Dishoom Music Review: Cracks The Code Well

What all can happen in a 22 minute soundtrack? Well, a lot if you have composer Pritam at the helm of affairs. He demonstrates once again the need of a single composer when it comes to keeping the 'sur' intact for a major film. While the (unfortunate) trend currently prevails where multiple composers come up with a song apiece for a film, Pritam brings on four songs for Dishoom with lyricists Kumaar and Mayur Puri pitching in with a couple of songs each.

First to arrive is Sau Tarah Ke which is sung by Jonita Gandhi and Amit Mishra. The song was first heard when the theatrical promo was unveiled and ever since then, its sound has pretty much reverberated whenever there is a mention of Dishoom. Kumaar (with Ashish Pandit contributing on the hook-line) keeps the lyrics simple (as always) and the singers do well to support Pritam in keeping the pace up for the four minute long song. Later, Abhijeet Sawant and Aditi Singh Sharma come up with a version of their own and by the time the album is through, the song is pretty much engrained in your mind.

Can rap and sufi come together for a grungy underground outing? Well, trust Pritam to do the needful! He, along with lyricist Mayur Puri, do the unthinkable by experimenting with the sound of Toh Dishoom. What would have really sounded quite tough on paper is made to look easy by the team as Raftaar and Shahid Mallya collaborate on this fun number that seems to be designed for the end credit sequence.

What is indeed a lot of fun all the way is Jaaneman Aah which pretty much takes off from where Dil Mein Baji Guuitar [Apna Sapna Money Money] left. That song was composed by Pritam as well and this time around when he has Varun Dhawan and Parineeti Chopra as his stars for the dance floor, he doesn't disappoint them. He comes up with as many as two versions with lyricist Mayur Puri and makes sure that first Antara Mitra and Aman Trikha, and then later Nakash Aziz and Antara Mitra do complete justice to this song. An out and out 'masala' number that has its influences from Marathi as well as Tamil zone, Jaaneman Aah is set to rock the show when the second version appears in the film.
 

Last to arrive is Abhijeet Sawant and Antara Mitra sung Ishqa and this is the point where one ends up exclaiming that the decision to rope in just one composer indeed pays off for Dishoom. Pritam maintains certain consistency in the soundtrack and 'Ishqa' is in line as well with the sound and spirit of Dishoom. Fast paced and lively, it could just have been perhaps even better if the choice of the male singer was a tad different. Not that Abhijeet sings it wrong but some other man with more punch in his voice would have taken Ishqa to a different level.
 

The music of Dishoom works really well. It is entertaining, fast paced and most importantly, it doesn't bore or seem out of place.
 

Our picks: Sau Tarah Ke, Jaaneman Aah, Toh Dishoom