Baaghi 2 music review: Regurgitation of classics, overdose of romance mar film's anti-establishment streak

The music of Ahmed Khan’s upcoming action entertainer _Baaghi 2_ has been in the news mostly for all the criticism it invited by rehashing Madhuri Dixit’s iconic song ‘Ek Do Teen’. But an album is beyond just one song. Baaghi 2 ropes in a host of music composers to put together an album that is heavy on either dance numbers or romantic tracks. Both the dance songs are rejigs of popular thumping numbers. So full marks for originality! [caption id=“attachment_4395913” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Jacqueline Fernandez in a still from Baaghi 2 song ‘Ek Do Teen’. YouTube screengrab[/caption] Ironically, the Baaghi (which translates as rebel) sequel conforms to norms of the music industry by relying heavily on its dance rehashes. ‘ Mundiyan ’ is the recreated version of a famous Punjabi track of the same name. Where it scores is the lyrics as Ginny Diwan translates the stanzas into Hindi, thus avoiding the risk of alienating the pan-Indian audience by sticking to its hardcore Punjabi lyrics. In defense of Sandeep Shirodkar (who recently rehashed the two catchy, iconic songs of _Judwaa_ for its sequel), the composition is not bad as he rearranges the beats in an attempt to make the track sound fresh. However, by diluting its Punjabi touch, the rehash does not sound like the original, which could make you break into a bhangra anytime. While Palak Muchhal does a decent job, Navraj Hans does not live up to the expectation he raised after delivering the vocals of the incredibly irresistible ‘ _Chhote Chhote Peg_ ’ from Luv Ranjan’s recent romantic comedy Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. ‘ _Ek Do Teen_ ’ comes across as a rushed attempt at recreating a classic, as if a random Delhi DJ Sonu was instructed to merely increase the pace of the song (and add too many whistle sounds as cues). Javed Akhtar’s then-inventive lyrics are also retained (minus the memorable intro), accompanied by a sleazy rap sequence by Parry G. Shreya Ghoshal disappoints big time by not bringing anything fresh to the table, let alone the best of her vocals. The entire song sounds like they were too afraid to touch a classic (maybe they shouldn’t have?). Besides the regurgitation of legendary numbers, with nonperishable recall value, Baaghi 2 album also entails three romantic numbers. Arko pens and composes ‘ _O Saathi_ ’ which sounds like the counterpart of ‘Sab Tera’ from Baaghi except that it is not a carbon copy, as opposed to the two rehashes. Though it lacks the warmth of Arko’s ‘ _Nazm Nazm_ ’ from Ashwini Iyer Tiwari’s romantic comedy Bareilly Ki Barfi from last year, Atif Aslam’s vocals make for a soothing song. Surprisingly, he is not given a mention in the music credits. It can be argued that this is because of the recent uproar against Pakistani singers lending their voices to Bollywood films. But it is a disservice to the voice who recently delivered the soulful ‘ _Dil Diya Gallan_ ’ from Ali Abbas Zafar’s espionage thriller _Tiger Zinda Hai_ . '_Lo Safar_ ’ sounds like every Jubin Nutiyal song ever. Composed by Mithoon, the song is a departure from his melodies. Though it is romantic in nature, its tone is more intense, or rather too tense for a romantic song. All romantic songs of Baaghi 2 have the the flute in common but this musical instrument adds more depth to this track than any other. The curse of Punjabi lyrics strikes back in the third romantic song ‘Soniye Dil Nayi’. To make matters worse, Kumaar’s lyrics add little to the song. The music by Gourav-Roshin is also dull as it relies heavily on electronics in a song that would have sounded fresh with the use of organic instruments. As far as the vocals are concerned, Ankit Tiwari returns to the mic only to be outperformed by Shruti Pathak who nails the few lines she lends her voice to in the track. Finally, we get a song that is in tune with the film’s action genre. ‘Get Ready To Fight Again’ can alternatively be called the Baaghi Anthem. Lyrically and musically, the song boasts of an anti-establishment streak which is complemented by the textured, gritty vocals of Anand Bhaskar, Jatinder Singh and Siddharth Basrur. Baaghi 2 has only one song to offer that is not romantic or a rehash. That song is sure to stand out. But given the lack of diversity in the album, Baaghi 2 does not live up to its rebellious tonality and drifts more towards the status quo. Baaghi 2  stars Tiger Shroff, Disha Patani, Manoj Bajpayee, Darshan Kumar, Deepak Dobriyal, Prateik Babbar and Randeep Hooda, along with Jacqueline Fernandez in a special appearance. It is the sequel of Sabbir Khan’s 2016 action drama Baaghi. It is co-produced by Fox Star Studios Hindi and Sajid Nadiadwala’s Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment. It is slated to release this Friday on 30 March.

(Also read: Baaghi 2 star Tiger Shroff has carved out a niche in Bollywood as the go-to guy for action, dance movies)