JTHJ marks the last time that the legendary Yash Chopra would be directing a film. It has a tremendous cast in the form of SRK with two beautiful heroines, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. The coming together of the Rahman, Gulzar and Yash Chopra team has sent the hype meter soaring. Have they fulfilled all expectations?

Challa...  
Rabbi Shergill

This is a beautiful soft rock song with delightful guitars, passionately rendered by famous Punjabi singer Rabbi Shergill. The visuals have already given us a glimpse of what to expect with SRK in full flow along with charming people on the streets of London with his guitar. The small classical touches in the second interlude speak of A.R.Rahman’s class. The song has slight traces of Rabi’s famous song ‘Bulla Ki Jaana’ and it seems SRK learnt to strum the guitar to make it look authentic on screen.

Saans...  
Shreya Ghoshal and Mohit Chauhan

The song begins with nice string orchestration, which serves as the baseline at places, and a haunting humming portion. Shreya Ghoshal is truly delightful in this mellifluous number which has dholak and electronic percussions alternating. The flutes in the first interlude are typical of Rahman while the violins lend a grand touch to the song.

Saans Reprise...
Shreya Ghoshal

This is a sadder version of the previous song and Shreya does the honors, solo here. The dholak percussions are kept low key. The beautiful violin portion in the end makes the song even more intense.

Ishq Shava...
Raghav Mathur and Shilpa Rao

This is an ordinary tune with pumping beats and good guitar backing. String instruments like oud and mandolin have been used to add more value. This song has sort of a heavy Middle Eastern hangover at places, particularly the superb second interlude which is pounding.

Ishq Dance...
Instrumental

This is entirely driven by a variety of percussion instruments (drums by Ranjot Barot). This will be a good practice number for aspiring dancers. The theme picks up momentum after the male chorus’ entry.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan...
Javed Ali, Shakthisree Gopalan

Javed Ali made hearts soar with his ‘Ishaqzaade’ track and here he is back with a similar track. This is the title track with nice string orchestrations but the ‘dholak’ beats and the female vocals don’t fit in seamlessly. Full marks to Javed Ali though. The song would grow on you with repeated listening.

Jiya Re...
Neeti Mohan, Rap: Sofia Ashraf

We are welcomed to this song by nice guitar notes (by Chandresh Kudwa) and the spunky vocals of Neeti (she has been a part of many live shows of Rahman). She is talented for sure and makes the song work with her enthusiastic voice. The rap portions integrate well with the song which works well on the whole. The impressive second interlude has fast paced strings and a nice high pitched flute. Towards the end, when the violins overdub Neeti’s voice, it sounds beautiful.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan - The Poem...  

This is the blissful poem presentation that we saw in the trailer. The theme begins with profound guitar strums and has been passionately rendered by SRK. The string instrumentations are mesmerizing and towards the end, the distortion guitar and acoustic guitar present nice contrast.

Heer...  
Harshdeep Kaur

This is another song with dholak percussions and guitar baselines. Harshdeep Kaur renders the song with lot of feeling. She rocked the peppy yet intense ‘Katiya Karoon’ song in Rockstar but this one is totally serious. The tune of ‘Saans’ has been played in a lovely manner by the strings in the second interlude. Heer would grow on you and become a slow yet strong favorite. It is very intense when Harshdeep brings the song to a close with her humming towards the end.

Verdict: Rahman has given an album which oozes with passion and would be a treat for the romantics. It’s a nice parting gift for the legendary Yash Chopra who is directing his last film. SRK’s romantic image would get a big shot in the arm, thanks to these numbers.