Music Review Catch Up | January-March 2017

2017 has had a good start in terms of music in Bollywood. I try to review all the music albums as they come by. Unfortunately, not all are covered. So I created this segment of music reviews to catch up on the missed ones. As you can see from the above poster, there are eight albums to be reviewed from the first quarter of 2017. A lot of you readers might not be aware about some of these movies, hence I have provided IMDb links to plot summary. So without further ado, let's get right into it!

(Songs highlighted in RED are my picks from the each album. You can just listen to these and get the feel of entire album in case you are short on time or feel like you have better things to do in life than listen to music)

(Click on the movie name to listen to the songs on Saavn)

Irada
Music: Neeraj Shridhar
Lyrics: Sameer Anjan
Plot Summary: IMDb
Irada is a rock song sung by Dubai based Indian rock singer Nikhil Uzgare. The song talks about how he is determined (irada) to eliminate all the all the negative things in his life.
Chaand Rajai Odhe is a soulful lullaby by Papon. The best part about lullabies are that you have close your eyes and listen to them and not deal with the outside world. This male lullaby is on my repeat list since I've heard it.
Mahi is a simplistic sweet romantic song from a girl's perspective. If this song is gulab jamun then Harshdeep Kaur's singing is chaashni (sugar syrup in it).
Mitran De is a song to watch, not listen. It's a template catchy Punjabi commercial song about alcohol. 😫

Wedding Anniversary
Music: Abhishek Ray
Lyrics: Manvendra
Plot Summary: IMDb
Ittefaqan - Valentine Waltz is a song about falling in love by chance that is sung in a unnecessary fake non-Indian Hindi accent. I would gladly like for this song to go back to it's original era - 90s.
Bidesia is a really bad fusion between seductive English lyrics and sanskari Indian classical lyrics. I understand that the music director was trying to fusion it on the common link of 'being stranger' but it is too much to switch between both the ends of spectrum within a run-time of under five minutes
Dhinchakk is a song with middle eastern beats but lyrics worse than the current social situation in those countries. Even the cheap dance bars wouldn't want to play such songs, I guess.
Aaye Saiyan is the Indian classical portions that were sung in the second song. This one is sung by Bhoomi Trivedi. I am not sure if it was her singing or just the Indian classical song that kept me going through the entirety of it.

Trapped
Music: Aloknanda Dasgupta
Lyrics: Rajeshwari Dasgupta
Plot Summary: IMDb
Hai Tu is a coming of the age song by Gowri Jayakumar. It's really sweet and cozy song (yes, songs can be cozy too!)
You can replace Trapped Theme One with Ishaan's Theme (Taare Zameen Par) and nobody would notice. Such is the innocence of this theme song.
Dheemi gives the exact feelings as it's lyrics - 'dheemi jaise yeh ehsaas'. There is not much lyrics to it but nonetheless it is soothing to listen.
The background music of Trap Rap is created using regular object in daily life - pan, bucket, water drops, etc. This song successfully manages depicts the ruckus created in the mind of the protagonist after he has had no human interaction for days as well as without food and water.
I Am Trapped is a background music that will bring discomfort in your stomach for sure if you've watched the movie.

Machine
Music: Viju Shah, Dr Zeus, Tanishk Bagchi
Lyrics: Arafat Mehmood, Niket Pandey, Jasmine Sandlas, Mohammad Irfan
Plot Summary: IMDb
Itni Tumhe has the same tune has Aakhir Tumhe Aana Hai (Yalgaar 1992) with even worse lyrics.
Chatur Naar is actually not that bad. The song takes only a few lines from the original song Ek Chatur Naar (Padosan) but enough to cause a heart burn to a classics lover.
Just skip Brake'An Fail (say it with a Punjabi accent). Auto tune zindabad.
Tu Hi Toh Mera started of really well with a ballroom dance vibe but less than a minute later turned in cheesy bollywood number. It kept of fluctuating between being sane and stupid, like most of us. But that's not what songs are meant to be. They have to be decisive. Unfortunately this wasn't.
Tera Junoon has lyrics and music of 90s but is still the better than the rest of the songs in this album.
Cheez Badi is a killer of song. The only two things this album has managed is making two good remakes of old songs. Udit Narayan voice makes it nostalgic and Neha Kakkar brings in the freshness.

