Kick: Music Review

Starring: Salman Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, & Randeep Hooda 

Music Composers: Himesh Reshammiya & Meet Bros Anjann

Himesh Reshammiya is continuing on with his 2014 Bollywood escapade in Salman Khan's latest film, Kick, after the musical disaster that was Humshakals. Alongside him, are the Meet Bros Anjann still rivaling in the Hate Story 2 success of Pink Lips.  In this 12 track Bollywood music album, we see repeats of several songs. Having multiple versions of songs seems to be the trend in Bollywood as of late. We have also been seeing many actresses and actors stepping up to the plate and singing behind mike, like Shraddha Kapoor in  Ek Villain and Shruti Hassan in D-Day. Salman Khan lends his vocals to the Kick soundtrack. His leading lady, Jacqueline Fernandez, and co-stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Randeep Hooda, unfortunately, have not contributed to the vocals of this album. 

The Kick soundtrack opens with duo Mika Singh and Palak Mucchal's Jumme Ki Raat. This is exactly the type of song we would usually see Mika Singh in. Himesh seems to be sticking to these desi folk compositions, like Humshakal's Khol De Dil Ki Khidi, also sung by Mika Singh. However, Reshammiya definitely improves on this song injecting it with more life, and making it sound like a pumped up version on Bodyguard (title track), whistling included. Muchhal's vocals come across as decent, but weak. Sunidhi Chauhan, or a stronger female vocalist would have been the prime selection for this kind of song. The winning instrument is,in fact, the Shennai.  Jumme Ki Raat (Version 2) Remix amps up the drums and base, making the song much more enjoyable than the original.  3/5 & 4/5

Jumme Ki Raat (Version 2) features Salman Khan and Palak Muchhal as the vocalists. It is exactly the same as the original version of Jumme Ki Raat. Sadly, Salman Khan does not excel above Mika Singh here. He seems a bit pitchy, almost screaming the lyrics and unable to reach the heights that Singh took it to. Jumme Ki Raat (Version 1) Remix also the same as the Mika Singh's remix version, instead featuring Salman Khan. 3/5 & 3.5/5

Salman Khan is able to redeem himself  in Kick with the duet Hangover . The song is surprisingly mellow for the title, Hangover. Shreya Ghoshal and Salman Khan's voices melt into one another in Meet Bros Anjann composition. This Kick song is multidimensional as this starts as a high class track with the violins preceding Khan's voice, and evolves into an R&B style song as they repeat "Hangover". Perhaps, Hangover, was not the best word choice, as it detracts from the quality from the song, but as in Meet Bros Anjann style they do title this Hindi song with a English word. Thankfully, it wasn't anything like Pink Lips, Pinky or Baby Doll. Something in Hindi seems to be the better choice for Kick, but somehow this track doesn't disappoint too much. 3.5/5 

Hangover (Remix) keeps Salman Khan and Shreya Ghoshal, but adds an additional, and arguably unnecessary layer of beat to the song, detracting from the orginial beauty of the song. 3/5

Hangover Promo Video

The Hangover is redone in Hangover (MBA Swag). This version is the kind of version you would expect from Hangover combined with Swag. The violins and guitar are stripped from this version and are replaced with EDM fused with Punjabi style Desi Beats. We see the some Hindi rapping from the Meet Bros Anjann additionally. This song does detract from Salman Khan's original, and tends to work on the nerves after some time. 3.5/5

Tu Hi Tu is the second romance song in Kick, featuring rising singer, Mohammad Irfan. Irfan has been up an around the scene, making his territory with Banjaara from Ek Villain. His vocals are just as impressive as his previous songs. Light and airy, he sings this song solo, reaching incredible highs and lows with his voice. This song has a light tone, beginning with piano, and having light guitar and violins later on. Extremely tasteful. 4/5

However, the downside of this song has six versions that I will pay little attention to. So the Tu Hi Tu (Version 1) also by Mohammad Irfan, kicks off with a rap and then a reggae, and R&B beat. No. 2/5

Neeti Mohan also has her own version, Tu Hi Tu (Reprise) and Tu Hi Tu (House Mix). Her reprise version is identical Mohammad Irfan's version and is on par with his vocals. The House Mix takes an EDM reggae twist, that is not at all feasible for this type of romantic song, and uses words like "Grind on Him" and "Shine on Him". 4/5 & 2/5

The third set of versions of Tu Hi Tu are done by Salman Khan, in Tu Hi Tu 2 (Version 2) and Tu Hi Tu (Version 2) Remix. This song doesn't match to Mohammad Irfan's version, but isn't horrible either. Khan's voice sounds a little raspy here and isn't as smooth as Irfan's original vocals. This fortieth Kick remix the same as Mohan's remix and just as bad. 3/5 & 2/5

