Music Review: Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola

Interspersed with Indian and African folk music, the title track is super-energetic and Sukhwinder Singh and Ranjit Barot impress with their flawless vocals. This marriage of musical styles is more evident in Khamakha, which, in the voices of Vishal Bhardwaj and Prem Dehati, is incredibly tuneful and brilliant, especially as it approaches the outro. When you have Shankar Mahadevan behind the mic for a foot-tapping track, do I need to say anything more? He is accompanied by the superlative Rekha Bhardwaj and Mohit Chauhan in Oye Boy Charlie to stunning results. Definitely keeps you coming back to it again and again!

Sukhwinder Singh and Master Saleem offer rock solid support in the passably engaging Lootnewale, a track that also gets a Reprise version that replaces the dhols with techno beats to satisfactory results. Sha Ra Ra, Chaar Dina Ki and Chor Police, with their brass base, are more situational in nature while the African chorus Nomvula (African Umoja) works beautifully. The semi-classical Badal Uthiya is however the soundtrack's pièce de résistance; absolutely bewitching in its trance-like orchestration (the sitar portions are a treat!), Rekha Bhardwaj does a impeccable job of the rendition. Vishal Bhardwaj's compositions in Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola is adequately entertaining!