Music Review: Padmaavat (Hindi)

Composer(s): Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Listen to the songs online here: Saavn

That Sanjay Leela Bhansali has a knack for traditional sounds is quite well-known, and his previous outing Bajirao Mastani all but proved his mettle as a fine composer. Yet here, with Padmaavat, the man finds himself oscillating between Rajasthani folk and Persian styles of music, a blend that's at best engaging (Ghoomar, Ek Dil Ek Jaan, the latter of which mines the same terrain as Laal Ishq and Aayat) and passable at worst (Binte Dil, Khalibali). The soundtrack's mesmerising standout is Nainowale Ne, a soft sitar-backed folk melody that's as much a showcase of Bhansali's wizardry with the retro orchestral backdrop as it's of Neeti Mohan's excellent singing. Padmaavat never attains the high of Bajirao, but is not too bad either. It, like Ram-Leela, is merely inconsistent.

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