Yaar Na Miley featuring Yo Yo Honey Singh and Jasmine, is surprisingly the only song that isn't remixed on the Kick soundtrack. This is supposedly the item number of the soundtrack, with Nargis Fakri as the main dancer, which is pretty much all she is good for at this point in her career. This EDM song is a little bland, and offers nothing we haven't heard before. Lyrically, like all item numbers, the item girl is boasting how great she is. Yo Yo Honey Singh's rap is the only bright part of this soundtrack, however he is only it in for a little bit of time. 3.5/5

In the end, Himesh Reshammiya outdoes himself in the Kick soundtrack. Despite the album being weighed down with multiple remixes, this Hindi soundtrack is able to come out as a winner. The soundtrack will definitely help promote the soundtrack, but according to history a Salman Khan movie can't be a failure during Eid. 

My Picks: Tu Hi Tu, Jumme Ki Raat (Version 2) Remix, Yaar Na Miley, Hangover

Keep Reading:

Hate Story 2

Ek Villain Music Review

Lekar Hum Deewana Dil Music Review

CityLights Music Review

Humshakals Music Review

CityLights: Music Review

Starring: Raj Kumar Yadav, Patralekha

Music Composer: Jeet Ganguli

Any Bhatt involvement in any Bollywood film usually indicates a fantastic musical score, and such is the case for CityLights. Produced by Mukesh Bhatt, under the Vishesh banner this film carries serious weight in the industry when it comes to musical content and film content. Bengali music producer, Jeet Ganguli reemerges from the woodwork as he toggles between Bengali and Hindi Cinema. His last two Hindi cinema ventures, Raaz 3 and Youngistan, were widely popular. Boasting experienced singers like Ustad Rashid Khan and Usha Utup with younger newcomers like Arjit Singh and Neeti Mohan, this CityLights fuses both of the best worlds.

CityLights begins with Muskurane by Arjit Singh.  This song captures the romantic yearning reminiscent of Raaz 3.  Lyrically and musically, this song follows the somber trepidation of most Bhatt film music, but is different from its predecessors with the special Ganguli touch.The angst of Singh's vocals are smoothed elegantly with a touch of piano and guitar 5/5.

Later in the album, we have a second rendition, Muskurane (unplugged) by Mohammad Irfan. Mohammad Irfan is a rising star in Bollywood, he was seen most recently singing for the Bollywood film Ek Villain, which I address in my music review. This slows the tempo down more than Arjit Sigh's version, bearing a lighter piano sound mixed with violins. Even though slightly different, this song is better than Singh's version. 4/5

The most comfortable way to sit

Darbadar by Neeti Mohan is a haunting song obviously set in the cityscape that  manages to keep the somber trend of the album. Mohan's voice has the tone to masterfully capture a feeling of wandering and loneliness that is expressed throughout CityLights. Again, a rich piano sound and deep emotions adds to the quality of the song. 5/5

Arjit Singh returns once again to CityLights with Ek Charraiya, and this is not the last we see of him. Hitting higher notes than he did with Muskurane, this song is a little more folksy than the first two on the album. Ganguli, I'm sure, has made sure that this captures the essence of Bengali folk songs with the slow beat. This is definitely one of the more optimistic songs on this album, however refined the happiness is kept. Despite the differentiation with Bengali folk, this song doesn't really offer too much. Decent. 3.5/5

Unsurprisingly, Ek Charraiya (unplugged) follows with Ganguli himself behind the microphone. This song is nearly identical to the first version and is not really as unplugged as it says it is.It depends on personal preference, which singer you choose, Jeet Ganguli or Arjit Singh. Ganguli's voice seems to be more suited, this time, to his own composition. 4/5

Arjit Singh has his third win on CityLights with Soney Do. Although this song works to only add to the slow pace the album has set, it intrinsically has its own personal music quality compared to the other. The alaps that Singh does towards the ends of the song add value to this song. Although, it can be more seen as a song to move the film along, it does have its own place, content wise on the album. It has rich instrumentals like the songs before it. 3.5/5

The album ends with an upbeat CityLights(Title Song) that deviates from the rest of the album . Ustad Rashid Khan piece starts beautifully as it is classical against electric guitar. This song gets tarnished quickly, when Usha Utup, who bears a voice bordering on masculine enters the song. Think back to the title song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna in the seventies. She has the hook of the song, unfortunately, and presides over a majority of the song, thus bringing it down with her. Despite all against it, this song is still decent. 3/5

Jeet Ganguli is able to bring the music of CityLights to the heights of Bhatt soundtracks. The music of this film surpasses many of the current albums that are out in Bollywood at the moment with songs that are rich in both musical and lyrical content. Expect this soundtrack to create wave throughout Bollywood.

My Picks: Muskarane, Darbadar, Ek Charraiya 

Read My Other Reviews:

Ek Villain Music Review

Humshakals Music Review

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)