Film: "Rabba Main Kya Karoon"; Composer: Salim-Sulaiman; Singers: Salim Merchant, Benny Dayal, Monali Thakur, Raj Pandit, Vidhi Sharma, Akash Chopra and Labh Janjua; Rating: **
With six tracks in director Amrit Sagar's movie "Rabba Main Kya Karoon", composer duo Salim-Sulaiman have tried to bring in a Punjabi flavour to the music album. It is fun, has emotions and drama, but the average quality of songs might disappoint listeners, who are used to chartbusters from the musical duo.
The album starts with "Khula saand". The way it begins, with the sarangi taking the lead in musical instruments, one would get an impression that it is some culturally rich number, but wait till the lyrics flow in. Singer Salim Merchant's voice is good, but the genre of the song is a clear mismatch with its music. The song perhaps has an important role in the movie, otherwise why would anyone sing such a song in real or reel life?
The next song "Muh meetha karaa de" makes some sense, and also makes for a good hear. Singer Benny Dayal does it again! He makes an otherwise average song sound really good with his distinct style. Strong beats accompany the singer's voice gradually in the song, which is an essentially wedding and family sort of song. Singer Monali Thakur does justice to the number, in which the sound of the shehnai lends a perfect finish.
Sung by Raj Pandit, Vidhi Sharma and Benny Dayal, the third song is the title track "Rabba main kya karoon". This is soothing. Raj Pandit and Vidhi Sharma's soulful voice does the trick. A typical (but good) romantic number, it features the use of harmonium in a very beautiful and contemporary manner. It gains pace slowly and steadily. Benny Dayal adds his Midas touch to the number.
"Dua", the next on the playlist, is a sad in its feel, but it makes for the best song in the lot. One can't ignore how well Akash Chopra has rendered it. The emotion and passion that the singer puts into the song comes out loud and clear with the sound of the electric guitar. The song can become popular as one can connect with the lyrics very easily.
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Some songs are instant hits and favourites, irrespective of how they are sung. Singer Labh Janjua's "Bari barsi" falls in that bracket. True Punjabi music lovers would enjoy this, even though it has no surprise element in it courtesy its popularity in weddings in the country.
The last track is "Brandy", sung by Satyadev Singh and Akash Chopra. The listener loses interest with so much of character communication in the beginning of the song. With a heavy dose of Punjabi flavour, this track can become an instant hit among our Brandy loving uncles, who love to put on their dancing shoes after a peg or two.
Overall, the music of "Rabba Main Kya Karoon" is average as some songs raise the expectations of the listener, and then others fail to impress at all. All the tracks may not make their way to your playlist, but they definitely deserve to be heard at least once.
(Yashika Mathur can be contacted at yashika.m@ians.in)