Planet Bollywood
Raja Natwarlal
 
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur
Director: Kunal Deshmukh
Starring: Emraan Hashmi, Humaima Malick, Paresh Rawal, Deepak Tijori, Kay Kay Menon
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil
Singers: Arijit Singh, Shweta Pandit, Mika Singh, Mamta Sharma, Anupam Amod, Benny Dayal
Number of Songs: 5
Album Released on: July 2014
Reviewed by: Anish Mohanty  - Rating: 4.0 / 10
 
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Emraan Hashmi teams up with director Kunal Deshmukh for the fourth time after 'Jannat,' 'Tum Mile' and 'Jannat 2'. All these three films had boasted of good music which became very popular as well. While Pritam had given the music for the three films mentioned, it’s Yuvan Shankar Raja, who has scored the music of 'Raja Natwarlal'. Yuvan Shankar Raja, a big name down south, had made his Hindi film debut a couple of years ago, with just a song ('Haq Se') in the film 'Striker'.One expects the music of 'Raja Natwarlal' to be fun and vibrant and massy, if not memorable.

'Tere Hokey Rahenge' appears in two versions in the album. The female version introduces the lead actress Humaima Mallick in the film. The male version was a last minute additional to the album as the makers felt that the song was tailor-made for Emraan Hashmi. They even shot a music video for it which is on air now. The male version has Arijit Singh going behind the mike and he, as always, does a fabulous job at it. Irshad Kamil writes simple yet effective lyrics. Shweta Pandit sings the female version in a very low octave and is impressive. The musical arrangements of the male and female version are remarkably different. While the male version has a techno sound to it with a lovely piano piece and bits of electric guitar riffs accompanying it, accordion, acoustic guitars, violin and some other organic instruments are heard in the female version. The male version sounds a little livelier than the female version. The song reminds one of many such songs that Pritam has composed for Vishesh Films in the past. Having said that, the composition, in both the versions, leaves a lot to be desired.

'Dukki Tikki' sounds like a song from a South Indian film, thanks to its musical arrangements. Not that one is complaining, since the musical arrangements, comprising of Shehnai, drums, dholak etc, are the only good thing about the song. Except for the hook line, one almost forgets the entire tune after listening to the song. The Antara portion faintly reminds one of the far more entertaining 'Gandi Baat' ('R...Rajkumar'). Mika sings the song in his usual drawling style, which one does not really mind. For a song of this nature, the lyrics are functional.

'Kabhi Ruhani Kabhi Rumani', is a Qawwali styled number sung by Benny Dayal. Now, Benny Dayal has always had diction issues as far as his Hindi is concerned. While it has really not been a problem as far songs like 'Daaru Desi' ('Cocktail'), 'Disco Deewane' ('Student Of The Year'), which had a very western sound to them but has clearly had an adverse effect on songs like 'Kaise Mujhe' (Ghajini') which required the singer to pronounce the heavily poetic lyrics correctly. In this song, Benny, though sings well, his diction is terrible and seems completely out of place for this song. The music is forgettable and worse, the song ends almost abruptly. The lyrics are good but thanks to Benny's poor diction, their impact is reduced to a great extent.


The leading actress plays a bar dancer in the film and how can one not have an 'item number' in the film? 'Namak Paare' has been sung by Mamta Sharma who has been, sadly, slotted in such numbers. Yuvan Shankar Raja's music is nothing to write home about. This song, unlike the other songs, does not reek of any South influence whatsoever. Anupam Amod is heard briefly in the song. The saving grace of the song is the lyrics. It's good to see some meaningful and poetic words written for a so called 'item number' where such songs are filled with suggestive, double meaning lyrics.

The title 'Flip Your Collar Back' gives one an idea of the song being a South styled dance number. The song is a terrible attempt at composing an EDM number with elements of hip-hop in it. The lyrics are obnoxious. Sample these lines: Number Tu Degi Kya Single Chhori, Number Tu Legi Kya Single Chhori Top-Up Kara Dun Fokat Mein, Apun Ka ATM Pocket Mein Main Hoon Tera, Tu Pat Jaaana, Saheli Se Tu Kat Jaana

The lyrics, reminded me of some songs from a couple of South Indian movies, the lyrics of which are poorly dubbed in Hindi as the films are dubbed in Hindi. Benny Dayal tries his best to lend some energy to the song but the composition, itself, is so uninspiring that there is nothing that could lift the song any higher.

Even as we don't take any expectation into count, the album is a complete disappointment. Yuvan Shankar Raja has done some remarkable work in the South Film Industry. So, one is shocked to see the way he has messed up his first full fledged outing as composer in Hindi films. Except for 'Tere Hokey Rahenge', to a certain extent, not a single song has enough ammunition to become popular before the film's release, let alone being remembered for a long time.

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