Hasee Toh Phasee Music Review: Safe And Crowd Pleasing

Hasee Toh Phasee marks the coming together of two diverse film personalities, Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap and is directed by debutante director, Vinil Mathew and stars Karan Johar protégé’ Sidharth Malhotra and the talented Parineeti Chopra in lead roles. For romcoms to generate curiosity it is essential that the music create a lasting impact in the audience’s minds and no one understands that better than Karan Johar himself, which is why Johar regulars, Vishal-Shekhar are in charge of the music department while Amitabh Bhattacharya and Kumaar have been assigned the task of penning the songs for this romantic comedy. Let us hope Vishal-Shekhar live up to the expectation as always.

A wedding Song has become almost an integral part of romantic comedies and the Punjabi Wedding Song falls exactly in that category. Sung spiritedly by Sunidhi Chauhan and Benny Dayal with a liberal sprinkle of English lyrics, this one has fun written all over it. But the composition is quite run-of-the-mill and might not have a lasting impact as such in the long run though its popularity in weddings might be a tad higher.

Shake it like Shammi is a pretty cool experiment with a retro feel to it. Combining electro elements with the spirit of the original dancing legend, Shammi Kapoor, this one is quite groovy. Add to that the mind-blowing voice of Benny Dayal and what we have is an outright winner! Vishal-Shekhar ought to be complimented for successfully experimenting with radically different sounds and coming up with a dance number which is not just high on energy but quite endearing too - a perfect tribute to Shammi Kapoor, no doubt.

Next to come is Drama Queen which was the first single released from this soundtrack and is steadily gaining popularity. Shreya Ghoshal has a total blast singing this fun number along with Vishal Dadlani and the catchy hook does warrant a few re-runs. But that apart, the composition is just about average and does not have the potential to be a chartbuster.

Manchala comes as a breath of fresh air and captivates the listener immediately. This quintessential romantic track with vocals by Shafqat Amanat Ali and Nupur Pant is quite soulful and easy-on-the-ears and has the potential to climb up the charts, if promoted well.

The penultimate track Zehnaseeb turns out to be the best of the album. With vocals by Chinmayi Sripada (her second outing with Vishal-Shekhar after Titli from Chennai Express) and Shekhar himself, this one is a lilting composition and will surely leave the listener asking for more. Chinmayi’s voice wafts through your senses leaving no doubt in the listener’s mind as to why Producer Karan Johar favors this composition the most from this album.

The final track of this album is the Punjabi lyrics dominated, Ishq Bulaava. Though the words might be a little difficult to understand, the bewitching composition drives that thought to the background. Instead, one is instinctively drawn to the moving melody which has an old world charm to it. Sung brilliantly by Sanam Puri and Shipra Goyal, this one is guaranteed to touch your heart.

Overall, the soundtrack of Hasee Toh Phasee is a decent effort from Vishal-Shekhar but definitely not among their best. With most of the songs falling under the standard / safe, crowd-pleasing category, the album scores low on innovation and creativity but should work well in the film as it is a commercial entertainer. Though surely a positive start to the year, one expects more from this talented music composer duo on the lines of a Chennai Express, if not a chartbuster like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.

Our Picks: Zehnaseeb, Shake it Like Shammi and Ishq Bulaava.