1921 Music Review: Beautiful Compositions In A Haunting Horror Set Up

There is something about the soundtrack of a Vikram Bhatt film when it comes to the horror genre. Be it Haunted, Raaz franchise or 1920 franchise, music has time and again been the mainstay of his films. Though the music of his Raaz Reboot may not have stayed on the charts for too long, the fact still remains that soundtracks from Vikram's films have never been mediocre. Now that he is kick-starting yet another franchise with newcomer composer Harish Sagane along with lyricist Shakeel Azmi who are supported by guest composer Asad Khan and lyricist Raqueeb Alam, one waits to hear what he has to offer. Newcomer Arnab Dutta gets a big break with 1921 as he gets to sing as many as three songs in the film. Each one of these comes in quick succession right at the beginning of the album with the first in line, 'Sunn Le Zara', turning out to be a good soothing melody. It has everything that one associates from a song featuring in a Vikram Bhatt's horror flick, so melancholy turns out to be the mainstay here as well. The feel of the soundtrack extends further with Kuch Iss Tarah which is sung exceedingly well by Arnab Dutta. He gives his all to this song which has the essence of love soaked into right through its duration. If you have loved Vikram Bhatt's songs from the aforementioned franchises, rest assured you would love to give this one a good hear as well. There is certain purity of love in this song that Shakeel Azmi pens so well. Next in line is 'Yaara' and though Arnab Dutta gives a good account of himself, somehow the tunes start sounding a bit repetitive by this point in time. Not that the song doesn't work as a standalone piece. However, it doesn't really touch your heartstrings in the way the ones before it had managed to do right at the beginning. This is exactly how you feel about 'Tere Bina' as well though overall this one turns out to be a better hear with guest composer/lyricist 'jodi' of Asad Khan/Raqueeb Alam coming on board. They rope in Arijit Singh and Aakanksha Sharma for this love song that may not score heavily on the recall quotient perspective but still fits in well as a part of the overall package. A good hear, play this one for some romantic times. The one that actually does well when it comes to the recall quotient though is 'Aanewale Kal'. This one has a sweet melodic sound to it which has been sung with all heart in by Rahul Jain. Though one hasn't heard of the newcomer much in the past, he does well with this number which seems to have been created well for the situational appeal in the film and should stay well with you when the film's narrative is progressing. What should also stay well with you are the numerous piano pieces that have been included in the film's soundtrack. It is quite rare to have so many instrumental pieces in an album and what is even rarer is to have each one of these being a piano piece. Composer Harish Sagane is responsible for three of them that go as 'Main Piano Theme', 'Crowd Gathering' and 'Piano Theme'. Each one of these flows pretty organically from one piece to another, hence lending a complete feel to the album. As for the fourth one, 'Aggressive Piano Theme', it comes right at the start with composer Pranit Mawale hitting the right notes. This is how the soundtrack of 1921 plays overall as well i.e. it flow organically and hit the right notes. Vikram Bhatt and his team of composers, lyricists and singers do it again. Our picks: Kuch Iss Taah, Aanewale Kal, Sunn Le Zara, Tere Bina