Music Review PK

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…Expectations:

Huge – after all, this is a Vinod Chopra-Rajkumar Hirani-Aamir Khan film after 3 Idiots.

Music:

Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal get into the crazy. Vibrant beats of 'Love is a waste of time' with a sense of insouciant fun in the sing-song beats. The lyrics ('Poori pacchattar baar mirrorwa dekhe / Battis baar hum apna baal banaaye' and so on in a similar mode, describing the crazy antics that new lovers do when set to meet each other!) are by that underrated and under-used writer (Amitabh Verma) – impressive work indeed.

The orchestration – old world Western – is soothing and interesting. This one's the counterpart here of 'Zooby zooby´ from 3 Idiots, and music composer Shantanu Moitra is in comfortable zone of simple, familiarly audience-friendly 'hit' melody.

Ajay-Atul step in with the folksy 'Tharki chhokro' (Swaroop Khan), amusingly and aptly written by Swanand Kirkire, describing the maverick that PK is. The welcome part is that despite the strong folk tenor, the guest composer duo valiantly tries to conform to the staid orchestral patterns of main composer Shantanu. The structure blends the spirited with the sober and brings in the right whiff of melody and folk rhythms.

Not so singer-music maker Ankit Tiwari's 'Dil darbadar', which stands out a bit like a sore thumb, as it is a standard 'today' number complete with a superficial rock-fusion sound, screechy angst-ridden vocals, and phonetics-friendly hollow lyrics (Manoj Munatshir) that do not fit into the substance-heavy school of Chopra and Hirani.

From the other Shantanu compositions, 'Nanga punga dost' (Shreya Ghoshal). Exquisitely sung, it is a piquant if outdated composition with good orchestration and a steady and – we dare say – infectious beat. The lyrics (Swanand Kirkire) could have been fresher rather than so routine, but they will probably work well in context.

'Chaar kadam' (Sonu-Shreya again) is ultra-melodic, its phrasing reminding us of vintage Shankar-Jaikishan from the '60s, and with a little imagination, this lovely ditty could be visualized on a Shammi Kapoor! We loved the selective use of the keyboards and the lyrics (Swanand again) are refreshing.

Shreya enters midway, singing with a rare (for today's singers) evocativeness as always, completing the feel of a Mohammed Rafi duet from that lovely era. The hum-worthy quotient of the song outclasses all others in this album – this is the enduring gem from the film that will live on after the hits from this film have had their moments of popular glory and have faded!

Sonu Nigam's 'Bhagwan hai kahaan re tu' is another soulful number with a retro feel in the orchestral flourishes. Soulfully written by Swanand, it, however, ends up as a litany that is neither inane nor rivettingly fresh, and falls in the no-man's land of a song that is just pleasant listening while on – without making any audio impact. Knowing the skills of the filmmaker, we are sure this too will stand tall in the situation in which it is employed within the film.

Finally, in the instrumental 'PK Dance theme' composed by Shantanu Moitra is pleasant, with its varying pace and a semi-symphonic presentation.

Overall:

This is a competent and neat album from the Munna Bhai franchise-3 Idiots team. Of course, Chopra alone has had am immaculate musical track record from Parinda to his last film, Ferrari Ki Sawaari. The smart marketing can make this film-heavy album hit a high, which will be healthy – let us remember that in 2009, it was 3 Idiots that first changed the music scene back towards situational songs.

Our Pick:

'Love is a waste of time', 'Tharki chhokro', 'Nanga punga dost', 'Chaar kadam'

Music: SHANTANU MOITRA, Guest Composers AJAY-ATUL & ANKIT TIWARI
Lyrics: SWANAND KIRKIRE, AMITABH VERMA & MANOJ MUNTASHIR
Music Label: T-SERIES

Article written by staff at Bollywood Hungama. Read more