Batti Gul Meter Chalu Music Review: 'Har Har Gange' Saves The Album of Shahid Kapoor-Shraddha Kapoor's Film From Being a Let Down!

After playing a Rajput king in his last blockbuster, Padmaavat, Shahid Kapoor is going massy with his next, Batti Gul Meter Chalu. The movie is directed by Shree Narayan Singh, who made his directorial debut with Akshay Kumar-starrer Toilet-Ek Prem Katha. Like his first effort, Batti Gul Meter Chalu is also a commercial movie with a social message in its heart. It will deal with the corruption in the electricity board where consumers are charged with exorbitant bills. Shahid is playing a Hrishikesh-based lawyer in the film, while Shraddha Kapoor is the female lead. Yami Gautam, Divyendu Sharma, Sudhir Pandey, Supriya Pilgaonkar and Farida Jalal. Batti Gul Meter Chalu is Fun, Serious Take on Electricity Crisis: Shahid.

It is time to review the soundtrack of the film. There are four main tracks in the album of Batti Gul Meter Chalu, out of which two are fast numbers, one is a romantic track and one is a devotional song. Anu Malik and Sachet-Parampara are the composers, while Manoj Muntashir and Siddharth-Garima have penned the lyrics.

Here's our review of the album -

Gold Tamba

Every album needs one massy chartbuster song that aims to click with the audience. For Batti Gul Meter Chalu, it is Gold Tamba. Well, there is nothing classy about the deliberately silly lyrics, targetted at the front-benchers. But even when considering this fact in mind, Gold Tamba, composed by Anu Malik, is a very average track that fails to work the magic of composer's previous street-smart efforts like Oonchi Hai Building and Ek Garam Chai Ki Pyaali, despite singer Nakash Aziz's best efforts.

Dekhte Dekhte

Aka the romantic track of the soundtrack. The Atif Aslam-song has already got a lot of flak for being an unnecessary recreation of an old song - this time, it is the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Sochta Hoon Ke Woh Kitne Masoom. There is another version that is sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan which is a slower take. Featuring additional beats (recreated by Rochak Kohli) and lyrics (Manoj Muntashir), both the versions manage to breeze through thanks to the singers' exemplary voices and the long-lasting impact of the original song. And yet, Dekhte Dekhte doesn't improve upon its original version!

Hard Hard

Mika Singh now arrives to save Batti Gul Meter Chalu's album with a party track. He is joined by Prakriti Kakar in crooning this dancefloor track with a desi twist. The track, composed by Sachet-Parampara, is a very passable affair and as expected, the lyrics are just inane and makes no sense.

Har Har Gange

After the silly Hard Hard, composers Sachet-Parampara manage to redeem themselves big time with what is this soundtrack's best (and saving grace) song (produced by O2SRK), Har Har Gange. Powerful and yet soothing, Har Har Gange has three factors working in its favour - the terrific use of drum-beats, Arijit Singh's mellifluous voice and Siddharth-Garima's lyrics (a redeemer for them too after Gold Tamba and Hard Hard). The devotional touches work well in enhancing the track to another level. Just wish that the album had more songs like these! Batti Gul Meter Chalu: Loved Hard-Hard and Har Har Gange Tracks From Shahid Kapoor Starrer? Thank O2SRK For These Feats!

LatestLY's Favourites

Dekhte Dekhte (somewhat), Har Har Gange (thumbs up!)

Here's the jukebox of Batti Gul Meter Chalu -

Final Thoughts

Save for Har Har Gange, the soundtrack of Batti Gul Meter Chalu is otherwise underwhelming and lacks a real good gem. The songs may work well with the narrative, but outside the cinemas, they lack the appeal to sustain in the long run.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 18, 2018 06:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).