Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani music review: High on energy and melody!

Music: Pritam Chakraborty

Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya

Singers: Benny Dayal, Shefali Alvares, Shalmali Kholgade, Sunidhi Chauhan, Arijit Singh, Sreeram, Rekha Bhardwaj, Vishal Dadlani, Shilpa Rao

Music is the mainstay of a romantic comedy, and music director Pritam Chakraborty is a romcom expert, for sure! He mixes it up quite nicely for Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – with high energy dance numbers and a couple of softer love songs.

The first song to hit the airwaves was Badtameez Dil, a breathless number, and it rules – there’s no time to reminisce, pause or even breathe while listening to this one. Benny Dayal goes from one line to the other at a great speed and with an equal amount of ease; never mind the lyrics, as they don’t mean anything in particular, as the makers themselves have said, they are essentially nonsense patter. What else would you make of these lines – Paan me pudina dekha, naak ka nagina dekha, chikni chameli dekhi, chikna kameena dekha or aloo bhaat puri bhaat? But these crazily disconnected lyrics do add to the madness of the number which is essentially a carnival of saxophone, drums and trumpets.

Balam pichkari is a folk tune, a Holi song turned on its head to create a party number. The tune is extremely addictive and you are bound to hum it even if only subconsciously. And Shalmali Kholgade and Vishal Dadlani’s powerful and energetic singing lifts it a notch higher. This song will definitely tempt you get up and start dancing.

Pritam’s album and a Ranbir Kapoor film – it cannot be complete without a Mohit Chauhan song. So the Rockstar crooner sings Ilahi, a song with a Scottish flavour. It’s a slightly offbeat number in this otherwise fully filmi soundtrack. Mohit improvises on the alaaps and makes this one sound like a live performance.

Dilliwali girlfriend is a bhangra pop song. Again, this one’s a high-speed number that’s fun, but it is a very ordinary composition from Pritam. Arijit Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan do a decent job of it. It’s definitely catchy, but not a top quality job.

Kabira is a song with a Sufi touch. Tochi Raina projects the pain and angst in the song with great élan. Rekha Bhardwaj too uses the folk base in her voice to great effect. The rhythm and electric guitar design this philosophical track and add to its nicely gliding effect.

Indian idol winner Sreeram gets the chance to sing a light and frothy track, Subanallah. His voice sounds fresh and he sings the high-pitched portions with ease. It’s a falling-in-love song that is easy on the ears. Interspersed with Shilpa Rao’s voice, this one’s a likeable and a catchy love ditty.

Ghagra is a dance number that will be picturised on Madhuri Dixit and Ranbir Kapoor. Rekha Bhardwaj sings this harmonium-and- tabla orchestrated number, which is in the zone of Kajra re and Namak ishq ka. The tune and lyrics of the stanza are better than the chorus which says, ‘Hai breaking news mera ghagra, bhagdad se leke Dilli via Agra’. It’s not a rocking composition, but it hooks you long enough for you to allow it to grow on you with repeated listening, and will do better once the video is out, we know.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has a great mix of high energy dance numbers, romantic songs and light tracks. The soundtrack of this romantic movie is bound to be a lasting pleasure – it’s high on energy and melody!