MUSIC REVIEW: 'KRANTIVEER - THE REVOLUTION' SOUNDTRACK

By: Parimal M. Rohit

June 22, 2010

More than a decade after Krantiveer hit the screens across India in 1994, the dramatic Bollywood social drama returns for a sequel in 2010 with this week’s anticipated release of Krantiveer – The Revolution, which is directed by Mehul Kumar and stars Aditya Singh Rajput, Harsh Rajput, Jahan Bloch, and Samir Aftab. While the film’s story line is rather dramatic and hard-hitting, the music of Krantiveer – The Revolution is a fine balance of tracks that are edgy, fun, and warmly light, making the soundtrack worth listening to, despite its attachment to a serious plot. Produced by the duo Sachin-Jigar, the soundtrack features the voices of some of Bollywood’s best playback singers and artists, including Shreya Ghoshal, K.K., Mika Singh, Hard Kaur, and Ishq Bector.

With only four original tracks on the album, there is very little room for error, as each song has to be solid in order to make it worthwhile. While the most memorable tune is “Chhote Tera Birthday Aaya,” Krantiveer – The Revolution is indeed worth your time and earns a vote of confidence by Buzzine Bollywood.

Tracks:

“Khuda Mere Khuda”
Artist(s): K.K. and Shreya Ghoshal
Time: 5:27

K.K. and Shreya join together for a romantic medley that is sure to fill the hearts of many listeners, especially those who have a loving significant other in their respective lives. The mellow number hits several peaks and valleys, both vocally and musically, that allow the listener to ultimately feel all warm and fuzzy inside once the track comes to an end.

“Chhote Tera Birthday Aaya”
Artist(s): Anushka Manchanda, Mika Singh, Hard Kaur, Neuman Pinto, Ishq Bector, Hrishikesh Kamerkar, Mahadev Krishna
Time: 4:25

Ensembles are not always a good thing, especially on a music track because it is too difficult to highlight individual talents. Yet, “Chhote Tera Birthday Aaya” defies conventional wisdom in more ways than one. Not only is it a fun track that goes against the grain by essentially serving as a theme song for what is otherwise a dramatic social film, but what works so well in this track is how each of the artists play their individual talents off each other in a way that allows the group to flow through this number like a hot knife cutting through butter. The combination of smoothly energetic vocals with pop-influenced Bhangra beats makes “Chotte Tere Birthday Aaya” hard not to dance along with. Ultimately, this is just a fun track.

“Lau Jali”
Artist(s): Jigar
Time: 3:45

A modern interpretation of the patriotic tune “Vande Materam,” “Lau Jali” stands out as a track that manages to infuse the Western-influenced electric guitar and the Indian-tuned sitar. The perfect blend of oddly matched musical instruments breathes unique life into this track, ultimately giving it an edge that actually makes “Lau Jali” a positively gritty track that will pump you up and get you emotionally psyched for any given situation. Jigar’s vocals are equally powerful. While some will not like the Western rock influences, substantively, “Lau Jali” is a well-tuned track. The track’s edginess also serves as the ideal tune for the dramatic climaxes as it plays during the actual film.

“Firangi Paani”
Artist(s): Anushka Manchanda, Master Saleem
Time: 5:11

Another apparently fun and hearty song, “Firangi Paani” has all the makings of a solid track, but for some reason, it never reaches its full potential. In many ways, there is nothing that separates “Firangi Paani” from countless other similar tracks on many of today’s Bollywood-themed soundtracks. With that, while Anushka Manchandna and Master Saleem do a fine job with their respective individual performances, the track as a whole is not really memorable or spectacular enough to earn replays by anyone who lays his or her hands on this soundtrack.

The soundtrack for Krantiveer – The Revolution is now available in stores.