The makers of Jab Harry Met Sejal decided to give us a soulful track in Safar after the peppy and upbeat Radha and the party starter Beech Beech Mein. While initially, we thought that the song would be somewhat similar to Safarnama in Tamasha, but this one's completely different.
While JHMS song Safar does continue to expatiate on the theme of being lost in one's journey, that is recurrent in Imtiaz Ali's earlier films as well (Socha Na Tha, Jab We Met, Rockstar and Tamasha), it does offer a wave of freshness and has a calming effect on ears. Once again Arijit Singh is back to doing what he does best, as he has crooned this number beautifully.
The lyrics by Irshad Kamil, yet again touch our heart, especially the line, "Jab se gaaon se main sheher hua, itna kadwa ho gaya ki zeher hua..." On listening to the song for the first time one may not be able to pay much attention to the deeply meaningful words that comprise the song, but on listening to it more, one can't help but appreciate the way in which the sense of being lost in the city madness has been penned so effortlessly.
Pritam's composition once again deserves applauds. Safar is soulful at the same time falls short of being too slow. Hence it's beats come across as catchy and have a very reclining or lounge kind of vibe to it. This is one track you would want to sit back and enjoy on a lazy monsoon evening with a hot beverage.
Now, coming to the visuals, it's great to see that the ones who generally stay behind the camera (read limelight) have been given an opportunity to come to the forefront alongside Shah Rukh Khan. In fact, towards the end, they even tell Shah Rukh that the song will be sung by Arijit, so he's not required there amongst them.
We love how SRK pulls Pritam's leg in the beginning, when he (Pritam) refuses to incorporate his (SRK's) suggestion in the lyrics. Shah Rukh says "Aap toh kuch bhi fit kar dete ho" taking a dig at Love Mera Hit Hit song. We also get to witness the fantastic camaraderie between SRK, Irshad Kamil, Pritam and director Imtiaz Ali. We wonder why Arijit hasn't been included in the music video when the lyricist, composer and director are all there.
The montage of shots from the film featuring Shah Rukh and Anuska Sharma at regular intervals break the monotony of setting of the song and we're glad to have more glimpses of SRK and Anushka's chemistry in the film.
So without much ado, watch the song Safar right here:
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