Badhaai Ho music review: A fun, inventive album replete with hilarious lyrics, quirky compositions

The music of Amit Sharma’s upcoming romantic comedy _Badhaai Ho_ sounds like every Ayushamann Khurrana film ever (minus the recent thriller _AndhaDhun_ ). But this is more of an observation than a piece of criticism as the soundtrack of all his films are replete with fun, quirky songs, with a bonus mellow number sung by the actor himself. [caption id=“attachment_5275071” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Ayushmann Khurrana and Sanya Malhotra in a still from Badhaai Ho. YouTube[/caption] In Badhaai Ho, that soft track is ‘Nain Na Jodeen’. Ayushmann proves once again that he is as good a singer, if not better, as he is an actor. His dewy voice elevates the impact of Kumaar’s well-crafted lyrics. His vocals originate from a place of uncompromising honesty. Neha Kakkar provides equally good support in the smaller female voice parts of the song. The fact that she can switch from a ‘ _Dilbar_ ’ from Milap Zaveri’s recent action entertainer _Satyamev Jayate_ to this romantic track bears testimony to her impressive range. She gets the accent right, along with every note. Ayushmann’s longtime collaborator, Rochak Kohli, uses a number of string instruments like Oud, Rabab, Bouzouki and Sarangi to lend the song an iridescent appeal. His choice of instruments is ironical since Kumaar’s lyrics propagate lessons on loving with no strings attached. Some of his lines make for great poetry. For example, “Tere bin saans naa le mere din raat, khali khali lagte hain lakeero wale haath.”

‘Badhaaiyan Tenu’, which comes closer to the film’s central narrative, is the best song of the album. The film revolves around Ayushmann’s character whose mother gets pregnant when she in her early 50s. Everyone goes about wishing ‘badhaai ho’ to him and his family. The additional vocals stand out in the song as they are pitched perfectly. Brijesh Shandailya, Romy and Jordan also do a good job with the stanzas and chorus but the squeaky female vocals continue to echo in one’s mind long after the song is over. Tanishk Bagchi’s choice of musical instruments is on point. While Pradeep Pandit’s harmonium lends the song an air of celebration, Tapas Roy’s mandolin reveals there are liberal doses of taunts under the red carpet. Vayu’s lyrics are minimum as he allows the eccentric music to take the forefront. But he nails some contextually hilarious lines like “Hawa mei fire kia fir bhi gira hai sar par haathi” and “Maari thi missed call hi par ho gaya answer ji”.

With ‘ _Morni Banke_ ’, Tanishk Bagchi goes back to what he does the best — rehashing classics. He revisits Guru Randhawa’s 2010 single ‘Morni’, composed by Punjabi MC and written by MellowD. With its colourful lyrics and a compelling hook (not to miss the “balle! balle!” peppered all over the song), the Punjabi track was screaming to get a new life. But Tanishk handles this regurgitation more responsibly. Firstly, he ropes in Randhawa for the vocals. The Punjabi pop star has become the go-to rehash bank for T-Series besides ghazal maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Randhawa takes full advantage of the streamlined arrangement of Bagchi to amp up his vocals. While the original sounded more like a singer taking to mic at an informal family function and crooning an impromptu song on the beats of a dhol, the new and improved version boasts of the finesse of a studio-produced song. Neha Kakkar once again proves her versatility here as she holds her own in front of Randhawa in this bhangra number.

‘ _Sajan Bade Senti_ ’ is a fun gully dance number composed by JAM8. The music group employs additional vocals in the form of a see-saw between"uff" and “offo”, which is sure to spread like a wildfire among the listeners. Dev Negi, who rose to fame with ‘Butterfly’ in Imtiaz Ali’s romantic comedy Jab Harry Met Sejal and ‘Sweety Tera Drama’ in Ashwini Iyer Tiwari’s Bareilly Ki Barfi, powers this song and splashes gallons of masti on Vayu’s lyrics. The words paint a picture of a wacky meet cute with lines like, “Chalegi ab toh palang par kushti, bhula k susti aaja”.

As a whole, the music of Badhaai Ho is celebratory for most part, barring the ruminating ‘Nain Na Jodeen’. All the songs, full of fun and frolic, will either make your foot tap or tickle the funny bone. *Listens to ‘Badhaaiyan Tenu’ again* Okay, wait. All the songs will make your foot tap and tickle the funny bone. Badhaai Ho also stars Sanya Malhotra, Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao and Surekha Sikri. It is co-produced by Vineet Jain, Aleya Sen, Hemant Bhandari, Amit Ravindernath Sharma and Priti Shahani. Bankrolled by Junglee Pictures, the film is slated to release this Thursday on 18 October.