Saawariya
Producer/ Director - Sanjay Leela Bansali
Music director - Monty Sharma
Our Rating - 2.5/5
A typical Bollywood movie with ten original tracks and one reprise version of the title track, Monty Sharma sure has invested a lot of effort in this SLB album.
Chorus is used in almost all the songs, which sets the music for the movie at an edge over the others.
The title track, Saawariya has everything it needs to be a chartbuster. Shail Hada, a newbie associated with the indi-pop genre, has sung the song extremely well. The English capsules within the song give it an urban feel in spite of being a very conventional music composition. Chhabeela is a solo song where the girl expresses her playful emotions about the guy she desires. Alka Yagnik sounds good with her mischievous voice doing full justice to the lyrics. Though the music sounds very predictable and conventional; it sure is charming enough to keep you glued to the headphones.
Daras Bina Nahin Chain sung by Richa Sharma, Shail Hada and Parthiv Gohil is an altogether different composition in the film which will immediately appeal the masses. Although Richa Sharma sounds splendid all through the classical composition, it is the newbies, Shail and Parthiv, who have done a competent job with their bits. The music is simply one of its kind - it is expressive, poignant and yet sure to touch a chord with Indian masses. Jab Se Tere Naina by Shaan is yet another soft, classy romantic track. By adding dhol beats to this song, Monty Sharma has experimented with the background score. The lively chorus adds spirit to the song and this for sure, will become the crowd favourite soon.
When Shreya Goshal and Kunal Ganjawala get together, the outcome has to be out-of-the-blue. Masha Allah, with its beautiful alaap and a lot of Indian instrumental elements in the background, has a delicate heartrending feel to it. Pari, a beautifully composed track, uses Kunal Ganjawala's versatile voice completely to mesmerize the listeners and set a mood for the song. The melody appears soothing due to the minimum use of instruments.
Sawar Gayi sung by Shreya Goshal is a very obvious'Shreya' track with respect to her voice modulation. It sounds very similar to Bairi Piya of Devdas but if supported with the right visuals, it may get a different feel. The pace of the song is exceptionally slow and would appeal to only a section of listeners who enjoy classical music. Thode Badmash by Shreya Goshal again is a situational number which would work well on music video. The audio alone doesn't strike much of a chord. The music somehow sounds repetitive and so does the tone of the song. Yoon Shabnami by Parthiv Gohil is a soft, slow track talking about the glow of the moon. Neither are the lyrics powerful nor is the composition. This sure is a decent attempt but it's appeal to the masses is highly doubtful. Jaan-e-jaan opens as a captivating tune and depicts the hard efforts gone in the making of this song. Although the punch and energy looks missing, but it has been sung very melodiously by Kunal Ganjawala and Shreya Goshal.
The feature that strikes the most after listening to the songs one after the other is that although they are different, there is some similarity in all the tracks. The music, overall, sounds more or less similar to what Ismail Darbar did in Devdas.
Monty Sharma's light romantic music for most of the tracks rightly complement Sameer's lyrics, resulting in some quality scores. Except for two or three songs, the album doesn't really make an impact that was expected from a Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie. After stunners like Khamoshi, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas, the music of Saawariya sounds like a sequel which will gain mass acceptance only after a while.