Chirantan Butt has become a favourite of Vikram Bhatt after several successive soundtracks including Haunted 3D from last year so it comes as no surprise that he’s chosen to produce the music for Bhatt’s latest horror flick, 1920 – Evil Returns.
There’s oodles of melody in the opener “Apnaa Mujhe Tu Lagaa” with a serene piano playing alongside some fab guitar strings and drums but as good as the arrangements are, let there be no doubt they are overshadowed by the one and only Sonu Nigam who is brilliant from start to end. With his stunning performance the song is now complete; full of emotions, desire and pathos making it easily the best song from the album. The fact that Chirantan has been able to attract Sonu Nigam is a coup indeed because the singer has been very selective with what he sings these days but it’s clear he could see the song was a winner all the way. Anyway, if you ever forgot the talents of this man check this out, he’s absolutely amazing, the one and only Sonu Nigam…take a bow for we are not worthy!
It was always going to be a tall order keeping up the standard with such a good opener but Chirantan tries his best with another highly emotional song “Uska Hi Banana” . This time he adds a tabla to his music arrangements which are a little hit and miss this time but the guitar strings are nicely done. There’s absolutely no competition for Sonu Nigam but Arijit Singh is one of the best newcomers and here he does well in a serious avatar using his high octave vocals to good effect. Of course he’s not going to match Nigam’s impact but no one does. Overall well worth a listen.
The rest of the soundtrack is pretty typical stuff and so the standard kind of falls, certainly until we have seen them in the film where their impact will be felt more. K.K. and Suzanne D’Mello come together to sing a customary Bhatt love song “Jaavedaan Hai” which is good until you realise it sounds like all the other(Bhatt) love songs whilst Mahalakshmi Iyer sings another melodious(female) heartbreak song “Khud Ko Tere” that probably sounds better in the film. The final song “Majboor Tu Bhi Kahin” is more interesting thanks to fresh and powerful vocals from Amit Mishra. Chirantan Bhatt adds a neat electric guitar later in the song which helps progress it nicely to its highly charged finale. Give it a try for sure.
Judging from the soundtrack it’s clear that Vikram Bhatt has moulded his namesake Chirantan into a Bhatt-stylised music composer with a lot of focus on melody and vocal prowess and in that respect 1920 – Evil Returns is a successful soundtrack that will surely sound even better on the big screen. Just don’t expect anything memorable(the type Pritam tends to deliver for the Bhatt’s) and enjoy it while it lasts particularly Sonu Nigam’s awesome rendition in “Apnaa Mujhe Tu Lagaa”, easily the pick of the songs.
Producer: Vikram Bhatt
Director: Bhushan Patel
Starring: Aftab Shivdasani, Tia Bajpai, Sagar Saikia, Vidya Malvade
Music: Chirantan Bhatt
Lyrics: Shakeel Azmi, Junaid Wasi, Manoj Yadav
Singers: Sonu Nigam, Arijit Singh, K.K, Suzanne Dmello, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Amit Mishra
Audio On: T Series Number of Songs: 5
Album Released on: October 2012
Rohit Khilnani says 1920: Evil Returns is a boring and needless horror film.
There are some horror films that scare you and the others just bore you.
Vikram Bhatt's 1920 - Evil Returns falls in the latter category.
Even if you are a fan of horror movies, this one is not something that many of you will enjoy because the writing department does a bad job and that's where problem starts.
The story moves at the speed of a snail and the horror scenes are so predictable.
Jaidev(Aftab Shivdasani) a popular poet, who lives in huge haweli with his sister Karuna, is now a loner because a few years ago, he was not able to meet the love of his life. Now pen, paper and alcohol keep him occupied.
When Jaidev steps out to get some fresh air near the lake, he finds Smruti(Tia Bajpai) unconscious. He gets her home and helps her gain her lost memory, she somehow does remembers Jaidev's poems.
On and off, they break into a song where she plays the violin and he plays the piano. Karuna is obviously not impressed with all the attention that her brother is giving an unknown person by keeping her inside the house and taking her to the city hospital.
On their way to the city hospital in Shimla, the two stop at a hotel to spend the night and plan continue their journey as soon as dawn breaks. In the night, Smruti is led outside the hotel by a ghost and at one point she gets her memory back but soon she is possessed by a spirit who doesn't let her reveal anything about herself. Since she is possessed she makes scary noises, behaves weirdly and her eyes are blood red.
The horror scenes are typical and not scary.
The set up looks good, the work going into the screenplay writing shows on screen.
Though the two lead actors try to deliver but the fact that you don't feel anything for them proves that their earnest performances fall short because of bad see-through story.
The soundtrack, the background score and even Bhushan Patel's direction, nothing comes together to save this film.
1920 Evil Returns is yet another needless horror film. It's cold and bland.
In 1920, Jaidev Verma(Aftab Shivdasani) is a famous poet who lives the life of a loner as he is unable to meet the love of his life, Smruti(Tia Bajpai). They got to know each other through an exchange of letters and slowly fall in love. One day, Jaidev receives a letter informing him that Smruti had an accident and died. Now his sister Karuna(Vidya Malvade) is his only support system that keeps him motivated. One day Jaidev finds an unconscious girl near a lake and brings her home. After gaining consciousness, she is unable to remember anything from her past life except Jaidev's poems. Karuna becomes skeptical of her presence in the house and gets even more so when the keeper of the cemetery warns them of an evil spirit inside of her who is in love with her.
