Garima Sharma (BOMBAY TIMES; April 11, 2014)

After winning accolades for their work in Aashiqui 2, Mithoon and Ankit Tiwari are back — this time, to test the waters with their soundtrack for Samrat & Co. The music for the thriller, which will be launched today, also features the talent of lyricists Sanjay Masoomm and Sandeep Nath, as well as singers Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal, all of who had worked together in Aashiqui 2.

The music of the film, which is produced by Kavita Barjatya, directed by Kaushik Ghatak and stars Rajeev Khandelwal, breaks away from tradition. Explains Ghatak, “Though music plays an integral part, this is not a song and dance film. Ankit has given two contrasting, yet beautiful songs. Mithoon’s romantic track Shukra Tera and its sufiyana version O Humnavaa are also different.”

 Says Mithoon, “Kaushik was meticulous in his approach and that made it easy for me as I base my songs on the characters.” Adds Ankit, “I was given a clear brief to go beyond the usual fare — go different on the chords, patterns and rhythms. It was a fantastic experience working on this hatke film.”

 Besides Shukra Tera, sung by Chinmayi Sripaada and Arijit Singh, there is also Tequila Vaquila, a foot-tapping party number sung by Ankit and Shreya. Says Kavita, “With Samrat & Co, we are trying an unexplored genre, so the music had to be equally fresh.”

Samrat & Co, produced by Rajshri Productions, releases April 25.