Mickey Virus : Composer: Hanif Shaikh
Lyricist: Hanif Shaikh,Faizan Hussain & Agnel Roman
Amid a plethora of new sounds being generated in Bollywood these days,some of which are really raising the bar with wisecracking,edgy soundtracks,this is an album which,almost immediately,takes many steps backwards.
Surprisingly,or actually not so surprisingly in such cases,most songs in the album also hinge themselves on the tracks we’ve heard before; in other films.
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Director Saurabh Varma’s ‘Mickey Virus,’ a comic thriller that deals with the subject of hacking,throws up six tracks,with most of them not really staying with us beyond the period of time we heard them for.
The last we heard Hanif Shaikhs music was in 2010 when he debuted with ‘Paathshaala’,the music of which wasn’t a blip on the charts.
‘Mickey Virus’ is better,but not anywhere close to something we will be tuning into in the days to come.
Pyar china ka maal hai tries to take a dive into the edgy and new age fusion,the kind that is giving folk music a contemporary,rakish energy,but this track ends up giving us a song clearly inspired by Ram Sampaths Switty from Delhi Belly. The similarities are uncanny. Those percussive drumbeats amalgamated with some Punjabi pop and rap thrown in has quite a bit of duplication that begins to sound jarring after a while. Aakhon hi aankhon ne by Palak Muchhal is an attempt at a soft romantic number,which opens with some cascading riffs. Apart from the fact that Muchhals voice is way too undernourished for my liking,the melody lacks any freshness. The duet version,with Mohit Chauhans voice taking on some parts,cant do much to the song either.
The title song is a promising track by Nikhil Paul George and Siddhant Sharma. Its fun in parts and opens with intelligently executed beatboxing. But a minute into the song,just when it is beginning to become catchy,Debang Patels Ande ka funda makes an immediate appearance in the head. Vaguely familiar,yet again.
Sajna ve sajna tries to be that sad background song which will play towards the climax of the film. The sound of drums at the core merged with Shadaab and Altamash Faridi and some electronic effects delivers a song that needs a lot more work. Again,this one,in terms of tune,draws majorly from the trademark Punjabi folk.
And just when one thinks that this one is turning out to be a dud,there comes the lovely Tose naina. This one has Arijit Singh and thus,some sincerity in the way its sung. The solemnity of it is hard to miss. It is the only song that made us go back to it for another hearing. Overall,the albums weakest point is the material. Some of the songs drift and lack any real melodic or lyrical substance. Barring Singhs number,the album is hugely disappointing.
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