Machine music review: Youthful and peppy with the perfect chartbuster recipe

Mumbai: It’s not easy to sell a movie starring newcomers. It’s all the more difficult to conjure a soundtrack up that can ably carry the opening weekend numbers on its shoulders.

But the team behind Abbas-Mustan’s upcoming directorial, ‘Machine,’ seems to have pulled it off.

The film, launches Abbas’ son, Mustafa, in a grand fashion, giving the strapping and charismatic youngster a potboiler, reminiscent of Rakesh Roshan’s ‘Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai,’ that catapulted Hrithik Roshan to global stardom.

The soundtrack is predominantly Tanishk Bagchi’s baby. The man behind Bollywood’s recent ‘remixes’ doesn’t disappoint, and delivers what was expected of him.

The album kicks off with the romantic ballad, ‘Itna Tumhe,’ augmented by an aptly contemporary electronic base, that makes one groove and drown in mush, simultaneously. Ably crooned by Yasser Desai and Shashaa Tirupati, the film is bound to be taken over by the youngsters, the target audience.

Tanishk seems to know the pulse of the youth, their expectations, and plays right up to their alley.

He retains Yasser’s mellifluously husky voice on ‘To Hi Toh Mera,’ which starts off like a waltz and uses a bunch of fresh electronic sounds to create an impressive instrumental background, with orchestral highs and symphonic interludes.

‘Tera Junoon,’ has Jubin Nautiyal, who’s been delivering one chartbuster after another, venturing into a beautifully Arabic melody. The Komail-Shivaan composition is rendered by a nuanced Jubin, who moves one effortlessly.

‘Break’an Fail,’ is the quintessential dance number that might sound repetitive, but still inarguably is quite peppy. Komail-Shivaan and Dr Zeus might remind one of Ýaar Na Miley’ from ‘Kick’ but still stays strong on its own, courtesy its infectious electronic and bass-driven base. Jasmin Sandlas, Rajveer Singh and rapper Ikka keep the vocal department intact, collectively, without over-relying on the electronica.

The surprise package of the album is Tanishk’s reinterpretation of the cult classic 'Chatur Naar’. While purists might take offence over the radical makeover the classical-based original, it can’t be denied that Nakash Aziz, Shasha and Ikka manage to create a compelling rendition, aggrandised by an irresistible hook. This one has a chartbuster written all over it in Bold.

All in all, the album is as youthful as it could get, and the ‘Machine’ team sure does have a winner on their hand.