hate Story 2 is another Bhatt sequel that is trying to stay afloat in Bollywood. As with Murder and Raaz  the Bhatt's achieve at selling their films with superb music and sexuality. What separates the Hate Story series from the other Bhatt movies is that the firstHate Story did not have a good soundtrack and the film did not offer even one well known actor or actress. Starring in this movie is Punjabi/Tamil/Telegu Surveen Chawla and Jay Bhanushali, relatively unknown to Hindi cinema. However, the music of Hate Story 2 has been sending waves across India before its release. Boasting multiple music directors, like the famous Mithoon and Meet Bros Anjjan, Hate Story 2's album stands among the hit Bhatt soundtracks.

Hate Story 2's soundtrack starts of strongly Aaj Phir Tumpe Pyaar Aaya Hai. If you are young enough to remember the 1988 film, Dayavan, starring Madhuri Dixit and Vinod Khan, this song should register with you immediately, as it is a remake. This remake of Laximikant-Pyarelal's song featuring Pankaj Udhas and Anuradha Paduwal has been replaced and refined by Arjit Singh and Samira Koppikar. This Arko Pravo Mukerjee composition refines, slows and increases the sensuality of the original. Overall an improvement over the original, but nevertheless a remake. 4/5

The Aaj Phir Tumpe Pyaar Aaye Hai (Remix) like all remixes has unnecessary techno and English like "if the shoe fits can you be my Cinderella" or "damn shawty that's very depressing". The remix detracts from the overall tone of the song and makes it into something unnecessary. 2.5/5

The next song Pink Lips is definitely the item number of the soundtrack. The club number composed by the Meet Bros Anjjan and sung by Khushboo Grewal definitely separates itself from the item numbers of these days. They have even roped in ex-pornography star Sunny Leone as the featured dancer for this song. Immediately catchy this song should be something memorable both off screen and on screen. Pink Lips the special Meet Bros Anjjan mark on it. 4.5/5

The Pink Lips (Remix) unlike the Aaj Phir Tumpe Remix this remix does take the song to different levels. Since it is an item club number the extra layer of added beats without the involvement of English lyrics puts the remix above the level of the original song. This is the club version of the more tame original. 5/5

Hate Story 2 gives us Kabhi Aayine Pe sung the famous K.K who gave the Bhatt's some of their their early hits, like for Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai. We see composer Rashid Khan put  K.K back in his comfort zone with Kabhi Aaiyne Pe, but this song does nothing to really change the pace of his usual songs. This slow ballad is, of course. beautiful, but so common with K.K that its not very special. 3.5/5

Hate Story 2 is full of remixes. Actually for every song there is a remix. We are given Kabhi Aaiyne Pe (remix).  This remix takes away from the romantic, ballad feel of the song. Nothing special, but a faster more techno version of the original. 3/5

Hai Dil Ye Mera brings in composer, Mithoon's and his new favorite singer Arjit Singh. This is by far the most romantic song in Hate Story 2. We can see this one perfectly blending in with the Ek Villain or Aashiqui 2. This soft, mellow song brings the pain through Singh's voice. Though it is a very pleasant listen, we don't see Mithoon leave his comfort zone either. He is playing safe with piano and Arjit Singh. 4/5

Hai Dil Ye Mera (remix) offers nothing pleasant, like most of Hate Story 2 remixes. This is probably more of the more useless remixes on the album. Unnecessary once again. 3/5

In the end, the Hate Story 2 soundtrack is very enjoyable. Being a collaboration of many accomplished music directors and singers, the songs of Hate Story 2 come across as melodious and varied. This is the standard Bhatt soundtrack and will definitely attract Bhatt fans. Besides the one good remix, the fact that half the soundtrack was remixes is highly unnecessary.

My Picks: Pink Lips (remix), Aaj Phir Tumpe Pyar Aya Hai, Hai Dil Mera

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Ek Villain: Music Review

Music Directors: Mithoon and Ankit Tiwari 

Starring: Sidarth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor & Ritesh Deshmukh 

Mithoon has been composing hit after hit for the Bollywood film industry and he returns once again alongside Akit Tiwari for romantic thriller Ek Villain. The last time Mithoon paired with film director, Mohit Suri, was during the extremely successful album, Aashiqui 2. The music of Ek Villain is packed with just the melody and emotion that you would expect from a Suri film.

The album kicks off with the romantic number, Galliyan, sung solely by Ankit Tiwari, vocalist of the popular Sun Raha Hai from Aashiqui 2. Galliyan starts a little harshly with coarse guitar and then simmers down to a softer tone. Flute instrumentals melt magically with violin. Tiwari's vocals are slow and controlled as usual. 4/5

Galliyan (unplugged) takes a more somber tone. It offers none of the grit Tiwari's Galliyan had and takes a route with just soft guitar and violin. The actress now singer Shraddha Kapoor starts the songs off with hauntingly beautiful vocals, and about three quarters of the way, Ankit Tiwari joins in, keeping on same vocal level as Kapoor. However, the unplugged version of Galliyan really hits its peak when the two sing in unison. Unlike most unplugged version songs, this song offers a totally different experience. 4/5

Mohammad Irfan's solo, Banjaara, takes a slow melodious, Sufi-esque journey. This particular song comes closer to your heart the most it listens to you. There is a subtle loveliness in the instrumentals, and Irfan's voice takes the right path. There is beauty in simplicity in this song, 4.5/5

Pakistani rocker, Mustafa Zahid, joins in the the soundtrack of Ek Villain  with Zaroorat. We hear Zahid in his comfort zone, much like the songs he has given us for Heropanti and Ragini MMS, and for his band Roxen. Unlike it's predecessors, Zaroorat instills more pain and anger. Complex guitar amplifies his voice and takes the song to new heights. Mithoon is able to differentiate this song by complimenting Zahid's voice with unique dramatic instrumentals.  4.5/5

Continuing with Ek Villain's Pakistani music trend is Soch The Band's, Awari. The talent is no less than the usual artists coming in the industry. What separates Soch from the other Pakistani bands is its instrumental versatility. Joining Soch is the the female vocalist, Momina Mustesan. This song begins with staggered piano, which slowly mixes with Mustesan's ghostly vocals. The song dynamically transforms from a somber song into something more powerful with both guitar and sitar and Adnan Dhool of Soch's vocals. This is by far the most unique song on the album. 5/5

"Bugs!"

Arjit Singh offers something special in the emotional, Humdard. This song lyrically reaches into the trenches of romantic pain. Just like Galliyan, this song is controlled and slow, but doesn't offer has much complexity as the songs before it, except for the strange xylophone instruments that falls at intervals in between the vocals. Besides the vocal quality, this song too relaxed, and thus becomes almost boring. 3/5

All in all, Ek Villain delivers exactly what you would expect from a Mithoon and Ankit Tiwari soundtrack. With an array instrumentals and skilled talent from India and Pakistan, these composers were able to create an emotional, high quality musical score. We can only hope to see Mithoon and Ankit Tiwari collaborate with Mohit Suri in the future.


My Picks: Awari, Zaroorat, Banjaara, Galliyan, Galliyan (unplugged)