'Kapoor and Sons' music review: Nothing exciting in this album apart from 'Kar Gayi Chull'

February is still wedding season, and I found myself speaking with a bunch of friends about what songs we could potentially dance to at an upcoming sangeet. The popular choice seems to Kar Gayi Chull from Kapoor and Sons and after hearing the song on loop, I begin to see why. The beat and the chorus phrase are quite catchy, and let’s admit, it is pretty fun to dance to (try it). Plus, it has the ever-so-swagalicious Badshah, who is slowly overpowering Yo Yo Honey Singh as the drunken jam king. But would you be terrible surprised if I told you that the only song worth its salt in the Kapoor and Sons soundtrack is Kar Gayi Chull? [caption id=“attachment_2656924” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt in a still from ‘Kar Gayi Chull’ from Kapoor and Sons.[/caption] Based on a Haryanvi party anthem, originally helmed by Badshah, the Hindi version has very minor changes here and there (like Bollywood pop culture references to Raveena Tandon etc). It’s a fun song alright, but upon hearing the original, you’ll realise what a lazy adaptation/remix Kar Gayi Chull is. Speaking of adaptations, Kar Gayi Chull isn’t the first one. It breaks my heart into many shattering pieces to inform that Let’s Nacho, the last song on this album, is a beat by beat ‘remix’ of Nucleya and Benny Dayal’s crazy song, Tamil Fever. The lyrics are switched to Hindi, and the end result is lines like these, “Kar dance full, romance full, oh baat sun”, while the melody remains (gloriously) the same. It’ll be pointless to say that in both cases, the original is better mostly because they sound almost identical. There’s not much difference apart from the lyrics, but with the risk of sounding like a purist, I must say it escapes me as to why they couldn’t just use the original songs, untouched. Badshah’s Kar Gayi Chull is as fun as the film version, and Nucleya’s Tamil Fever is quite apt for the movie as the story is based in Coonnoor, Tamil Nadu. Questions, questions. Moving on from mixed feelings to clear ones. The stock Arijit Singh ballad Bolna is almost entirely forgettable. It’s not even the sort of song that you hear a bunch of times and then it grows on you. It’s just a very average song that is made melodious because Arijit is a good singer. Buddhu Sa Mann has a nostalgic ’90s feel to it, which could have been quite nice (read: Dard karara from Dum Laga Ke Haisha) but it ends up being far too generic, with a couple of (forced) lines sung in English as well. It sounds like a tweaked version of Sooraj dooba hai’ from Roy, which won both songs’ composer Amaal Malik several awards. Similarly, Saathi rey comes across as the quintessential sad song, used at a crucial plot point in the film. However, it’s important to note here that each song in this album has its own composer, and this song has been sung and composed by Arko, who has an unique voice suited for pensive, intense songs. This one’s a win. It’s quite sad that it will be very hard to remember the remaining three songs (other than Kar gayi chull and Let’s nacho) for more than a couple of weeks. Nothing about them stands out and only a viewing of Kapoor and Sons will tell us whether they contribute to the plot of the film or not. Here’s a piece of advice; ditch this album, and listen to the original versions of the only two decent songs on this album " target="_blank">here, and " target="_blank">here.