Cocktail – Music Review

June 22, 2012 | Filed under: Editor's Pick,Entertainment,Music | Posted by: Aman Wadhwa

Mohan Kannan

Music Director – Pritam , Lyrics – Irshad Kamil

As the name and the trailer suggests , one would expect a heavy dose of craziness , emotions and fun from this movie so the soundtrack must also justify it. Also the album comes from the same trio of Love Aaj Kal , Imtiaz-Pritam-Irshad that delivered chart topping hits like Ye Dooriyan, Aahun Aahun, Chor Bazaari, etc , just that now the direction is in the hands of Homi Adajania and Imtiaz Ali has wriiten the film. So let’s see whether the album meets its expectation and does this Cocktail gives its listeners a hangover or not?

The first track is “Tumhi Ho Bandhu” sung by Kavita Seth of Iktara fame who is assisted by Pritam’s favourite Neeraj Shridhar crooning the catchy bits in between the song. A foot-tapping number which will surely make you shake your leg on the dance floor. The main attraction of this track is Kavita Seth trying out a very different genre from Iktara and indeed, she has impressed me again. Next comes “Daaru Desi” , which acts like a cool breeze. Benny Dayal and Shalmali Kholgade, the newbie who took our hearts away with Pareshaan recently, have sung this track giving a young and peppy feel to it. Now , its time for “Second Hand Jawaani”, the only song that didn’t work for me. The tune seems repetitive, though the lyrics are quite funky. Miss Pooja , Neha Kakkar and Nakkash Aziz have provided vocals for this, the first is a Punjabi singer and the last two are from past seasons of Indian Idol. Amitabh Bhattacharya comes in as guest lyricist for this song.

The next track on the list is “Tera Naam Japdi Phiran”, a techno-Punjabi one. Javed Bashir from Pakistan whom we heard earlier in Piya Tu Kaahe Rootha Re (Kahaani) is the voice behind this engaging track. Supported by Nikhil D’Souza and Shefali Alvares, this track comes in as a surprise from Javed Bashir since I had expected a slow number similar to Kahaani when I saw his name on the tracklist but Pritam does the unexpected here. It also has a remix version , which I felt was unnecessary. Now the album takes a different turn from its rocking avatar to soulful avatar with rest three tracks. “Jugni” is a Pakistani folk song whose rights have been bought by the producers of the film. Pritam has revised this folk-ish track to soft rock and Irshad Kamil has changed some lyrics to give it an altogether new meaning. The original was in praise of God and this has been made a love ballad with Arif Lohar singing it superbly (he also sang the original) and Harshdeep Kaur performing her small role really well. As per me, the original is unbeatable but this one also works well. Good thing that people who missed out on original may listen it now after this version comes in limelight.

The penultimate track is Luttna , again rendered by Pakistani singers – Masuma Ali Anwar and Sahir Ali Bagga , with Anupam Amod crooning mid parts of it. This one is a cracker – Sufi plus rock combined into a deadly mix. The most notable thing is the lyrics – wonderful , Irshad Kamil owns this track fully. Its innovative sounds differentiate it from its other counterparts in the same Sufi league. Also has a Version 2 , which is less rock and more Sufi. It’s as good as the previous , so ultimately Pritam has left us to take our own pick between the two versions. Saving the best for the last, Yaariyaan is a track dedicated to true friendship. Beautiful , and soothing. It may remind you of some English track but keeping that aside, it’s a definite winner. Sung by Mohan Kannan of Agnee fame whom everyone liked in Splitsvilla theme, its surely gonna be in everyone’s playlist who loves his/her friends. Mohan does a fabulous job here , and Shilpa Rao makes a brief appearance in the end and creates a good impact. Again, Irshad Kamil has written super lyrics for it , making it the best track of the album. The track also has a female reprise version by Sunidhi Chauhan and Arijit Singh, a piano medley , but Mohan makes such a sounding impact that personally I didn’t like her version.

There seemed to have a different strategy to incorporate Honey Singh’s songs into the soundtrack since Main Sharaabi was just released couple of days on the movie’s facebook page and Angrezi Beat was used in promos but surprisingly, didn’t feature in the soundtrack. I guess it’s some kinda strategy to use Honey Singh’s fame to increase the album sales. So not reviewing those two tracks.

So, seven songs , one remix , one different version and one reprise – making it ten tracks in total sums up this Cocktail. The album is a sure shot chartbuster , with songs such as Tumhi Ho Bandhu , Daaru Desi and Yaariyaan already creative rave over internet and among friends circles after their videos are out. The other tracks would also become popular once their videos are out too. Pritam has done an exceptional job after quite some time and Irshad Kamil has once again proved his mettle after Rockstar. Thus , thumbs up from me for this Cocktail – am already in its hangover since a week. If you haven’t tasted it yet, go for it!