Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety music review: WIth Dil Chori, Bom Diggy Diggy, T-Series relies more on acquired content

Besides the ‘battle of the sexes’ trope, Luv Ranjan’s filmography has been synonymous with good music. The album of his next release, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety , entails a diverse range of artists but all of them are bringing to the table pretty much the same thing. [caption id=“attachment_4313519” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha and Sunny Singh in a still from Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. YouTube[/caption] A majority of this T-Series production relies on content acquired from hitmakers across years of the past 10 years. The most recent is ‘ _Bom Diggy Diggy_' , an R&B song by British artistes with Indian roots, Zack Knight and Jasmin Walia. Their independent track topped the Indian charts last year which would have prompted the makers to rope it in so that the film could cash in on its recent popularity. What this song achieves, however, is to tread on the fine line between romance and aggression. While the soft western vocals by the two artists lend it a ruminative appeal, the loud Punjabi and EDM portions peppered all over the song give it a sense of immediacy. The album also marks the long awaited return of Yo Yo Honey Singh who had lost a large chunk of his market to fellow rappers like Baadshah and Raftaar. But he comes back from his sabbatical with a bang and has still got it, pretty much. He has rehashed two songs composed by Anand Raj Anand and sung by Hans Raj Hans. The first one is ‘ _Dil Chori_' from the immensely popular album Chorni. While Honey takes a smart call by retaining Hans’ legendary voice yet dilutes the innocence of the original through his trademark lyrics. While the pace and texture have improved with technological advancement, one misses the chorus of ‘Hoi!’ that made the song sound like a communal folk celebration rather than just another party. Yet another Hans and Anand collaboration, ‘Dil Tote Tote’ gets Honey Singh-ised in this album. ‘Dil tote tote ho gaya’ turns into ‘chhote chhote peg maar’. Besides the rather creative spin on the hook line, Singh also manages to bring Hans Raj Hans’ son Navraj onboard who takes off from where his father left and delivers a memorable song with a contemporary touch. Among fresh compositions are two Arijit Singh songs. ‘ Subah Subah ’ is on the lines of ‘Ik Vaari Aa’ from Dinesh Vijan’s romantic thriller Raabta from last year. Amaal Malik blends the energetic vocals of Arijit, soft EDM and Kumaar’s well crafted lyrics to present a song that is refreshingly different from fellow popular tracks of the album. If Unlike ‘Dil Chori’ and ‘ _Chhote Chhote Peg_ ’, it is devoid of any hangover and is, in fact, just the right energy booster one needs on a lazy morning. The other Arijit song is ‘Tera Yaar Hoon Main’ which might be the only acoustic song in the eight-track-rich album. The music by Rochak Kohli and the lyrics by Kumaar are on point, barring the chorus where even Arijit cannot help the drastic dip in energy. Despite that, this song offers the best vocals and a much-needed respite in an EDM-driven album. [caption id=“attachment_4360987” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Sunny Singh, Nushrat Bharucha and Kartik Aaryan in a still from Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. YouTube[/caption] Three more Punjabi songs are thrown into the mix, the best out of which is Guru Randhawa’s ‘Kaun Nachdi’. Randhawa does not let down after his incredibly popular ‘ _Ban Ja Tu Meri Rani_ ’ from Suresh Triveni’s slice-of-life drama Tumhari Sulu from last year. His textured voice brings novelty to the album, ably supported by the melodious Neeti Mohan. The number manages a good mix of dance and innocence that ‘Dil Chori’ did not quite achieve. ‘Lakk Mera Hit’ is the most underwhelming track of the album. Sukriti Kakkar seems to be pitching too hard. Kumaar comes up with a witty hook line, a spin of ‘Love Mera Hit’ from Priyadarshan’s 2009 film Billu. But the music by Kohli does not hold up. Finally, Mika Singh starts off on a typical animated note in ‘Sweety Slowly Slowly’ but the rejuvenating music by Saurabh Vaibhav jettisons the seasoned singer into his zone as he eventually delivers a song worthy of his repute. Overall, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety boasts of a lot of music, but most of it is borrowed. Thus, T-Series only traverses tested waters and churns out songs mostly below its unrivaled potential. But the songs are sure to pull audiences into theatres as well as drive the narrative of what seems to be an entertaining romantic comedy.

Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety stars Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha, Sunny Singh and Alok Nath. It is co-produced by Ranjan, and Bhushan and Krishan Kumar’s T-Series. It is slated to release this Friday on 23 February, along with Chakra Toleti’s comedy _Welcome To New York_ . (Also read: Kartik Aaryan says contrary to popular belief, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety is not a recreation of Pyaar Ka Punchnama)