Anarkali of Aaraah
Music: Rohit Sharma
Lyrics: Ramkumar Singh
Plot Summary: IMDb
Dunaliya Mein Jung is as sleazy as it is meant to be according to the movie. This is picturised when the protagonist, who is a village dancer, is performing. I was literally rolling on the floor laughing watching the video for the first time. 😭
Lahanga Jhaanke does even need an explanation. This song is on the same lines as the previous song.
Aye Sakhi Ooh is a qawwali sung by Pawni Pandey. This one is not as sleazy as the previous ones but is definitely enticing.
Badmaan Jiya De Gaari gives out a disgusting feel of regret and helplessness. It is a Indian classical song based on raga Thumri.
Mann Beqaid Huva gives out positives vibes of freedom. Every now and then Sonu Nigam sings a song for a movie, it is always a pleasant feeling to just listen to his voice. * drowns in his voice. buh bye*
Mora Piya Matlab Ka Yaar speaks the truth about selfish nature of relationships in today's world. Just listening to this song might not sound as pleasant as you imagine it so here's the video for context.
Sa Ra Ra Ra is a live performance revenge song with sleazy lyrics. Don't get upset about same set of songs in this album. These songs actually situational and add depth to the protagonist of the movie.
Mera Balam Bombaiya is a draft scratch of rehearsal of the protagonist's performance. Pawni Pandey has really got an opportunity to go all out with her singing in this album.
Hamre Jobna Pe has a faint background music of Jawani Jaaneman (Namak Halal). The song abruptly ends. I was expecting more of it.
Laal Laal Cheekwa as the title suggests praises the rosy cheeks of the protagonist. That is pretty much it in the song with a runtime of just a minute.

Naam Shabana
Music: Rochak Kohli, Meet Bros
Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir, Kumaar
Plot Summary: IMDb
Rozana is a meant-to-be Shreya Ghoshal song. I cannot imagine anybody else's voice in this one. The band march beats in the background make it feel that the song is moving towards an objective. (not giving away spoilers for the movie here)
Zinda is a comeback song. Though it is meant to be an energetic song, Sunidhi Chauhan's vocals are surprisingly mellow.
Zubi Zubi is a remake of Zoo Zoo Zoobie Zooby (Dance Dance). The current trend I am observing is that such remake songs have just the chorus taken from the original song and are often picturised when the protagonist comes face to face with the villain for the first time. Same is the case with this one. (Others being Laila Main Laila and Haseeno Ka Deewana)
Baby Besharam is one of the better usage of the name of the movie (Baby, in this case) in the title song. This is a catchier song than Zubi Zubi and expect it to be popular in the club scene.

Poorna
Music: Salim-Sulaiman
Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya
Plot Summary: IMDb
Kuch Parbat Hilaye is a motivational song that talks about how it would make a great achievement if it was as big as moving a mountain. Arijit Singh's singing brought me back the memories of Aashayein (Iqbal) by K.K.
Poori Qaaynat is a Indian classical-rock fusion. A Coke Studio worthy material. It'll be interesting to see how this song fits in the movie.
Baabul Mora is an eerily slow sad song by Arijit Singh. Even in a room full of people with my headphones on, I felt alone and left out listening to this song.
Kuch Parbat Hilaye (Intimate) is a guitar-based reprise version of the original song sung by Salim Merchant. Somehow a reprise version of an inspiring song does go too well with the mood.

Noor
Music: Armaan Malik, Amaal Mallik, Rahul Dev Burman 
Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir, Kumaar
Plot Summary: IMDb
Uff Yeh Noor describes the not-so happening life of clumsy Noor in the voice of Armaan Malik. I feel this song is unisex and anybody would be able to relate to it at some point in life.
Gulabi 2.0 should not have existed. It is cancer. Even though only the chorus is taken from Gulabi Aankhen (The Train), the song in it's entirety doesn't feel right. Well, at least legendary R. D. Burman received credit for it.
Jise Kehte Pyaar Hai is a sweet bubbly song. I really liked the sargam before the first antara in this fast paced song.
The chorus of Hai Zaroori made me awww. The chorus goes like this "Ke chori chori chupke se chupke se rona Hai zaroori. Ke paani paani ankhiyon ka ankhiyon ka hona Hai zaroori." It is such an emotional song.
As if one version of the iconic song was not enough, Gulabi Redux adds salt to the already existing wounds. *sigh*

The first quarter of 2017 saw music albums from a diverse set of movies. Some movies relied upon music to take the story forward whereas others relied upon music as just fillers to complete the movie. Some of these albums were pleasing to my ears, others I just waited for them to get done with. So, here is a list of all my favourite songs from the above mentioned movies:
Chaand Rajai Odhe (Irada)
Mahi (Irada)
Hai Tu (Trapped)
Dheemi (Trapped)
Cheez Badi (Machine)
Mann Beqaid Huva (Anarkali of Aaraah)
Rozana (Naam Shabana)
Kuch Parbat Hilaye (Poorna)
Baabul Mora (Poorna)
Hair Zaroori (Noor)

That is all I have for this music review catch up. I hope you found this review useful. If you did then feel free to share it. Let me know you favourite song of the album in the comments below. Until then, Ciao...!!

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Other Music Review:
Music Review | Phillauri | Jasleen Royal, Shashwat Sachdev
Music Review | TVF Tripling (Web Series) | Amar Mangrulkar

You can also check out my Curious Thoughts where I questioned if musical covers on YouTube (India) are becoming monotonous? and if too many music composers in a movie are good or bad

YouTube Discovery Series:

YouTube Discovery | Ep. 06 | Mahesh Raghvan - Indian Classical Versions
YouTube Discovery | Ep. 05 | Vidya Vox - Mashup Covers