Jay (Ehan Bhat) is a college-level musician who works for his event-manager super-rich girlfriend Sophie (Edilsy Vargas). He loves her so much he even composes a song titled on her name (such novelty, much wow moment in the first 15 minutes). Sophie, who cannot speak, asks Jay to meet her father (Ranjit Barot, who looks astoundingly similar to Ram Kapoor).
Everything goes well initially, but then the father disagrees and asks Jay to compose 100 songs before asking for her daughter. Furious Jay takes the advice of his stoner friend Polo (Tenzin Dalha) and moves to Shillong to accomplish his to-be-father-in-law’s challenge. But, there, he meets a seductress in Sheela (Lisa Ray), who is fondly known as ‘The Jazz Queen Of Shillong’. Things go downhill after there.
Talking about the height of going downhill, It’s okay to keep certain aspects larger-than-life, but there’s a fragile line you could cross, making things preposterous, and Rahman’s story constantly shatters those lines.
Ehan Bhat is as earnest as someone can get while participating in a train wreck. His voice suits the charm he exudes for his character, but he deserved a better first film. Edilsy Vargas doesn’t get much scope as her character majorly uses her eyes to express her emotions, and that’s a tough one to crack so soon. Tenzin Dalha gets an interesting character arc, and he proves to be worthy of justifying it wholly. With his natural touch, he manages to make you feel for his character. Lisa Ray glams up the screen for a while, and that’s about it. Warina Hussain’s came screams pure ‘elegance’ as she looks breathtakingly beautiful.
99 Songs is a melodious misfire from a legendary composer. I’ll be equally excited if AR Rahman decides to pen another film, but this just isn’t it.
Rating: 1/10