UUNCHAI is a simple, emotional, family film with top notch performances by the lead cast. The story is about the life-changing journey of three friends. Sooraj R Barjatya’s direction is exemplary, as expected. He’s known for making films about families and this is the first time that he has toyed with a film which celebrates friendship. And he succeeds as he executes the script beautifully. What’s remarkable is his old-school style narration. The film is not just about three friends trying to scale Everest. There are multiple tracks, and they all contribute a lot to the principal track. At the same time, it gives viewers a wholesome, cinematic experience. A few twists in the tale also add to the entertainment quotient. On the flipside, the film’s length is a major issue. At 170 minutes, UUNCHAI tests the patience of the viewers in some places. Secondly, the youth is the major chunk of the moviegoing audience, and the film doesn’t offer much to this section. This can prove detrimental, from a box office point of view. Lastly, Sooraj R Barjatya’s films are known for super-hit music.
When the director is old-school (as in 1989 onwards) with a commitment to storytelling, his songs will be a reflection of how music has always been used for a movie story. It is thus designed, created and recorded with songs tailored to the film’s needs and singers fitting the song’s needs. And Uunchai is no exception.
Amit Trivedi gets into the kind of high mode and mood that we last heard from him in Queen (2014), Fitoor (2016) and AndhaDhun (2018) to fashion an all-good score with some exceptional songwriting by lyricist Irshad Kamil. The excellent wordplay and the memorable music help boost each other. Amit Trivedi’s music in Uunchai is poor. A film like this should have had a chartbuster or a soulful melody. All songs of the film, ‘Keti Ko’, ‘Arre Oh Uncle’, ‘Haan Kar De’, ‘Ladki Pahadi’ and ‘Savera’, work as they are well woven in the film, and due to the picturization.
‘Ladki Pahadi’—one by Abhijeet Srivastava, a bonus track also by him and an upbeat version by Mohit Chauhan. Abhijeet feelingly and rousingly renders this finest song in the Uunchai soundtrack, with his vocal tenor (calculatedly, perhaps) resembling that of Amit Trivedi’s. Mohit’s version seems designed to have an extra element of euphoria, but Abhijeet scores higher.
The mass-friendly ‘Keti Ko’ is a easy rendition by Nakash Aziz and this time the lyrics go full-on into a catchy, flowing mode of alliteration (‘Kanchan Kaanchi Kori / Natkhat Naami Chhori/ Jabran Jora Jori’) and more.
Amit Trivedi himself sings the inspirational ‘Zindagi Ko Haan Kar De’, a beautifully orchestrated and, of course, written (‘Dard Agar Jo Hota Hai / Yeh Samajh Tu Zinda Hai’) track with a retro Western flavour in its orchestration and exemplary use of the trumpet in creating an elevated mood.
As for demonstrating the pure craft of writing lyrics, nothing works better than the fun track ‘Arey O Uncle’. The song, which actually celebrates older people living as exuberantly as the youth, is written with a rare understanding of how the current generation looks at such breezy optimism.
’Savera’ is low-key compared to the rest of the music. Sung by Javed Ali, Deepali Sathe and Madhubanti Bagchi, it is another succinct expression of where the heart wants to go, as shown by the words, ‘Ho Dekho Savera Pooche Jaana Hai Kahaan / Kaise Bataaye Jaana Khwabon Ke Jahaan’.
In today’s times, it is rare for a soundtrack to jell completely with a film’s needs and narrative. But this time, the music almost matches the uunchai (heights) of the parent film. There is heart, there is art and there is core strength, and each hearing sounds better than the previous.
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