Star rating: 3.5/5 (Three and Half stars)

Music Director: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

User rating: 

No matter how you grade 2 States upon its release, its album does not disappoint. Not for the 1st few rounds of hearing at least. What we like is not the perfection, because that would be an exaggeration, but fresh voices, very little repetition, comforting music and lyrics that you can actually make sense of, make this album a treat.

Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in a still from movie ’2 States’

You have heard him sing in Lootera, and that went quite well. This time Amitabh Bhattacharya pairs up with Aditi Singh Sharma and does a peppy number for 2 States. If clubbing is your forte, this one is perfect. It is simple with its lyrics treading on relationship menaces and the only flaw is, as you browse through the album, the medley in the genre tends to get a tad bit similar to that of Locha – E – Ulfat. The track is around 3 minutes 33 seconds long.

To begin with, the loop reminds one of Om Shaanti Om tile track, but otherwise, this is more like an extension to Offo! And that includes the essence as well as the music score. Needless to say, just like Offo, this is one for the dance or for a long drive that needs you to be awake behind the wheels. For the vocals, contributing credits go to Benny Dayal.

The shehnai add the freshness to this otherwise typical Bollywood song with a tad bit mushy – mushy lyrics which actually, in spite of it, does not bore you or even sound repetitive. Arijit Singh and Chinmayi Sripada are the voices behind the composition. However, you can’t help but think of Shafqat Amanat Ali after listening to the male voice.

Shahid Mallya and Akriti Kakkar may not have produced anything outstanding but if you are looking for a number to just dance on, this is not a bad choice. If anything, it lacks the irritation of techno and trance that has been violating the Bollywood music scenario for quite some time now as far as dance numbers are concerned. The vernacular touch is actually peppy and the lyrics doesn’t bore you either.

This one has to be one of the top most romantic numbers in the 1st half of 2014. Mohan Kanan and Yashita Sharma render freshness to this number that has been missing in Bollywood for quite some months now. At lyrics, Amitabh Bhattacharya proves his mettle. Irrespective of what turns out of this movie, this is one track that won’t leave your playlist for quite some time. Semi – sufi and country come together to make for a soothing soundtrack.

Like this song for all that it has to offer in the beats and not for how loud it is. The pitch makes sense as this high – energy number is both progressive Bollywood and improvised Punjabi in genre. Shankar Mahadevan and Siddharth Mahadevan come together lending voice to this number while again lyrics are quite sensible unlike the recent trend of beats sans meaningful words in Bollywood. Over all, it is a composition for a wedding, for the disc, or simply just ‘cause you need something nice and loud for that added energy.

If the past few releases did not stand up to your expectations in Hindi Film music, this is worth the try to bring a fanatic’s faith back on. For once, the entire album can be judged without selective prejudice.

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