Music review: Parmanu : The Story of Pokhran

Album: Parmanu — The Story of Pokhran
Genre: Bollywood
The title of this John Abraham, Diana Penty and Boman Irani-starrer is self-explanatory. 'Parmanu - The Story of Pokhran' is based on the event of nuclear bomb tests conducted by the Indian Army at Pokhran in 1998. So, even as you get down to listening to the music, you are all set to hear a patriotic-infused line-up.However, this six-song album makes room for a solitary soulful ballad here and there.
Composed by Sachin-Jigar and Jeet Gannguli, the album opens up with 'Shubh Din'. Clearly, a welcome song sung in Rajasthani style, Keerthi Sagathia lends an earthy energy that’s reminiscent of singer Sukhwinder Singh. Jyotica Tangri gives the song just the youthful buoyancy it requires.
The mood slips into a sultry, slow romantic song, 'Jitni Dafa'. Sung by Yasser Desai, it’s instantly hummable. A song of longing, it is also a lone Jeet Gannguli composition with lyrics by Vayu.
With the third song, 'Thare Vaaste', the album steps into the film’s theme zone of patriotism. And what’s a patrotic song with out that catchy chant? With lyrics by Vayu, the chant of ‘Josh mein jalaa, zalzala chalaa/ab rukenge na hum’ puts just the right kind of fervour in you, however you keep checking the credits to make sure it’s not Sukhwinder Singh singing; it’s the kind of songs he’s synonymous with and Divya Kumar singing style is a dead ringer to the veteran. He does a fab job of infusing robust passion in the song and tops the act in the next song, 'Kasumbi', which is a name for an orange-coloured flower and also refers to the hue. The hook-line ‘Ho mainu lageya lageya kasumbi rang’ is reminiscent of Daler Mehndi’s 'Rang De Basanti', the anthem of 2006.
The mood suddenly changes into a moody, reflective one with 'Sapna'. It seems to have become mandatory to include an Arijit Singh song, and he steps in here to do just that — this time singing a song of broken dreams with lyrics by Sachin Sanghvi.
Yasser Desai takes over again with another romantic song, 'De De Jagah'. It’s lighter in tone than the romance he expressed in 'Jitni Dafa'. They are pleasant listens, but nothing that you’ll want on a loop.