Bin Roye (motion picture soundtrack)
Three stars
Billed as a "music-driven" project, upcoming Pakistani film Bin Roye brings together a host of famous names and some pretty good tracks.
Popular film and television actor Humayun Saeed and beloved TV actress Mahira Khan (famous for superhit TV serial Humsafar) star in the romantic drama, which will be released in the UAE over Eid Al Fitr. The duo were in Dubai recently for the film's official soundtrack release, which brings together some of the biggest names from Pakistan and India's music industry.
Some of the famous names on the soundtrack include Abida Parveen who, with a 45-year career, is one of Pakistan's doyennes of Sufi music; Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, a Filmfare award winner for Best Male Playback Singer in 2011, and illustrious nephew of the celebrated Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who needs no introduction thanks to his numerous contributions to Bollywood soundtracks since 2003; two-time Filmfare award-winning Indian singer Rekha Bhardwaj; Pakistani singer Shiraz Uppal, who has sung nine songs for Bollywood since 2001; Indian singer Ankit Tiwari of Galliyan (Ek Villain) and Tu Hai Ki Nahi (Roy) fame; and Harshdeep Kaur, an Indian Sufi singer who has performed numerous Bollywood tracks, including Alif Allah (Jugni) from Cocktail.
Bin Roye, the title song, was written by Shakeel Sohail, and composed and sung by Uppal. Uppal's emotional delivery of his melancholic melody sets the mood for this bittersweet and highly emotional tale of two sisters vying for the affection of the same man, a story based on Farhat Ishtiaq's best-selling novel, Bin Roye Ansoo.
Maula Maula – a Sufi number sung by Parveen and Zeb Bangash, composed by Shani Arshad and written by Sabir Zafar – is one of the most engaging songs on the soundtrack. It relies heavily on Parveen's amazing vocal prowess, who lifts it to become the kind of song in which you will want to seek solace again and again.
Chan Charya, composed by Shani Arshad and written by Zafar, is sung by Bollywood songstress Bhardwaj, alongside Pakistani singer Momin Durrani. Producer Duraid was insistent upon getting Bhardwaj from the moment she heard the composition by Arshad. It ended up being recorded over Skype but you would never know it, and its upbeat tone and Bhardwaj's chirpy vocals instantly affect the otherwise sombre mood of the album.
No desi album worth its salt comes without a feel-good dance track, and Bin Roye boasts Ballay Ballay, one of two songs given a music video (the other is Tere Bin Jeena) to boost the album's popularity.
Written by Shakeen Sohail and composed and sung by Uppal and Kaur, the song is set during a wedding and includes all the typical trappings of a lavish song-and-dance sequence: fancy outfits, an extravagant set and a full-length performance by lead actress Khan. With its heavy dhol beats and catchy qawwali-style interlude, Ballay Ballay will definitely be on the playlist at many weddings this year.
The album winds down with the soulful O Yara, composed by Waqar Ali and sung by India's Tiwari, followed by the slow-paced Tere Bin Jeena, composed by Sahir Ali Bagga, and sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Saleema Jawwad.
The romantic track, the video for which features Khan once again, this time alongside Saeed, offers the perfect acoustic interpretation of the on-screen relationship between the lead pair.
artslife@thenational.ae
