Hunterrr Music Review: Works For The Film's Genre

You don't really know what to expect from the music of Hunterrr. Since the film's theme deals with a young man detailing his 'scoring technique' (with women) as a 'hunter', one wonders if there is place at all for music in the narrative. However, the makers indeed thought so and hence rope in composer Khamosh Shah with a horde of lyricists to put together over half a dozen songs.

It is nostalgia revisited with the title song Hunterrr 303 which is fun right from the beginning, courtesy its sound which is straight out of Mithun Chakraborty films from the early 80s. A disco number which has Bappi Lahiri in complete form as a singer, it even has the kind of composition that he has been famous for last four decades. Vijay Maurya is the lyricist and he puts together suggestive lyrics that go with the theme of the film and fit in well to the stage and setting. Full marks to Khamosh Shah for his core tune as well as overall arrangements that make you revisit the era gone by. A superb track.

Khamosh brings himself as a lyricist too for Chori Chori that has Arijit Singh and Sona Mohapatra coming behind the mike. Suddenly, the energy goes out of Hunterrr as the composition switches track and gets into the lullaby mode. In fact one gets a jingle sense in the way this song is paced which doesn't register an impact at all. Yes, it is simple but that doesn't quite mean that it is impressive either. Also, both Arijit and Sona are required to sing in a mode which is uncharacteristic to their natural style, hence further denting any prospects that 'Chori Chori' could have managed.

Nakash Aziz, the man behind Saree Ke Fall Sa <R... Rajkumar>, gets into the same mode for Na Heer Na Hoor, which is just like the title song Hunterrr 303 in terms of being suggestive. However, this one pushes the envelope across the boundary, hence turning out to be more repulsive than inviting. The song is basically about 'accepting' anything and everything when it comes to satiating 'tan ki bhookh'. While Azazul Haque pretty much incorporates the fantasy elements that teenagers indulge in, 'Na Heer...' is mainly for the situation in the film instead of boasting of any audio value.

Naina follows next and this time Khamosh steps in as a singer with Azazul Haque as the lyricist. Thankfully, Azazul shows his poetic side as well with 'Naina' which is a soothing melody that brings in some sanity to the proceedings. An easy sounding number that does turn out to be reasonably pleasant, it does well as a audio piece and finds good momentum in its pace and styling as it proceeds. A good song.

However, Hunterrr encounters a speed-breaker soon after with Bachpan which has Amit Trivedi being heard as a singer with Swanand Kirkire as the lyricist. A slow moving track which is more of a narrative piece than a musical piece per se, it gets into a philosophical/metaphorical space and is set to slow down the pace of the film if it appears in full. Avoidable.

Soon after, there is a sudden shift in proceedings with Anand Shinde and Vaishali Made coming together with a Marathi number Ye Naa Gade. Vijay Maurya writes this song which makes one wonder how it would fit into the proceedings of Hunterrr. Still, all said and done, it at least managed to bring back energy into the album and one just wonders if it would have been a good idea actually had the song featured immediately after the title song.

The album concludes with Dil Lagaana and one has to acknowledge that regardless of being good or bad, what the music of Hunterrr can certainly boast of is variety in there. This time around, it is a quintessential qawalli in play with none other than Altaf Raja coming behind the mike. Does it make you frown on listening it first? Oh yes, certainly. Does it play in your ear after it has been heard just once? Errr...yes, indeed. Does it make you shrug it away? Most likely. Will it hit the chord with its target audience? Definitely. And this is where the crux of this Khamosh Shah written number lies.

Though one plays on the soundtrack of Hunterrr with a certain mindset, what one gets to hear are some songs that actually go with the film's narrative and genre. One may not see this soundtrack turning into chartbuster but during the play of the film quite a few would go well with the genre.

Our picks: Hunterrr 303, Ye Naa Gade, Dil Lagaana, Naina