Toss

EXPECTATIONS Toss isn’t meant to be a musical. A thriller with glimpses of dark elements to it, Toss is arriving at theaters in the times when there are countless other films also rushing to hit the marquee. In such times there are good chances of an album disappearing soon if not promoted aggressively or not boasting of some songs that would be noticed for their worth. Apprehensive, one picks up Toss that has Sandesh Shandilya as well as Siddharth-Suhas contributing with a few songs each. Sudhir Nema, Irshaad Kamil, Kumaar and Siddharth-Suhas write lyrics.
 
MUSIC It’s a wild-n-cunning laugh that begins the proceedings for Toss. Aided by some thumping beats, Sandesh Shandilya launches himself behind the mike to croon a dark number ‘Ruppaia’. Set as a rock track with elements of rap to it, ‘Ruppaia’ reminds one of many a Tarantino situations where a song like this plays in the background. Of course a song belonging to this genre can’t be expected to be sung around or played in discs but it should do well as a background piece.  Vijay Prakash, who had sung ‘Jai Ho’ [Slumdog Millionaire] along with Sukhwinder Singh, croons Sandesh Shandilya composed ‘Meri Khamoshi’ which continues to the dark mood of the album. Moving at a slow pace, ‘Meri Khamoshi’ has Western arrangements aiding it throughout its duration and is yet another number that doesn’t quite follow the Bollywood template of a love song and mainly works for the background. After a couple of dark and situational numbers, it was high time that a quintessential item numbers comes next to bring in some relief. This happens through ‘Aish Aish’ which is the kind of number that Pritam could have composed in his sleep. Reason being that it is a Punjabi dance number written by Kumaar with Labh Janjua (a regular with Pritam) behind the mike. That doesn’t take away from composers Siddharth-Suhas though who ensure that the song is catchy enough to be remembered after a single listening itself. Add to that the ‘remix version’ and you know that by far this is the biggest attraction in the album. The beginning of Siddharth-Suhas composed ‘Abe Saale’ is such that it instantly reminds one of the sound of ‘Sindbad’ [Rock On]. However, the moment Sonu Kakkar begins her rendition, this Kumaar written song gets into ‘Tu Saala Kaam Se Kya’ [Golmaal Returns] mode. Even though the song (which is also followed by a ‘remix version’) has a modern day setting to it with rock arrangements giving it an out and out urban feel, ‘Abe Saale’ doesn’t rise above being situational and is relegated to being an item number.  It’s time though for a true rock track in the form of ‘Chalte Chalo’ which is the best that Siddharth-Suhas offer in Toss. Suraj Jagan is the chosen one to render this number that has the composers also doubling up as lyricists along with Kumaar. A well structured song that has a lot of variation to offer throughout it’s duration with a different sound at every juncture (courtesy Sunayana Mukherjee who comes behind the mike for the song); ‘Chalte Chalo’ deserves to be promoted well with a music video being built around it.
 
OVERALL Toss is not a bad album neither does it take a routine path. It’s just that most of the songs belong to the kind that works mainly as a part of the background score due to their situational appeal.
 
UR PICK(S) ‘Chalte Chalo’, ‘Aish Aish’