Music Review: JTHJ

Gulzar’s poetry and Rahman’s live-jam treatment mines the finest out of Rabbi.

A R Rahman rolls in with the mint fresh sound of Challa, dressed elegantly in groovy flourishes of acoustic guitar, jump-hop bass and punchy drums. Rabbi’s voice brims with soul and sincerity as he courses through a delightful melody that meanders through the verses before joining the sunshiny hook.

Mohit Chauhan sounds a little out of sorts here, but Shreya’s husky lows and silken highs make the most of this freefloating melody. Raghav Mathur and Shilpa Rao crank up the zest. Gulzar’s brilliant, evocative lyrics are centered on the star-crossed love story of Mirza-Sahiba.

Shreya’s spread-out reprise version is likely to underscore a sentimental high-point in the film. The percussion-powered Ishq Shava is a youngblooded dance number whipped up deftly in a flurry of mandolin and Arabic instruments like oud and saz.

More strings burst forth in the spunky guitar refrain that fires up the high-energy Jiya Re. Neeti Mohan sounds quite the wild child on this. The strings-flute-bass combo helps build the chorus progression, and in verses, the song breaks out in multiple patterns only to merge suddenly.

Mellow piano notes fittingly transform into a grand symphonic canvas for the title track. On this, Javed Ali paints all shades of undying commitment with his toasty vocals.

That said, little can smudge Rahman’s adorable portraiture of love, longing and other such complexities of life, lyrically aided by Gulzar’s musings. Though not as free-spirited as Rockstar, Jab Tak Hai Jaan is engaging; an adorable.