NOT SO FREAKY; RATHER SWEET!! (FREAKY ALI – Music Review)

Music Album Details
♪ Music by: Sajid-Wajid
♪ Lyrics by: Shabbir Ahmed & Danish Sabri
♪ Music Label: T-Series
♪ Music Released On: 19th August 2016
♪ Movie Releases On: 9th September 2016

Freaky Ali Album Cover

 

To hear the full songs of this album on Saavn CLICK HERE

To buy this album on iTunes CLICK HERE

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Freaky Ali is an upcoming Bollywood sports / comedy film, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amy Jackson, Arbaaz Khan, Jas Arora, Seema Biswas and Nikitin Dheer. The movie has been directed and produced by Sohail Khan, and presented by Salman Khan. The movie is an unofficial remake of Adam Sandler’s 1996 movie, ‘Happy Gilmore’, and revolves around the story of a debt collector, Ali, whose fate changes when he discovers that he is made for playing golf, and what follows is the inspirational story of Ali. The story seems good, and would be interesting to watch, but what grabs my attention is a question — Where do songs come in the picture here?? Leave it up to Sohail though, for finding a perfect musical duo to compose for the movie, and that is Sajid-Wajid, returning after eight months after the flop that their album to ‘Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3’ was, with only ‘Jawaani Le Doobi’ busting the charts. This time, they decide to compose a mere three songs for the film, and that is surprising! Hopefully, they compose three gems according to the theme of the film, and stun us with their renowned arrangements. So, let’s see how many shots they score in their own musical game!

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1. Din Mein Karengey Jagrata
Singers ~ Wajid, Divya Kumar & Swati Sharma, Lyrics by ~ Shabbir Ahmed

Sajid-Wajid start off this short album with a dance song, which is quite typical of their composition style, yet sounds different and unique. The song seems like a celebratory one, to be placed at a very happy occasion in the movie. The composer duo has produced a tune that doesn’t really fascinate you as such, but it still does what it is supposed to do, which is to entertain you. There are some places where the hookline is painfully dull and very heard-before and typical of Sajid-Wajid, but some lines are very polished and energetically captivating. The song starts off nicely, with some lines sung by Swati Sharma that are really quirky and funny, and when Divya Kumar starts, the song goes to a whole different level of fun and enthusiasm. The mukhda is quite captivating, managing to grab the listener’s attention, fortunately, because the rest of the song fails to match the enthusiasm of the starting, sounding uncontrollably outdated. The hookline itself is weak enough, but the antaras don’t help at all. (Reminding you a lot, lot, lot, of Sajid-Wajid’s ‘Phatte Tak Nachna’ from ‘Dolly Ki Doli’) However, just to save themselves from listeners leaving the song because of a weak composition, the duo infuses some great arrangements to catch your attention — rather, to divert it from the composition. The brass band is played in quite a quirky way, and after doing so many such songs in Bollywood, Sajid-Wajid seem to have got the hang of it. Some weird but catchy pigeon sounds grace the whole song, and the duo has put in more attractive sound effects like this. Of course, the traditional harmonium, dhols and electronic tablas can’t stay away in a wedding song by Sajid-Wajid! And no complaints, either. The duo cover up for the composition with their booming arrangements. The harmonium-led second interlude is a wonderful one. The duo also uses a lot of techno music to make the song connect more with the modern audience. The vocals are good as well, with Swati Sharma very nicely singing like a village girl, again, after ‘Banno’ (Tanu Weds Manu Returns). Her voice is very suitable for this track and kudos to Sajid-Wajid for roping her in for this song, and making it her first song with them. Also, I am afraid they would’ve used Mamta Sharma’s voice if not Swati’s so thank God! Divya Kumar is as energetic as ever, and though he has sung so many songs of this type previously, he just steals the show, along with Wajid, who accompanies him mostly in the hookline. The lyrics by Shabbir Ahmed are not too bad, and not excellent, but enjoyable and suitable for this type of song! Sajid-Wajid shoot back with this song, which could’ve done with a better composition, otherwise, it’s a song to tap your feet on and go crazy to!

