Director: Nikhil Advani
Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Irrfan Khan, Huma Qureshi, Shruti Hassan, Sandeep Kulkarni, Nassar, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Aakash Dahiya
Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Lyrics: Niranjan Iyengar
Somehow spy thrillers or espionage films in India always had mixed equation with music. While the music ranges from decent to laughable, quite a few filmmakers just don’t know how to incorporate the tracks in the story. These days, music directors are changing the equations of Indian film music and filmmakers too have made sure they make optimum use of the music to carry the story forward. Moral of the story: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s (SEL) music for Nikhil Advani’s D-Day is unusual to the core. Chances are you might not like it at first and fall for it after two or three sittings.
The first song to greet you is a gripping version of the legendary kalaam written by Sufi saint Baba Bulleh Shah, Duma Dum Mast Kalandar. One could call this song the album’s trump card as SEL have given it an unusual flavour, right from the start where you hear trumpets, rubab and dhols. Further down, you also hear harmonium, daffs and tabla. After ages, one got to hear the Rubab, a musical instrument one would mostly find in North Indian or Afghan and surrounding areas. The song makes you feel as if in a wedding where people (read fat fufas and decked-up maasis) dance with abandonment, complete with thumkas. Singer Mika Singh must be specially mentioned here for he gets the feel of the song and it rises above mediocrity.
It would be ideal to call Alvida a perfect goodbye song. But beware as it is quite a slow song, with some amazing use of violins and drums. The lyrics and music entices you only after listening to it a few times. The song’s soothing quality become better with singers Nikhil D’Souza and Shruti Hassan leaving you spell-bound. Sukhwinder Singh’s interludes in between are touching. It is the singers who make the song so magnificent.
Since it is mandatory to have a Qawwali in every alternative film these days, this film too has one – Murshid Khele Holi. It consists of the usual culprits (musical instruments that is)… you have your dholaks, tabla, harmonium with a good use of the chimpta. It is a neat attempt, but we have heard better ones. The singers, especially Javed Ali, make this song hummable. And so does the lyrics by Niranjan Iyengar.
Rekha Bharadwaj is safe bet to try something interesting, musically. Ek Ghadi is a semi-classical number where you will find a beautiful concoction of tanpura, tabla and santoor. Rekha brings out the song’s true flavour and makes you pause and think. But you come back to reality as the song is a ‘been there, heard that’ song. Rekha has done much better songs of similar quality like Ab Mujhe Koi and Badi Dheere Jali from Ishqiya.
Finally, a big applause to SEL from bringing in Indian Ocean’ bass guitarist Rahul Ram to sing the song which probably defines D-Day, Dhuaan. The song is complete drama. Siddharth Mahadevan and Alyssa Mendonca are a perfect foil to Ram. An additional applause for some wonderful use of chorus.
To call D-Day‘s soundtrack is, at best, beautiful in some cases. The disappointment lays in the fact that they bring these songs to the certain level but not all of them pass the line. You can purchase the album and hear it on quite a few occasions.
Photo Credit: urbanasian.com