Power ballads: they’re all right!
[Video]
[7.33]
Claire Davidson: I know nothing about Bollywood musicals other than their stereotypical maximalism, and while I think I can vaguely recall some crossover showing of Saiyaara being advertised at a local movie theater, I had no idea it was such a box office smash in its home country. I will say that, speaking as a total outsider to the format, the film’s titular power ballad did impress me in how cleanly it transitions from stately piano ballad to a more symphonic rock track, even including a sweeping string interlude that expands the song’s wide-reaching scope even further. I have two qualms, though. For one, while Faheem Abdullah is an admirably polished singer, I do think his more sensitive tenor is a bit too frail to convey the agony that the song’s lyrics suggest, as his character pines for a love interest who evokes the feeling of reaching across the entire world for her hand. Two, more egregiously, for a song that runs six minutes, “Saiyaara” is surprisingly inconclusive in its final act, reiterating a sullen, warbling outro for over a minute instead of providing a more resounding climax, a decision that feels woefully out of step with the track’s previous grandeur. I do get the feeling that I’d understand the song’s attempted pathos more if I actually spoke Hindi, but as it stands, the music behind “Saiyaara” still doesn’t quite stir my soul.
[6]
Ian Mathers: I am a sucker for any song that give vocals this kind of sound, which rightly or wrongly always reminds me of watching live music outdoors at night. Some of the other production choices…. I am not a sucker for (that buttrock guitar, yeuuch). But overall it works in a kind of power ballad way.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Whenever the vocal melody evokes Bob Dylan’s “One More Cup of Coffee” the arena-scale guitar yanks it back.
[6]
Nortey Dowuona: Reductive and unfunny joke. Reference to Tanishk Bagchi and bad joke about Ganesh Waghela being a better popstar name than Duncan Lawrence. Gushing word salad and purple prose about crying during the guitar solo and runs from the singer (Faheem Abdullah?) hastily typed in. Awkward reference to audio engineering barely finished and badly understood. Punchline removed by editor for not fitting the purpose of the blurb and not being funny.
[10]
Al Varela: This is a hell of a quiet storm ballad. The production swirling around Tanishk’s cries of anguish through its apocalyptic percussion and rock opera guitars really makes me feel the emotion of the song, even if I don’t have context from its movie. It’s the kind of sweeping romantic song that would be so easy to make overbearing and saccharine, but they pull it off here.
[8]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Correctly understands that a good power ballad should be 45% guitar solo, 25% orchestral ambiance, 20% wordless moans of yearning, and only 10% intelligible lyrics.
[8]