At one point in Qarib Qarib Singlle’s trailer, Irrfan Khan tells Parvathy that theirs is not going to be a happy ending-wali love story. Lyricist Raj Shekhar’s lines in ‘Khatam Kahani’ seem to mirror similar sentiments (there is even a fairy tale reference with naa tu raja naa main rani..) in a humorous yet savage fashion. Composer Vishal Mishra packages the words in an energetic mix of folk and electronic elements (the former represented by a delightful array of instruments like khartaal, morchang, ravanahatha (possibly) etc) and assigns vocal duties to the powerhouse singing duo Jyoti and Sultana Nooran who do their part fabulously. Mishra and Shekhar’s other song ‘Jaane De’ however, is pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum. The murderous hate is replaced by love, and its various dilemmas, conveyed beautifully by the lyricist. The composer keeps the melody simple (albeit déjà vu inducing), and the orchestration soothing. Even Atif Aslam does a soulful job, the occasional processing related tinniness notwithstanding.
Two more of the album’s songs have been composed by Rochak Kohli, whom I currently find to be the most consistent among the regular entries in multi composer line-ups. Here too his songs are pretty engaging. First of which is the breezy journey song titled ‘Tu Chale Toh’. Neat arrangement from the composer here, with some nifty touches like the change in tempo half way through. The star here is singer Papon with his languid rendition of Hussain Haidry’s verse, with his falsetto et al, is perfect for the song. ‘Tanha Begum’ is an interesting take on the raag bhairavi-based thumri ‘Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Hi Jaaye’ that, in its treatment, took me back to ‘Saigal Blues’ from Delhi Belly. The ambient backdrop features some groovy use of guitars and electronic elements; Haidry supplies the additional contemporary lyrics, and Neeti Mohan and Antara Mitra do a fine job behind the mic, handling both the classical and modern bits with equal ease. Ali Merchant’s ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle Mash-up’ is the only sore point in the soundtrack. The mash-up of bits from ‘Khatam Kahaani’ and ‘Tanha Begum’ is cacophonous and worse, off pitch; the only good thing about the track is that it gets over in less than two minutes. The soundtrack for Qarib Qarib Singlle, barring that totally avoidable mash-up, is very enjoyable fare from Mishra and Kohli.