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)

D-Day: Music Review

Starring: Arjun Rampal, Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Huma Qureshi, Shruti Hassan

Music Directors: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

The Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio is famous for catchy music that is reflective the overall theme of the movie, and  D-Day's music is no exception. D-Day is a Bollywood film that crosses over the border and into Pakistan, when Irrfan Khan is sent to Karachi on a spy mission. After viewing the trailer, it seems what follows is a chaotic, political thriller entangled with romantic trysts. Here we see many of our favorite singers come forward, such as Javed Ali, Shankar Mahadevan, and Sukhwinder Singh.

Mika Singh opens D-Day with the qawwali Duma Dum. This song is a remake of the popular Lal Meri Pat, that we have heard from popular Pakistani artists like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, and Junoon. The instrumentals are rich and distinguish this song , however this song doesn't compare with the other others vocally. It would have fared better if another singer was put behind the mike. A good attempt, but nothing really new. 3/5

Alvida features Loy Mendonsa, Sukhwinder Singh, Nikhil D'Souza and Shruti Hassan herself . This mellow song has mostly delicate vocals and light instrumentals. Hassans' vocals are whispery and ghostly, but she is able to add a nice touch to the song. Singh and D'Souza's voice really takes this song to a higher level and really highlights the song. 4/5

"Exactly how much curry did you get under
your fingernails"

D-Day has another qawwali-esque song called Murshid Ke Holi. Shankar Mahadevan, Javed Ali, and Munawar Masoom voices blend well together with this traditional beats. The instrumentals are also rich here, as they are throughout D-Day. But what really distinguishes this one from any other fantastic qawwali? Nothing really. It runs over seven and a half minutes, and its so repetitive that its difficult to get all the way through. 3.5/5

Rekha Bhardwaj returns in a solo, Ek Khadi. The tabla is very soothing when used in unison with other instruments, but this song isn't really unique in any way. Not much to say about this one. No repeat value. 3/5

D-Day ends with the short track Dhuaan with Siddharth Madhadevan and Rahul Ram's gritty vocals. The orchestra instrumentals give the song a perilous touch of beautiful doom. It almost sounds like a some type of church prayer and chant. There are not many dark Bollywood songs like this, so something like this is very special.  4/5

If you are a die hard Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy or qawwali fan, just take a few of these songs from D-Day and be on your way.

My Picks: Alvida, Dhuaan

Check out My Other Reviews:

Chennai Express:http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/07/chennai-express-music-review.html

Issaq:http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/06/bollywood-music-review-issaq_21.html

Boyss Toh Boyss Hai:http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/07/boyss-toh-boyss-hai-music-review.html 

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