Music review: D-Day

Rating: ***

For Nikhil Advani’s D-Day,composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (SEL) come up with an unconventional soundtrack that remains true to the film’s setting. For the reworked version of any old,known classic to work,it is important that its arrangement works. In Duma dum mast kalandar,SEL create a striking sound of cheap keyboards,rubab,and ample dholaks and tablas that capture the sights and sounds of a north Indian wedding. Singer Mika perfectly balances flamboyance with the required Sufi essence.

In Alvida,the anglicised moody vocals of Nikhil d’Souza and Shruti Hassan work beautifully,lending it the sadness of a farewell song. Sukhwinder Singh’s vocals play cameo but the portion’s familiarity takes away more than it adds to the song.

Just the classical austerity of the harmonium,dholak and khanjari and the wonderful Hindustani classical singing makes Murshid khele holi work. It shuttles between a bandish and a qawwali,and there are wonderful juxtapositions with the guitars. Where it lacks in the absence of a remarkable melody,it makes up with the rest. Ek ghadi has the vibe of a Vishal Bhardwaj composition sung by Rekha Bhardwaj (who is the singer here),with the mellow semi-classical flourishes that blend with psychedelia of guitars. The haunting quality would have been enhanced with a more appealing melody line.

Dhuaan is the quintessential “closing song”. Indian Ocean frontman Rahul Ram’s vocals appear like a sweeping voice of truth,reminiscent of Bandeh,and its arrangement like an epic orchestral score is universal,all-pervasive. The lyrics are such too. Jo bhuli inhe zameen,jo bhula yeh aasmaan,na kehlaaen yeh insaan.

D-Day is an uncharacteristically authentic album according to Bollywood standards that throws up interesting results.