Hero Music Review: Fitting Tribute To The Original

Veteran Director Subhash Ghai’s evergreen Hero (1983) not only gets a modern makeover courtesy Director Nikhil Advani but also serves as the Launchpad of two star kids – Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty. Music of this Salman Khan Production is being eagerly awaited since the Subhash Ghai original had beautiful songs which have continued to remain popular even today. Naturally, that raises the expectations on this album too with listeners expecting the composers (Amal Malik, Sachin-Jigar, Jassi Katyal and Meet Bros Anjjan) to come up with a soundtrack which is as good, if not better, than the original. With Kumaar and Niranjan Iyengar in-charge of the lyrics, let’s hope the team can live up to our expectations.

The album opener is the title track sung by Superstar Salman Khan himself! Of course, the voice processing is quite obvious but that is not to take away the effort put in by the Khan. Khan sounds quite endearing and it helps that Amal Malik’s composition is beautiful. A soft and soothing melody, Main Hoon Hero Tera is as romantic as it gets. The composer himself takes over the mike for the second version of the title track which is as engaging, if not better, than the Salman Khan version. The singing is heartfelt, the arrangement has a calming effect and the lyrics (Kumaar) are simple and sweet. No wonder then that this soft rock composition is an instant winner indeed!

The opening notes of Jassi Katyal composed Yadaan Teriyaan confirms our suspicion that this one is a pathos laden number. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan voices this Kumaar written track and has a generous dose of Punjabi words which is yet again, on expected lines. Katyal’s composition is quite moving but is nothing extraordinary and gives us a feeling of déjà vu. The second version rendered by Dev Negi and Shipra Goyal is again quite earnest and engaging but should have a better impact on-screen.

Dance Ke Legend is a dance number and has been composed by Meet Bros Anjjan. From the sound of it, this song seems to be some kind of dance competition between the leads and therefore the composers have incorporated quite a bit of world music in this track like Salsa and other dance forms. Though the track is quite danceable, the tune is quite ordinary and that really pulls the song down.

Khoya Khoya is Sachin-Jigar’s first contribution to the album. The song is quite pleasant and the tagline ‘Khoya Khoya’ especially is quite catchy. A horde of singers (Mohit Chauhan, Priya Panchal, Arpita Chakraborty, Tanishka Sanghvi) get together to deliver this dreamy track which should find its share of fans for sure!

O Khuda is poignant and the Composer Amal Mallik sings it with such passion that it is sure to touch your heart. Palak Muchchal gives the Composer good support behind the mike and together they create a heart-warming melody that is at once engaging and appealing.

Sachin-Jigar’s other composition is Jab We Met which is a fun and lively composition and sees the composers taking two diverse forms of music (Punjabi and Reggae) and giving the listeners a delectable Indo-Western cocktail. The singers (Benny Dayal, Shalmali Kholgade, Divya Kumar and JigarSaraiya) are totally in sync with the mood of the song and give a spirited rendition.

To sum up, the soundtrack of Hero is a pretty good offering from the Composers especially because of the title track (which is sure to become a blockbuster hit) and some other hummable tracks like Khoya Khoyaand O Khuda. The good thing about this album is that none of the songs can be considered bad despite the presence of some run-of-the-mill compositions. That said, the album seems set for a commercial success and that, in turn, should help increase the audience curiosity about the film which should hopefully translate into good news at the ticket counters.

Our Picks: Main Hoon Hero Tera, Khoya Khoya and O Khuda