Jan 31, 2026 9:35pm IST
‘Dhurandhar Extended Album’ Music Review: ‘Sha’ of Mashups!
It’s only director Aditya Dhar and music director Shashwat Sachdev’s second all-in outing together (2019’s Uri: The Surgical Strike being the first; Article 370 doesn’t count because Dhar only produced the film). That may seem like early days of a musical courtship to an uninformed ear, but if you know, you know there’s no denying the two have undeniable long-standing professional chemistry that well, just… works.
The two spent a good six years apart before reuniting for Dhurandhar. After runaway success in Uri, their second all-in soundtrack together is already being played on repeat so often, it might just outrun and outlast the first in “stickiness” and playback perenniality.
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The Hindi film industry’s music business tends to overuse a formula that offers a considerable surety of success over running with the unpredictability of pushing originals. Legacy music labels like Saregama have a wealth of content in catalog and are best placed to take advantage of repurposing (read: cannibalising) it for their movie projects. Which they routinely do.
In the hands of Shashwat, that isn’t an entirely bad thing. Quite the opposite, in fact. Over the years since his debut, he has proved his mettle across the length and breadth of films he takes up. Dhurandhar benefits from that variegated experience.
The title track, a screechy, pitched-up sampling of Panjabi MC’s ‘Jogi’ (which itself samples the Mohammad Sadiq-Ranjit Kaur original ‘Na De Dil Pardesi Nu’), followed by Jasmine Sandlas’s banshee-ish ‘Get ready!’ segueing into fire bars by toast-of-the-year rapper Hanumankind [real name: Sooraj Cherukat], before returning to the original singers’ parts with the urgency one usually reserves to boarding/alighting a Mumbai local train. The impact is almost as loaded and overwhelming: you’re pushed into it headlong in a struggle to hold on for dear life. Until you move to the next track, left only with the echoing refrain of the film’s title.
‘Ishq Jalakar - Karvaan’ starts off with a whimsical three-second chopped beat that’s (likely) a nod to Queen’s ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ and straddles another classic from Saregama’s catalog — Roshan’s famous qawwali ‘Na To Caravan Ki Talash Hai’ from Barsaat Ki Raat (1960) — alongside a big-room bop. Subhadeep Das Chowdhury, Shahzad Ali and Armaan Khan get enough room to make this one their own.
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Arijit Singh on ‘Gehra Hua’ gallivants into A.R. Rahman-esque territory with the second and third verses showing the flair of a latter-day ARR. A haunting rendition, regardless. Even more so, thanks to Irshad Kamil’s lyrics.
Lal Chand Yamla Jatt’s ‘Das Main Ki Pyar Wichon Khatyal’ gets a revamp with ‘Teri Ni Kararan’ sung by Diljit Dosanjh offering his take on the much-covered song. Musically, there’s an element of melancholy and intrigue that feels overtly ominous.
Meghalaya rapper Reble (real name: Daiaphi Lamare) shines on ‘Run Down The City - Monica’ as the song samples the RD Burman hit ‘Monica O My Darling’, with an effortless delivery one doesn’t usually expect from a 20-something. One gripe remains that the delivery comes off sounding Azealia Banks-“inspired” (from her ‘212’ days). One of the more repeat-worthy re-creations on this list, regardless.
Madhubanti Bagchi and Jasmine Sandlas play off each other’s vocal nuances on ‘Shararat’ but miss the playfulness by a bit. Lyrically, this song seems to have it figured out. Musically, it wants to do different things all at once.
Diljit and Hanumankind return for ‘Ez-Ez’ on one of the few collabs on this album that just makes sense.
‘Lutt Le Gaya’ sung by Simran Choudhary feels, for the most part, like a throwaway club-friendly number you’d hear as an in-betweener at a party.
A faint nod goes out to Daft Punk’s ‘Around The World’ before Reble growls and swaggers through with unmissable sass before Sonu Nigam wafts in on ‘Move - Yeh Ishq Ishq’, an updated homage to the Rafi-Manna Dey hit qawwali ‘Yeh Hai Ishq Ishq from Barsaat Ki Raat... again!
‘Naal Nachna’ has Afsana Khan at her huskiest best with Reble for company on a track you don’t mind as much. Short and sweet.
‘Rambha Ho’ finds Shashwat getting Madhubanti to pull off an Usha Uthup (from the 1981’s Armaan) for a new generation, but only manages to provide lip service to the Bappi Lahiri classic. That little bit from Daft Punk’s ‘Derezzed’ from TRON: Legacy feels a little forced, though.
Wouldn’t be remiss calling Shashwat the new Shah Of Mashups (or re-creations, if you will). Streaming-wise, this IS the biggest and best in 2025, with banger after banger on offer. No denying that. How long this ‘marriage of convenience’ lasts though, is anyone’s guess. Looking forward to an original album next from Sha!
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