Rakht Charitra – I

EXPECTATIONS One doesn’t have expectations of a commercial outing while playing the music of Rakht Charitra. Given the genre of the film, it is clear that the soundtrack here would be totally situational and would be there to compliment the background score. You know for sure that there won’t be a ‘khallas’ [Company] moment here as the soundtrack would fall more in line with the likes of Rann, Sarkar or Sarkar Raj. As is the trend with films coming from the house of Ram Gopal Varma, this time too there are multiple composers (Sukhwinder Singh, Bapi-Tutul, Dharam-Sandeep, Imran-Vikram) roped in to contribute to the soundtrack. Sarim Momin, Shyamraj Dutta, Vayu, Sandeep Singh, Shabeer Ahmed and Prashant Pandey write.

MUSIC It’s a haunting beginning for ‘Har Jazbe Mein’ with the sound of chorus creating a dark and intense impact. You know there and then that Rakht Charitra would indeed be a disturbing outing, courtesy the term ‘revenge’ which is the focal point of this Sarim Momin written and Sukhwinder Singh sung & composed track. With references to Mahabharata, ‘Har Jazbe Mein’ should keep audience glued to their seats as they promise to accentuate the narrative. If violence is the underlining theme of ‘Har Jazbe Mein’, it is a call for peace in ‘Kaaton Se’ which is written by Shyamraj Dutta and composed by Bapi-Tutul. The song highlights the fact that violence doesn’t take anywhere and only further messes up the lives of those who indulge in it. With the chant of ‘Buddham Saranam Gacchami’ bringing serenity in the proceedings, one also has to credit Suresh Wadkar for his vocals that aid in making it possible. However, the album gets back into its vociferous mood with ‘Karma Dharma’ which has a new team of composer duo Dharam-Sandeep, lyricist Vayu and singers Vardan Singh and Aditi Kaur coming together. One of the rare songs which has major portions in Sanskrit and is based on age old ‘mantras’, it is mainly for the background and should work to enhance the dramatic mood of the film. One can sense vintage Ramu in the song ‘Khaul Khaul Ke’ which is about revenge, violence, the battle field and a vengeance filled saga called Rakht Charitra. Just like ‘Har Jazbe Mein’, this track sung by Jojo and Ujwal too maintains a high tempo right through its near five minutes duration. Scary and terrifying, expect a lot of blood on screen when this number composed by Imran-Vikram and written by Sandeep Singh plays. One doesn’t quite attribute fun with violence but this is exactly what one gets in Jojo sung ‘Maar De’ which actually turns out to be a fun hearing due to the way it has been orchestrated. While chants of ‘Hare Hare Raama…’ play in the background, there is all around bloodshed that happens in this yet another loud outing which has been put together by composers Imran-Vikram and lyricist Shabeer Ahmed. ‘Mila Toh Marega’ that follows next has music which is on the same lines as ‘Govinda Govinda’ [Sarkar]. By now it is crystal clear that entire soundtrack of Rakht Charitra has been designed as one big theme album where the sound, mood and setting has been kept consistent. This one sung by Ravindra Upadhay, Vishvesh Parmar and Sandeep Patil with lyrics by Vayu is one of the better tracks in the album and also has some bits in English. Composed by Dharam-Sandeep, ‘Mila Toh Marega’ has the kind of beats that are infectious and difficult to let go off one’s mind. In terms of beats and pace, ‘Paisewala’ reminds one of ‘Jagdi Jagdi Jaa’ from Ramu’s own Shiva. A song which makes a statement on capitalism and glamour filled life of the rich and elite, ‘Paisewala’ could have worked with the audience had it been promoted aggressively. A catchy track put to tune by Sukhwinder Singh (who also sings the song), it has some real life lyrics by Prashant Pandey (though if one listens carefully, there is a cuss word without a beep in the middle of the song). The song deservedly finds a ‘remix version’ for itself as well which has Sumitra Iyer joining Sukhwinder Singh behind the mike.

OVERALL If looked at as a theme album that works with the film, the soundtrack of Rakht Charitra scores. However, its disturbing feel and setting doesn’t promise the kind of appeal that would make masses drool over it. Coupled with this the fact that music is not really the USP of the film and it would be hard to imagine the album of Rakht Charitra to be making much impression at the stands.

OUR PICK(S) Paisewala, Maar De, Mila Toh Marega