By Jayesh Adhyaru

Those were the simpler days. Not long ago, just 20 years back. There was no mobile phone-no internet, thus no Facebook and no WhatsApp. Talking to friends over a cup of a tea was the only ‘social media’. Hence love was simple too. Love-struck couples met in gardens, exchanged love- letters and occasional telephonic talks (remember there wasn’t ‘Jio Effect’ back then!). The music of that era reflected that simplicity. Songs had melody and most of the time picturization too had innocence. But with the new millennium, the trend of ‘remix’ and very recently ‘party songs’ came in vogue. Lyrics went for a toss, too. And when ‘noise’ became new music, melody lost somewhere.

But with the new album called ‘Vitamin She’, we can hear that lost melody once again. Before you get confused, let me explain. ‘Vitamin She’ is an upcoming Gujarati movie which marks the debut of popular radio-jocky from Ahmedabad Dhvanit Thaker. A young director Faisal Hashmi also making his debut with this movie. From the promo, the movie looks a light hearted rom-com where the protagonist meets a beautiful girl, both fall in love, some problem arises and (hopefully) everything falls into its place. The movie is slated to hit theaters on 28th July, but the music of the movie has already struck the chord with the audience. Two songs of the movie have been released so far and have been viewed for more than one million times each on social media.

The music of ‘Vitamin She’ is composed by one of the most prolific music directors of Gujarati cinema, Mehul Surti. He has many Gujarati films such as path breaking ‘Kevi Rite Jaish’ and a musical play like ‘Samudra Manthan’ in his kitty.

‘Vitamin She’ album has six songs in total. Like every romantic comedy film in India, there is a song for each situation in the album. Let’s talk one by one.

The first released song of the movie is ‘Chhokri’, which is marketed as ‘Chhokri anthem.’ The situation of the song looks like the boy has just broken off with his girlfriend and he’s fed up of her tantrums. Lyricist Raeesh Maniar has described how the boy has invited trouble by falling in love. Some playful words translate: “(To love her feels) I am doing drudgery like a servant or a gardener, that too in a double shift!” Well, this is a boy’s point of view, a girl’s version may differ! There are three reasons we enjoy this song. First is Dhvanit himself has sung it very enthusiastically. The other reason is its choreography. Choreographer Joy Mathy, who works in Tamil film industry, has brought quirky and very acrobatic dance moves. Third and the biggest reason is, this is a ‘Koothu’ song. ‘Dappan Koothu’ is very well-known and highly energetic folk dance from Tamil Nadu. Dholak type percussion and other Indian instruments make such songs instant catchy (just Google and see for yourself). I have learned this song is a tribute to Tamil cinema from the director Faisal Hashmi. I was wondering when was the last time I heard such rhythmic chorus singing?

The second released song ‘Maachhlio ude’, refreshingly sung by young ‘raw star’ Darshan Raval. This is the song where the protagonist is submerged in the ocean of love. He’s in dream sequence all the time and like the lyrics say, ‘he’s flying.’ (E to ude chhe…) Once you listen to this song and would clearly know why it has got 1 million views. Zany picturization of this song amazingly reciprocates mental state of the love-struck boy.

Ok, now boy and girl both are in the seventh heaven called love. We have one more beautiful song called ‘Prem Ni Masti.’ This song is composed in Spanish style music. Note how the guitar plays in the song. Again, Raees Maniar has come up with a beauful line like ‘taari aanglio fare chhe zulf ma ane koi ghazal lakhaati jaay chhe’ (your stroking my locks feels like somewhere a ghazal is born). This is a beautiful piece of poetry. This song is entirely shot in slow motion in studio makes it the homage to old school romance. Beautifully sung by Aishwarya Majmudar and Siddharth Bhavsar.

There’s one more song which is full on ‘masti’ element is the title track ‘Vitamin She’, penned and sung by Dhvanit Thaker himself. The situation of the song looks like the protagonist and his friends are in search of the girl whose he has one glimpse only (or lips only!). The song reminds us of Devang Patel’s ‘Meri Marzi’ and ‘Ae Bolo Bolo’ from ‘Rehna Hai Terre Dil Me’. This is a fun song to hear with very clever use of words and filmy references. Note that Dhvanit has done Kishore Kumar thing by singing in two different voices!

Fifth and sixth songs are composed on the same tune. Means there are two versions of the song. The one ‘Prem No Aa Ehsaas’ penned by Raeesh Maniar and sung by Parthiv Gohil. The other version is penned by poet Tushar Shukla and sung by Aman Lekhadiya and Jhanvi Srimankar. We aren’t sure which version is used in the film. But both have the same mood. After a bitter fight, the couple has realized its futility and importance of true love in life. Both versions have nice philosophical touch. The use of dholak catches our ears.

After a long time, we have got almost a complete music album as ‘Vitamin She.’ Thankfully, there’s no party song and no ‘Ahmedabad Anthem’ in it. It’ll be remembered for bringing back long lost melody in our films.

Rating: ***1/2 (Three and a half stars)