SALIM-SULAIMAN ARE STILL PLAYING!! (102 NOT OUT – Music Review)

Music Album Details
♪ Music by: Salim-Sulaiman, Amitabh Bachchan, Hiral Brahmbhatt, Rohan-Vinayak & S.D. Burman
♪ Lyrics by: Hiral Brahmbhatt, Saumya Joshi, Amitabh Bhattacharya & Kaifi Azmi
♪ Music Label: Saregama
♪ Music Released On: 30th April 2018
♪ Movie Releases On: 4th May 2018

102 Not Out Album Cover

Listen to the songs: Saavn

Buy the album: iTunes

102 Not Out is an upcoming Bollywood comedy film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor, directed by ‘OMG: Oh My God’ fame Umesh Shukla, and produced by Sony Pictures, Treetop Pictures & Benchmark Pictures. The film is about a 102 year old man, who is trying to make his grumpy, 75 year old son live a livelier life. The music by the film has been composed by Salim-Sulaiman, a duo that comes to the fore once a year, as their past two albums have been the only ones they’ve done in that respective year. Both times (‘Jai Gangaajal’ in 2016, and ‘Poorna’ in 2017) the albums have ended up in the ‘Top 30 Albums’ list of the year, so that makes expectations for this high. However, what does bring expectations a bit lower, is the genre of the film. In Bollywood, pure comedies (without romance) rarely have scope for good music, unless the composers are great. Here the composers are great, so looking forward to the music! Oh, and lead actor Amitabh Bachchan debuts as composer in a guest composition, so there’s another thing to look forward to! Another song has been composed by Hiral Brahmbhatt, and another is a remake by Rohan-Vinayak.

Salim-Sulaiman’s album for this year (since they seem to be trying to do only one album per year, unfortunately) starts with an Arijit song, and boy, what an amazing effect his voice brings here! Bachche Ki Jaan is an upbeat song with an enjoyable Caribbean flavour; Salim-Sulaiman see to it that the listener isn’t bored, by adding colourful arrangements, to a catchy hook, and a very well-made composition around that hook. The antaras especially, with Arijit singing in low pitch, are captivating. The horns and Caribbean percussion sound amazing, but I couldn’t help noticing that in parts, the programming sounded quite old-fashioned. Hiral Brahmbhatt’s lyrics are great as well; fun lyrics to accompany the wacky nature of the film.
The duo also rope in the only present generation singer who comes close to Arijit in terms of singing prowess, Armaan Malik, for a retro jazz number Kuch Anokhe Rules. The composition is sweet and the composers add to it a soulful jazz instrumentation: the drums, trumpets, and violins do a great job harking back to the ’60s. Saumya Joshi writes funny lines, which will definitely leave a smile on your face. Armaan’s vocals are impeccable; only he could have sung it as good, and his previous collaborations with Salim-Sulaiman have given them the perfect idea of what songs are fit for him, as we can see in the song, which I can’t imagine anyone else singing, after hearing Armaan’s rendition. Also, the way he sings “khwaab” with a nuance is amazing!
While the previous songs were by Arijit and Armaan respectively, the duo rope in their predecessor Sonu Nigam for a heart-warming number Kulfi, wherein lyricist Saumya Joshi spins a beautiful metaphor of life as a kulfi, melting away second by second. The duo decorates the beautiful Ghazal-like composition with, initially, an acoustic guitar treatment, but later they take the full-fledged ghazal route and add a soulful Tabla-sitar interlude, which continues into the antara. Sonu Nigam’s vocals, as always, are top-notch; no wonder the duo remembered him for such a song, as only he could’ve pulled off such an intricately nuanced composition.
The next song is Phir Laut Aayi Zindagi, composed, sung and written by Hiral Brahmbhatt. The lyrics are meaningful and oh so relatable, and probably the makers were trying to replicate ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’s title song. Hiral Brahmbhatt’s vocals, on the other hand, take some time getting used to; her voice is unique, but I guess it’s perfect for such a song which required a blend of a classical background and a slightly modern way of singing. The arrangements are minimal, but Hiral puts in amazing guitar work and a great strings section as well, not to mention the beautiful flute and santoor.
Lead actor Amitabh Bachchan debuts as a composer with the next song, Badumbaaa, a fun song where he takes one stanza and repeats it about five times, but it nevertheless doesn’t sound repetitive. The man has composed and arranged the song, and of course sung it, with one stanza sung by co-star Rishi Kapoor. His arrangements are fun; he has clearly borrowed the idea for the trumpets from so many songs R.D. Burman has composed for him, and the dholaks from songs like ‘Khaaike Paan Benareswala’ (Don). He gets some programming help from Rohan-Vinayak, the composers of ‘Nil Battey Sannata’ and the ‘Ganpati Aarti’ from ‘Sarkar 3’. Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics are very fun, but sometimes, the programming is so jarring, it is hard to hear, especially in the Rishi-sung portions! At the end of the song, you can’t sense what’s happening, as there is an overload of tracks overlapped upon each other, creating a kind of mishmash that is rejected by your brain. All that having been said, the song is still enjoyable, considering it has been composed by Bachchan! The other song programmed by Rohan-Vinayak, is a remake of S.D. Birdman’s Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam, a very ho-hum rendition by Bachchan, and not up to the mark arrangements by Rohan-Vinayak. I didn’t like the fact that they turned the song into a jazzy number by taking the liberty to change its tune too! Amitabh Bachchan’s voice is no match for Geeta Dutt’s original!

Overall, the album is pleasant and breezy. Salim-Sulaiman have done their part as composers as well as can be done in such a film! Salim-Sulaiman, though out of the scene for long spells of time very constantly, still remain on pitch and are definitely not out of good music!!

Total Points Scored by This Album: 7.5 + 8.5 + 8.5 + 7.5 + 7 + 4 = 43

Album Percentage: 71.67%

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: Kulfi = Kuch Anokhe Rules > Bachche Ki Jaan = Phir Laut Aayi Zindagi > Badumbaaa > Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam