It has been quite a while since Rahman scored for an out and out romantic plot set in a college backdrop, in which a composer gets ample scope for scoring conventionally entertaining music. But a conventional Rahman soundtrack is always unconventional and so is that of ‘Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na’. The melody, orchestration, choice of singers, lyrics all come together to accomplish one single mission and that is to make every listener feel light, energetic and much younger when listening to this youthful soundtrack. Music may be technically complex but what finally matters is the world that it transports the listeners to, the mood and feel the music immerses the listeners into.
The instantly catchy and constantly looping acoustic guitar riffs - velvety vocals of Rashid Ali, exquisite multi layered flute interlude – structure with no standard structure - the flute pieces at an optimum pitch without airy sounds complementing the velvet texture of Rashid Ali vocals, all sit on subtle beats which hits just as hard as a dancing kid hits the floor with its legs, in ‘Kabhi Kabhi Aditi’.
‘Pappu can’t dance’ with multiple vocals is pure fun and entertaining music at its best. The hooky motifs ‘Thirikita’ and the e-sitar/guitar/mandolin piece, helps in sandwiching the fragmented catchy phrases of the song. The thump in the beats, whistle blows, claps and chorus brings in the necessary campus feel in the song. There are so many layers and overlaps of motifs, sounds and instruments and the song needs a lot of attention to unravel the beauty behind its production. The remix version is a perfect track to burn the dance floors. Though it has all usual elements of a remix, there are some interesting variations and surprises in this track which makes it one of the rare not-to-be-skipped remixes.
Rahman as always tries to make the pathos song ‘Jaane Tu Meri Kya hai’ more sophisticated and less sentimental in its sound but without diluting the emotion. Though Runu Rizvi’s voice is good, her subdued and husky rendition lacks the depth that the emotions in this song demands. While the male version which is comparatively more conventional in its orchestration, has Sukhwinder Singh precisely delivering the emotions in his rendition. There is a beautiful and a very intricate and intimate vocal harmony running throughout the song and it delivers the intended emotions so effectively.
The acoustic guitar rich ‘Nazrein Milana’ is a joyride throughout. Rahman’s yet another attempt at Jazz in ‘Tu bole’ is little tough to buy in immediately. It is tough to fit the Hindi words into a genre like Jazz without loosing the flow in the https://lyrics. But Rahman has somehow managed it, and to those who feel it is too difficult to consume, Rahman provides a catchy hook with the title line to which all the jazzy twists and turns conveniently comes to an end. ‘Kahin To’ is yet another breezy popish melody which just flows so effortlessly and the soft crescendo towards the end is just exhilarating.
Sometimes a song or music piece reaches our ears from nowhere place and for few seconds we enjoy the part we listen to, shake our head, tap our feet and soon continue with your work carrying within, the mood of the song, we just listened to by accident. Even if you play this soundtrack in a place where people have no time or intention to pay attention to the music, this music will find a way to reach their ears and soul and shift their moods for a while. The music of ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ has got that quality.