Quality SEL's - Dil Jo Bhi Kahey Album Review

Shankar – Ehsaan – Loy team comes up with yet another winner in Dil Jo Bhi Kahey album after “Bunty Aur Babli”. What makes this trio stand out among the composers is their urge to try different genre of music in each and every album. This group though initially had a Rahman hang over in their compositions has now managed to establish a unique sound of their own and you realize it when you hear this album and the thought that I crossed immediately after listening to this album in mind was “typical SEL stuff” and of course that is what every composer strives to achieve. The album has got totally 9 songs and the lyrics are penned by Javed Akthar.

The album starts energetically with a typical title track DJBK. Shaan shines with his enthusiastic and energetic singing in this song. Undoubtedly, it is the catchiest song of the album. One of the trios being a guitarist, SEL’s songs always would have an innovative and apt usage of Guitar and that is there in this song too. The “Oh ve ho” part which is a harmony of chorus, peppy beats and strings is a real treat to ears. The minimal semblance of this song with “Main aisa kyun hoon” song vanishes by this “oh ve ho” part.

Then we have trademark SEL melody in Kitni Narmi se which is like a fusion of their melody of “Kal ho naa ho” and rhythm of R.D.Burman’s classic “Ek ladki ko dekha” but yet the song is pleasant to listen mainly because of Sonu’s soothing rendition. The song has a stream line flow till the end, focusing on the melody without any deviations. The piano pieces sprinkled all through the track add beauty to the melody.

It starts in an unconventional note with guitar backing and slowly moves to typical pathos melody in the track Kaun jaane. The song is yet another sample of the Shankar’s expressive singing abilities. The flute pieces in the interludes leave a soothing effect. The song gets elevated when soft rock beats accompany the melody often in between.

Opening title theme has a brief stream of notes making a beautiful melody. The music starts with Caralisa’s silky voice and the orchestration that follows explores the beauty of the main theme further. A very sweet romantic theme it is.

Mere munna that starts with enigma beats is a philosophical melody. The song proceeds in a predictable manner and it is fairly catchy. I think song will work well with the visuals. The “to be not be” bit is nicely interwoven with the song. On the whole, this is the only average number in the album.

Tu nahi jab yahan has lot of voices (Shankar, Shreya, Mahalaxmi, Sudesh Bhosle). The song that starts like a pathos melody but quickly gains momentum. The composition of first ten lines until some beats starts is truly awesome with great emphasis on melody. Performance of all the singers is topnotch. The song can be heard just for the catchy interlude.

Cest La Vie adds to the variety of the songs in the album. I don’t think song of this genre has ever been tried in bollywood before. I don’t know what the name of this genre is and if I am not wrong it is Jalsa as the song mentions at the starting. Though it sounds similar to Rahman’s “Signore” song from “Kannathil Muthamittal”, I have no complaints as when you are new to a genre of music; all the songs in it will sounds similar. The rhythm and the beats are catchy and take us to a celebrative mood.

Beach sequence is short theme music track with peppy beats and Caralisa’s singing in a strange language flows in the background. Sajna Angana aayo re is a 1 minute track that has got nice alap by Javed Ali and catchy folk rhythms.

The album is refreshing as like any other SEL’s album. Go for it.