Ishqiya - Music Review | Vishal Bharadwaj | Abhishek Chaubey | Ishqiya

A rustic setting, two hooligans and a temptress village belle: Ishqiya is not a stereotypical flick that comes out of Bollywood every now and then. Producer Vishal Bharadwaj and director Abhishek Chaubey’s film has seven tracks and all the songs promise something that is unusual, unique and definitely offbeat.

Creating sensational drama for the movie through the songs is poet Gulzar, who, with composer Vishal, has given some of the memorable tracks to us in the past. Let’s unwind and tune into the ‘Ishqiya’ mode.

With a catchy riff of a guitar that has more of a Spanish feel to it, starts the song Dil Baccha Hai. The experimental Vishal knows how to mix western music with Indian. The song, predominant in retro feel, is not only a good creation but a terrific one that grips you right away. So is it dil sa koi kamina nahi? Sings Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

Churrr, Furrr, the song Ibn-E-Batuta quickly takes you to the sprawling open fields and a village locale. The number has small anecdotes and is sung by the versatile twosome Sukhwinder Singh and Mika. Must say the song’s universal appeal is because of these two singers. The funny Furrr and the comical Churrr not only stab you with energy but also makes for a good laugh. Yeehaw!

When the man is here, his better half can’t be far behind; Rekha Bharadwaj makes an entry to the album with a quasi ghazal, Ab Mujhe Koi. The slow number is a passionate rendition about broken dreams and life’s longing. Well, after a long time one gets to hear a ghazal-like song in a movie album. Thumbs up!

Rekha again, but this time it’s a raga-based classical song. Not an earful for those who just listen to songs for fun, but Badi Dhire Jali is something that ranks high on quality. The song is essentially a fusion, classical with slight western touch, the percussion is impressive and it’s better than Bidi Jalaile.

Something for disc goers, Dil to Baccha Hai remix with Clinton Cerejo fits the bill of good remixes, so does nucleya remix of Ibn-E-Batuta. And if you think that you had enough of Churr and Furrr, the remix version of Ibn-E-Batuta by Jackie V glides on. The three remixes thus balance the soundtrack’s offbeat mood, giving it a contemporary, more Bollywood, feel.

‘Ishqiya’ songs march to a different beat.

Rating: 7/10