Jaidev is insistent on keeping her at home since he feels a connection with her. He even names her Sangeeta. Strange & spooky things start happening with Sangeeta like vomiting iron nails and seeing ghosts in her room. On their way to see a doctor, Sangeeta gets completely possessed by the ghost. To save her, the only person Jaidev can turn to is the cemetery keeper. Slowly Jaidev gets to know that Sangeeta is actually his lost love Smruti. He goes to Smruti's old address to find the truth. He discovers that Karuna had come there before, asking about Smruti. Jaidev returns home and finds Karuna's body hanging in the forest with suicide notes around it. From Karuna's letters, he comes to know that his best friend Amar(Sharad Kelkar), who was always jealous of Jaidev's success, exploited Karuna to get his revenge. When Amar discovered that Jaidev loved Smruti, he went to Smruti, posing as Jaidev, and took her to his residence in Shimla to exploit her, but in the process, Amar dies. It is his spirit possessing Smruti.
The cemetery keeper warns Jaidev that the spirit is very vengeful and has to be deceitfully taken to the same place it all happened—Amar's residence in Shimla. Once Smruti touches Amar's corpse, Amar's spirit will have to leave Smruti's body and return to his own body; the corpse can be set on fire then, releasing Amar's spirit from the karmic cycle of life and death. Whilst doing this, Smruti must not know where she is being taken, else the spirit will also know, so Smruti is made unconscious and completely enveloped in a sacred cloth. They reach the designated place, but the cemetery keeper trips and the sacred cloth moves away from Smruti's face, awakening the spirit. The possessed Smruti unleashes mayhem on all four persons, and in a matter of time, everyone except Jaidev is brutally killed by her.
Jaidev is badly injured in battle of evil versus just, and the spirit in Smruti burns the corpse of Amar, thus forever remaining in her body. Jaidev helplessly pleads with the spirit to kill him since there is no meaning in letting him live if the spirit will take Smruti from him. Amar's spirit refuses, saying that this is exactly what he wanted: for Jaidev to suffer. Jaidev cuts a rope attached to a loft in ceiling; a corpse falls from there, landing on Smruti, and making contact with her touch. It is revealed in a flashback that Jaidev and the group had hidden the real corpse of Amar in the ceiling as precaution.The corpse comes alive as Amar is forced to return to his original body. Enraged, Amar's corpse tries to kill Smruti but Jaidev saves her and sets Amar's corpse on fire thus releasing Amar's spirit from the karmic cycle of life and death.Jaidev marries Smruti and they live happily with
1920 – Evil Returns is a forthcoming horror film(a genre that is rarely present in Bollywood) and is a sequel to the film 1920(2008). It stars Aftab Shivdasani, Tia Bajpai and Vidya Malvade in the leading roles and is all set for release on 2 November 2012. According to the synopsis, the film is based on a poet called Jaidev(Aftab) who meets a young woman called Smruti(Tia) by a lake. He forms a relationship with her and later discovers that Smruti has lost her memory(the only things she remembers is his poems). Whilst they are staying at a guesthouse(they are en route to a hospital so Smruti can get treatment), Smruti becomes possessed by a spirit that is present in the guesthouse. You will have to wait until this spooky movie releases to find out what happens!
The music director for the film’s soundtrack is Chirantan Bhatt. He has composed songs for films like Mission Istaanbul(2008) and most recently for Haunted – 3D(2011). The lyrics have been penned by Shakeel Azmi, who has written songs for films like Zeher(2005) and for Haunted – 3D also. So let’s explore what 1920 – Evil Returns has to offer to us Bollywood addicts!
We start off with Apnaa Mujhe Tu Lagaa, which is performed by the charismatic Sonu Niigaam. It is a power ballad and you can hear a selection of instruments such as the guitar and the piano as part of the composition. Sonu’s vocals are perfect and he gives it his absolute all in this song. The music has been finely composed and as a result, it is difficult for me to find any specific problems with it. Hence, this song is most certainly worth listening and Sonu’s harmonious voice makes it all the more special!
Next up we have Uska Hi Banana, sung by the young Arijit Singh. It is a dark song and understandably so, since it complements the theme of the film. Arijit sings the song with power and raw emotion! The music also suits Arijit’s voice very much. Though it is not an ‘outstanding’ song, it has been well-composed and surely deserves a listen!
Jaavedaan Hai follows and this has been performed the talented K.K, with Suzanne D’Mello providing mild backing vocals. Instruments such as the drums, the piano and bagpipes can be heard in this catchy number. The song has been sung smoothly by K.K and the music itself is also flavoursome. Definitely not a song which I would skip so give it a try and you may end up liking it.
The album also has Khud Ko Tere, sung by the lovely Mahalakshmi Iyer. This is a beautiful song and it has been performed by Mahalakshmi with passion and emotion. I very much enjoyed listening to her voice in this song and it reaffirmed for me that she is a truly gifted singer who is full of talent. I also love the music and it has been thoughtfully composed. It has a ‘desi’ feeling to it with the use of Indian instruments like the tabla. Yet Western instruments are not absent and this is apparent with the use of the violin. A song which I strongly recommend you hear!
Finally we have Majboor Tu Bhi Kahin, which is performed by Amit Mishra. This is probably the weakest song in the album and I just did not find it that alluring to listen to. Although Amit sings well in this song, I did not find the music to be of the same standard compared to the other tracks in the album. Therefore, I would classify it as a song which could have been much better.
To sum up, I must say that I am actually quite impressed with the soundtrack to 1920 – Evil Returns. I did not expect it to be so good and as a result, I recommend that you give this album a chance since there are some catchy tunes that will certainly impress you. What makes it even sweeter is that there are no remixes, which arguably would have affected the quality of the album as a whole. Chitrantan Bhatt is indeed a talented music director who has clearly worked hard here to create an album of a very good standard. A soundtrack which deserves your ear’s attention!
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