I didn’t have much hopes when I started listening to Akriti Kakkar’s debut album, Akriti. But then, I liked the first song I heard from the album. And liked some of the songs quite enough, so much so that I decided to keep some pending things there and first write about ‘Akriti’.
The album opens with Mehrmaa ve, composed by Shankar Mahadevan. The song is a slow, good song with an oldie touch. Akriti sings the song well even though it’s not the best song of the album and the girl fares better in some forthcoming songs.
Gazab, the second song of the album, is the first composition of Akriti Kakar in the album. The song is not great but certainly good for a first time composer of 23 years of age. The composition reminds me of Sona’s aaja ve, mostly in terms of its programming. An average song, that you will like if you listen to it a few times.
The next song, Chhoone do, is again composed by Akriti herself and written by Neelsh Misra. Now this is an impressive composition by the singer and arrangers/programmers Tubby and Parik keep the music light there. A well composed, well written, and overall impressive song.
Na re na na re was the best song of the album the first time I heard it, without much pondering. The words might remind you of Guru but the song has nothing to do with that na na re. The only thing that matches is that even this one is a wonderful song to listen to. Interestingly, even though composed by Shankar Mahadevan, the song feels like coming from A R Rahman’s school of music, the soft madness it is composed with. No disrespect intended to Shankar; he has certainly created some good stuff. Good work by Gulraj Singh on arrangement and programming.
Dil vi diwana tera is an old, traditional Punjabi song that Akriti tries to sing and does sing pretty well, except that she seems to be trying too hard in some places to get that authentic Punjabi touch. No questions about the song that sounds perfect in its place. Good work by Akriti but she still has a long way to go. (The song is credited as a tribute to Noorjehan ji on the album cover)
The next song, Taabeez, is again a composition by Akriti, this time with a slight touch of Arabic style. The composition needs some full throated singing and the singer seems to do it quite well for herself.
The last song of the album Chal kahin sang mere is a soft, techno song with some good beats. A good, likeable song.
Overall, ‘Akriti’ turns out to be something much above my negligible expectations and certainly worth a try. The album is not very great when compared to those launched by biggies but certainly above an average debut album. Also, the album establishes Akriti Kakar as more than just a singer as she manages to come up with some decent to good tunes of her own. Now I have some expectations from the girl.
Tags: Akriti Kakar, Music Review, Private Album, Shankar Mahadevan
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