 

2. Parinda Hai Parinda
Singer ~ Wajid, Lyrics by ~ Shabbir Ahmed

The next song happens to be a motivational song, and the duo have made an excellent song. The composition evokes memory of Ajay-Atul’s Marathi song from ‘Sairat’, ‘Aatach Baya Ka Baavarla’ in the first line, but that gets diffused as soon as the listener can catch it. The duo has come up with a composition which is quite melodious and soulful, with a distinct Sufi touch to it. The song has the power to make you hear it patiently for the first time. The mukhda is very good and the melody sucks you in, while the antara keeps up the sweetness, and the hookline is something that appeals to you even in its clichéd-ness! Overall, Sajid-Wajid have struck the right notes with the composition. The arrangements are beautiful too. With the violin very gracefully starting the song off, the acoustic guitar and cello take over to make the arrangements sound more Westernized. The use of strings throughout the song is marvelous, with each of them superseding the other, resulting in a grand orchestration by Sajid-Wajid, consisting of so many stringed instruments, like both electric and acoustic guitars, violins, a cello, and many other types of strings! The beats are wonderful as well, with a very catchy groove to them. What did bother me though, was Wajid’s singing. His voice sounded very unusually shaky and it definitely did not work in favour of the composition, because the first thing I noticed when I first heard the song was his singing itself! It just didn’t go well with the tune, that, in my opinion, required a very young and smooth voice. Shabbir’s lyrics again, are good. This time he writes many more Urdu words in the song, and they sound good for sure. 😀 The lyrics trace Ali’s journey and success well. A good song, but again, shortly misses to be a great song, because of wrong choice of singer!!

 

3. Ya Ali Murtaza (Qawwali)
Singers ~ Wajid, Danish Sabri & Payal Dev, Lyrics by ~ Danish Sabri

The name of this song suggests right away that it is a Qawwali, but T-Series still thought it better to specify that extrinsically just in case. Anyway, if you know Sajid-Wajid, then you should also know that they are awesome at making Qawwalis too. However, this here isn’t a traditional Qawwali. Rather, it is a fusion of two cultures, two traditions and ultimately, two religions. The composition is a very strong and instantly-healing type. It exudes strength and makes you feel protected all of a sudden. The duo has done a wonderful job in fusing a typical Qawwali composition with a typical bhajan composition. Both the tunes have fused together so well, that it is hard to think after hearing this song, that a bhajan and a Qawwali are two different music styles! Last we heard this kind of fusion between a bhajan and a Qawwali was almost two years ago in ‘Teri Dua’ (Hawaizaada). The duo excel with this fusion, and though there is an omnipresent dark and sinister tone to the song, it is nothing but strengthening and motivating. The duo’s fantastic arrangement skills are showed off in this song as well, more so because it is a fusion between two music styles. Most of the song is arranged on Ganpati beats, with the dhols, taashe and lezims, along with a very trademark Marathi tune played in the first interlude. The duo very nicely go back and forth between the bhajan and Qawwali. The song starts with the adlib before a traditional Qawwali, sung with a lot of confidence and gusto by Danish Sabri and Wajid. After that is over, the energetic Ganpati beats set in, on which the hookline has been arranged! Everything happens so fast, that you need a couple of times hearing the song to process it all! There is a seamless transition from the loud Ganpati beats to traditional Qawwali beats on the tablas in the mukhda, but the manjeeras from the Ganpati side still don’t stop!! The antara starts with a bhajan which is again followed by a Qawwali portion. The brilliant idea and thought behind the song leaves you in awe. The duo must’ve worked really hard to bring out the contrast, yet unity in the song. At the end, there is a big tempo change, and the bhajan is interspersed with cries to “Maula” and “Ya ali murtaza“. The vocals are spectacular, and the coordination between the two parts is what makes it sound even better. Wajid and Danish Sabri handle the Qawwali with lots of boost and confidence, while Payal Dev’s voice has this very overpowering quality, while singing the aarti. All three of them sound fabulous together. Danish Sabri’s lyrics are very devotional, and you just drown into them. Here, the gem of the album is hidden; A devotional song for two communities showcasing the unity of these two prominent communities. A genius idea of the makers gets executed excellently and turns out to end this album on a very grand scale! #5StarHotelSong!!

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Freaky Ali turns out to be quite a good album. Sajid-Wajid live up to expectations from a sports film like this one, by delivering less, but good songs. All three songs have a different touch to them, and though the first two lack in one department, as a whole the album is good! Sajid-Wajid give music to this film about a ‘freak’ in a very non-freaky, but sweet and enjoyable way!!

 

Final Rating for This Album: सा < रे < ग < म < प < ध < नी < सां

Note: The letter which is underlined is the final rating.

Recommended Listening Order: Ya Ali Murtaza (Qawwali) > Parinda Hai Parinda > Din Mein Karengey Jagrata

 

Which is your favourite song from Freaky Ali? Please vote for it below! Thanks! 🙂

 

Next “dish”: Raaz Reboot, Chefs: Jeet Gannguli & Sangeet-Siddharth Haldipur