Music Review: PK

Music by: Shantanu Moitra, Ajay-Atul, Ankit Tiwari

T-Series

Rajkumar Hirani has been known to make entertainers that not only tickle your funny bone but also leave a social impact. The music of his films depends on the situations and doesn’t always (barring songs like All izz well, which became an anthem) work outside the periphery of a particular film. The same is true in PK’s case too.

Shantanu Moitra is the main composer so let’s begun with his songs. Shantanu has shown a fondness towards western classical music in the past and continues to flirt with the mode here too. Nanga punga dost, written by Swanand Kirkire, begins with a guitar riff and has some good violin work in the middle. Sung with just the right amount of mischief by Shreya Ghoshal, the song is the Behti hawa sa tha woh quotient for PK, describing Aamir’s mannerisms and antics.

The beginning of Chaar kadam, written by Swanand, reminds you hugely of Nadiya se dariya from Namak Haram (1973) and the rest of the song makes you want to revisit Dilbar mere from Satte pe satta (1982). Both were composed by RD Burman. The USP of the above mentioned songs was Kishore Kumar’s rendition and here too Shaan brings all the romance in his voice to belt out a breezy love duet in the able company of Shreya. Shaan is easily one of the most under-utilized singers of late and shows here what listeners have been missing.

Love is a waste of time, which is sung in a Bhojpuri accent as ‘bhaste’ by singers Sonu Niigaam and Shreya Ghoshal, reminds you of Pal pal pal composed by Shantanu himself from Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Written by Amitabh Varma, it follows the same template and has the same set of singers too. What saves it are the comic lyrics and deft singing, especially by Sonu, who latches onto the silliness of the song and complements the words to a T.

Bhagwan hai kahan re tu written by Swanand is a philosophical songs which asks questions about God’s existence. This apparently is also the theme of the film and hence it feels like a background song.  Sonu Niigaam has become an expert in singing such pathos-filled numbers – think Abhi mujh mein kahin (Agneepath) – and it’s his range that saves it from being overtly lachrymose.

Shantanu’s last outing is the instrumental piece, PK dance theme, which carries riffs from the other songs clubbed together in a different tempo.

Ajay-Atul offer salt of the earth music and are bang on with Tharki chokro, full of robust Rajasthani sounds juxtaposed with brass band effect. Written by Swanand, it’s sung with josh enough for ten people by Indian Idol find, young folk singer Swaroop Khan. It’s a fun, catchy number that stands out.

The other guest composer is Ankit Tiwari, who has both sung and composed Dil darbadar written by Manoj Muntashir. The song has a huge Teri galliyan hangover and doesn’t actually fit into the scheme of things.

Chaar Kadam and Tharki chokro are your takeaways from this largely situational album. Hirani is known for his intelligent song picturisation, so let’s wait for December 19 for the film to do its magic.