Dangal's new song Gilehriyaan is easy on the ears, yet full of mischief

The new song from Dangal is unlike the other two that we have heard so far. Gilehriyaan does not capture the local flavour of the Haryanavi hinterlands as the setting of the song is a metropolitan city. The song revolves around a young girl in Geeta Phogat, played by Sana Shaikh, making her first flight of freedom in a new city. [caption id=“attachment_3132702” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sana Shaikh in a still from the song Gilehriyaan[/caption] Away from her village in Haryana, she enjoys her time in the urban space. Though she follows her training schedule religiously, she is also seen indulging in guilty pleasures like paani puri, shopping, watching movies, dancing and grooming. These delightful visuals of Geeta having the time of her life stand in sharp contrast to the flashback visuals of her rigorous training under her father-cum-coach Mahavir Phogat (played by Aamir Khan) peppered all over the song. The contrast works in favour of the larger narrative as it shows her conflict between staying grounded and rising up to the occasion. Amitabh Bhattacharya’s choice of mischievous words add to the mood of the song. A couplet in the latter half of the song spell out how she has befriended the skies and how the earth is behaving like a jealous BFF. Thus, the lyrics trace her journey to high-headedness and the consequent dilution of humility within her. The word gilehriyaan (squirrels) allude to how her heartbeat has been hopping in her chest like a squirrel, on discovery of a new lifestyle. Jonita Gandhi’s mellifluous vocals lend an air of mischief to the song. At the same time, they fall easy on one’s ears as opposed to those of the singers in the last two songs. Pritam has kept the music simple with the use of acoustic guitars which allows the listener to focus more on the lyrics, vocals and visuals which are the real heroes, or ‘sheroes’, of the song. Thus, Gilehriyaan celebrates Geeta’s freedom from her Haanikaarak Bapu and explores the mischievous side of the Dhakad girl.