Music Review Yeh Hai Bakrapur

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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

We had zero expectations from a small setup, including a band that scores the music, and their own music label.

Music:

And that's what helps, for this album is one of the most riveting ones in recent times. All three tracks are satires, even the love song, and all are linked to the theme of the film, and brilliantly created.

Abbas Tyrewala, the man who scripted the cult Munna Bhai MBBS, writes the lead track, 'Pair Anaadi', rendered evocatively by Rahul Ram, Amit Kilam, Raghuram and K Mohan. Bitingly sarcastic ('Murgi bhi soche woh zinda lautegi Kentucky se') about the gullibility and suicidal tendencies of the average Indian who invites trouble by trusting corrupt leaders, it has a rabble-rousing tune by Agnee.

Agnee then gets into a soft, unique romantic mode that is, astonishingly, also satirical in tone! 'Pyaar Mein Bakra' (K. Mohan's vocals are superlative!), easily the most haunting track on this wonderful album, is a languorous and lingering expression of love, brilliantly penned by Panchhi Jalonvi. The lyrics again are eloquently satirical ('Zero balance mein bhi pyar ki baatein hoti hai') and the guitar is compelling in the way it enhances both the mood and melody.

The third song, 'Om Shanti Om', at first hearing, sounds only mildly sarcastic. But this Keerti Sargathia-K. Mohan collaboration is a revelation, because Panchhi Jalonvi has strung the meaningful lyrics from titles of Shah Rukh Khan's movies, because the pivotal character in the film is a goat named Shah Rukh! Sample the witty lines, 'Tujhse bada na Baazigar dekha / Tujh mein na Anjaam ka Darr dekha' – the words connect with a deep meaning in the relevantly-gimmicky plan.

A fairly intricate composition by Agnee, this one takes on a qawwali-esque hue in the second antara. The orchestration is correctly Sufi-meets-modern, as the qawwali has its origins in Sufi devotionals.

Overall:

Yeh Hai Bakrapur is an album with a difference. It is very refreshing, tangy, invigorating – but don't look for chartbusters here, despite the quality of the lyrics and music.

Our Pick:

'Pair Anaadi', 'Pyar Mein Bakra'

Music: Agnee
Lyrics: Abbas Tyrewala & Panchhi Jalonvi
Music Label: Agnee Music

Article written by staff at Bollywood Hungama. Read more