Noor music review: Sonakshi's film soundtrack has some hits and some misses

Sunil Sippy’s upcoming slice of life drama Noor features Sonakshi Sinha who plays the titular character of a journalist who is not quite happy with her life, owing to paucity of time for personal life, weight issues and inherent clumsiness among other issues.

[caption id="" align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sonakshi Sinha in a still from Noor. YouTube[/caption]

Naturally, Noor goes through a wide range of emotions in the film. Its music, composed by Amaal Malik, attempts to capture those moods. While he hits the bull’s eye in a couple of songs, he fails miserably in others.

The title song ‘Uff Ye Noor’ is arguably the best of the album. It chalks down the character sketch of Noor quite graphically but cannot resist the clumsiness that she is blessed with. The stanzas of the song are composed and sung commendably but they lead to a weak chorus. Thus, the drop in the beat is so absurd that you feel like the song could have been better had the stanzas been on a loop. Amaal’s brother Armaan does a brilliant job with the vocals. He sings as if he has fallen in love with the character of Noor and makes the lyrics, penned down by Manoj Muntashir, his own. The best part of the song is that it takes the narrative forward and in fact is a crucial part of the storytelling. ‘Gulabi 2.0’ has a  catchy EDM beat  but as soon as the hook line arrives, you cannot help but get haunted by the sheer ridiculousness of it. The intensity and longing of the original song, and even several of its successful adaptations, are glaringly absent from this rehash.

Armaan Malik has sung only the chorus which is a waste of his talent. The lead vocalist is Tulsi Kumar who tones down the gravity of the original and reduces it to a below average song. ‘ Move Your Lakk ’ is written and composed by rapper Badshah. As usual, he gets your foot tapping through an irresistibly catchy hook line and everything that leads up to that. Punjabi sensation Diljit Dosanjh and Sinha have lent their voices to the song. Though their vocals have been liberally auto-tuned, the effect comes across well as it adds a dreamy touch to the song. ‘Jise Kehte Pyaar Hai’ is a breezy romantic song sung by ‘Kar Gayi Chul’-fame Sukriti Kakar. Amaal keeps the composition simple as he allows Sukriti’s enamouring voice to take charge. Her vocals feel like a breath of fresh air. What is equally refreshing is that she sings traditional notes on western beats. Kumaar has written the lyrics of the song and he has followed Amaal’s brief and kept it simple as well. ‘Hai Zaroori’ explores the low phase of Noor’s life. Though it reflects a sad mood, it radiates optimism with its lyrics. Muntashir’s words beautifully spell out how crying is imperative to one’s existence as it allows you to vent all your pain out of your body. It embraces gloom as an organic part of one’s life. Sukriti’s twin sister Prakriti Kakar lends her relatively textured voice to this song. She evokes mixed feelings in the listeners with her voice that effortlessly switches from tension to warmth. Overall, Noor scores high on its soft songs that lend more depth to its narrative. The disco songs, which may be a tool to show Noor’s transformation, are rather average and owe themselves more to market trends than the passion for creating good music, something that T-Series is renowned for. Noor also stars Purab Kohli and Shibani Dandekar. It is the cinematic debut of comedian Kanan Gill. It is produced by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series. It is slated to release on 21 April.