Music Review: Bodyguard(Good And Clean)

Director: Himesh Reshammiya and Guest composer Pritam

Cast: Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor

Ratings: ****

Guess what, it’s rumoured that Pritam was to compose this OST but Salman Khan decided to give his once favourite composer Himesh Reshammiya another chance. But Salman being Salman didn’t want to leave Pritam in the lurch, hence the guest composer tag we assume. So let’s jump straight to the guest track, which is I Love You sung by Ash King and Clinton Cerejo. The track is heavy on melody and is unlike Pritam’s recent works. He has kept a simple arrangement and given his singers plenty of scope to bring out the nuances from Neelesh Mishra’s lyrics. It has a funky remix version as well and also a reprise version, sung by Shaan and Clinton. In all fairness, Shaan sounds better than Ash King and this version should have been included in the film.

Now let’s move to the Himesh compositions. The album opens with a title track (vocals by Band of Power) which describes Salman as a bhaijaan and a true Indian. It also has cuts of Salman spouting punch dialogue. This fast-paced song, full of folksy beats is already a hit with Salman fans and will surely generate more hype in days to come. In the next track, Desi beats, Himesh does a Amit Trivedi, what with the heavy use of brass band notes popularised by Trivedi in Dev.D. Its trumpet notes remind you of Tum kya jaano (Hum Kissise Se Kum Nahin). Sung with lots of verve by Mika Singh and Amrita Kak, the number has a thumping remix version as well. And there’s also a Punjabi hip hop version sung by Alam Gir Khan and Amrita that sounds marginally better than the original.

Then comes Teri meri in the voices of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shreya Ghoshal. It’s a sad romantic number written by Shabbir Ahmed. Both singers put their soul into it though it sticks out like a sore thumb alongside other light hearted songs from the album. The reprise version sounds better than the original. But since the singers remain the same, where was the need for another version? The song also forms the basis of the instrumental theme for the movie. That’s surprising because on one hand you have a very gung ho title track but the official theme sound of an action comedy comes from a sad sounding track.

All-in-all, Himesh despite being a little rusty is back in action and let’s hope he continues what he is best at and keeps his acting ambitions under check. Salman Khan prefers his films to have clean family entertainment and that’s the case with Bodyguard’s album too.

Source: Filmfare Magazine