Music Review: Chaalis Chauraasi

A movie which is basically about four men, doesn’t have a leading lady and is basically set in one night, Chaalis Chauraasi doesn’t quite promise much musically. You do expect a theme song or two coupled with an item number but that’s about it. With new entrant Vishal Rajan pitching in as a composer and a solitary track from Hasan Jahangir making an appearance as well, Chaalis Chauraasi is a short album that lasts a mere 20 odd minutes.

MUSIC

Marathi flavour is in and that is quite visible with Yashita as the chosen one to croon ‘Setting Zaala‘. Just recently one heard Shreya Ghoshal go all ballistic with ‘Chikni Chameli‘ [Agneepath] and this time around Yashita is joined by experienced singers like Sonu Nigam and Amit Kumar. Now these are men who time and again make an instant impression. Surprisingly though neither of them really makes a noticeable impact even though the tune by itself is reasonably catchy. The one who seems to be having maximum fun is Yashita and while Sandeep Srivastava’s lyrics are aimed at the gallery, the song just about manages to sail through.

‘Badmast‘ is the song that follows next is what one terms as a quintessential item number. This one tries to bring in some ‘latka jhatka’ within the parameters of a Sufi outing but not to much success. Mamta Sharma, who off late has sung quite a few belonging to this genre, does a decent job but overall this Kashinath Kashyap doesn’t have much ammunition in it to go beyond a film’s narrative. Also, Daler Mehndi is basically a co-singer here instead of leading the show, something which is surprising considering the fact that the man is known to hog all the attention whenever he makes an appearance.

The album does show an instant spark though with Hasan Jahangir’s cult number ‘Hawa Hawa‘ arriving next. For those who came in late, this track had made huge waves in the Indian sub continent a couple of decades back when it had first released in Pakistan. It won’t be wrong to say that the song’s popularity was pretty much on the likes of ‘Kolaveri Di‘ that had made an instant impression by going viral on it’s own and that too in an age when there was no internet or piracy. The song’s remix version here is a welcome addition as it incorporates the vocals of Neeraj Sridhar and also newcomer Amitabh Narayan.

Last to arrive is ‘Chaalis Chauraasi (4084) – Theme‘ which is basically a rock outing that pretty much conveys the roller coaster journey that one can well expect as the film’s narrative unfolds. A Vishal Rajan show all the way where he is the composer, lyricist and singer here, the track doesn’t make you fall for it or play it repeatedly but still promises an engaging outing when it appears as a part of the film’s background score.

OVERALL

One gets what was anyways expected from the music of Chaalis Chauraasi. Though the soundtrack here isn’t the kind that would create waves when it hits the stands, ‘Hawa Hawa‘ is a good enough number to be revisited with ‘Setting Zaala‘ bringing in a spoonful of ‘tadka’ to the affairs.

OUR PICK(S)

Hawa Hawa, Setting Zaala