Chandni Chowk To China

Two movies. Kal Ho Naa Ho & Salaam-E-Ishq. One a blockbuster & the other a box-office dud. And Nikhil Advani presents his 3rd movie, Chandni Chowk to China. Irrespective of how his previous 2 movies did at the box office, both of them had one thing in common : great music by Shankar-Ehsaan- Loy.

This time, SEL aren't alone. There are 3 other music directors for this movie: the trio of Kailash Kher-Naresh-Paresh, Bappi Lahiri & punjabi rapper Bohemia. That's 4 music directors for 6 songs.

Chandni Chowk to China isn't an album that you'll like instantly. Each song needs about 2-3 hearings for you to like it.

1. S.I.D.H.U : This "small town dream big" kind of song probably depicts Akshay's early days in the Chandni Chowk area, where he was brought up (both in this movie and real life). It has a country feel all over it and is aptly sung by Kailsh Kher whose rustic voice neatly suits the feel of the song.

2. Chandni chowk to china : After the Heyy Babyy & Bhool Bhulaiyaa title tracks, Neeraj Shridhar croons for Akshay again in this title track. A typical SEL number with just the right amount of Chinese feel to it, this title track, just like the 2 title tracks mentioned above, is all set to become the rage of the nation, at least for the first quarter of 2009.

3. India se aaya tera dost(Aap ki khatir) : Starting with brilliant beats, this song is a redo of Bappi's own "Bambai se aaya tera dost" from the movie Aap ki khatir(1977), with some nice chinese flavor all over it. A fun track all the way, the main background tune that runs through the song trasports you to China and brings to your mind the general image of China we people have : A sprawling monastery nestled among the hills and a bald monk flashing his big smile! One listen is enough to like this song!

4. Tere Naina : Enter SEL territory again. Tere naina is a soft, romantic number on the lines of Bol Na Halke Halke(JBJ), Falak Tak(Tashan) etc, mostly based on ragam Hamsadhwani, but not fully. The parts of the song sung by Shreya Ghoshal faintly remind you of Unn Arugil(Kalloori). Nevertheless, it's a very good song.

5. Chak Lein De : A high energy, fast paced number. Call it an "edge-of-the-seat" song, if you want to. This song can get you charged up, and it has the same feel as Dol Dol(Yuva). Well orchestrated, it has a lot of electric guitar and powerful singing by Kher.

6. C C 2 C : Akshay Kumar starts singing a "romanchak gaana", promising to give Rs.101 to those who listen to it! But he realizes that it sucks & asks Bohemia to assist him. What follows is a mini autobiographical song of Akshay, proclaiming him to be the undisputed king of bollywood, which is of course, the obvious trend of late. You can't call it over the top though, for, this chap's the perfect example of hard work, having been in the industry since 1991 and barely getting the recognition he deserved, until a few years ago. With this sudden craze all over for Akshay Kumar, one thing is sure : he's definitely giving SRK nightmares!


By the time the film releases in 2009, there is no doubt whatsoever that the songs will catch up and help the film get a record opening.

Ghajini

Ghajini (tamil) is among my most favorite tamil albums. Though it had bad songs like Ragathulla and X-machi, the remaining 3 songs more than made up for it. In Ghajini (hindi), director A R Murugadoss plays it safe by having A R Rahman (note the initials!) for the music. Probably because he thought Harris didn't have enough experience in Bollywood, his only album being Rehna hai tere dil mein (Minnale remake).

ARR, being Harris's former guru, rightly rectifies the 2 mistakes Harris made in the original Ghajini and gives 5 amazing songs. Well, almost!

1. Guzarish : Javed Ali, ARR's current favorite, continues his great run in 2008(he had earlier sung Jashn-E-Bahaara & Tu Muskura, both for ARR) with this hindi version of Oru Maalai, using his slightly husky voice to his fullest advantage. He structures the song well, but the soul of the song is provided by Sonu Nigam(surprise guest vocals!), who keeps soulfully humming in the background periodically and together, both the singers make this song a perfect package.

2. Hey bachu : Being a solo female song, this song has to be either the Ragathulla or the X-machi equivalent. At the beginning, it sounded like it's the X-machi equivalent due to the fact that it didn't exactly sound like a fun song, ruling out the possibility that it could be Ragathulla. But then P. Adithya confused me; he said, "Dei can't you see that the title says "Bachu"? Don't you remember Asin dancing with kids in Ragathulla? ". I was stumped. I would have agreed with him, but song no:5 is not letting me do that!

3. Kaise Mujhe : A very intense romantic number, this song will mostly make an appearance in the second half of the film. Probably it's the Suttum Vizhi equivalent. It also marks the pairing up of Benny Dayal & Shreya Ghoshal for the second time this year, after Tu meri dost hai(Yuvvraaj). There's also an instrumental version of this song later in the album,which is good too.

4. Behka : This song is so weird that you might even hate it the first time you hear it. It sounds really bad the first time. From weird mode ,all of a sudden it goes to rock mode in the middle and gets back to weird mode after that. But you'll gradually like it as you keep hearing it. Karthik just about saves the song from being put into the "Among ARR's worst" category.

5. Latoo : Songs like this are generally sung by Sunidhi Chauhan. Hence, it is indeed a pleasant surprise when you hear Shreya Ghoshal singing it. And we've all been thinking been thinking she excels only in soft, melodious songs! She does such a fabulous job in this new avatar of hers! This song, being much more youthful, is my candidate for the Ragathulla equivalent. But I'm not sure, it's just a calculated guess. Also, you can excuse yourself if you're reminded of Mpumelelo Mbangwa/Robert Mugabe when you listen to this song!


A R Rahman has had a great 2008 and he signs off the year in great style too!

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

SRK. Aditya Chopra. Their first movie together, DDLJ, is still running houseful to a daily show in a theatre in Bombay. That's a good 13 years! Their second outing,Mohabattein was the 2nd biggest hit of the year 2000. After 8 years, they come together again for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, though this time, the movie seems to be a bit different(just look at SRK!), unlike their previous 2 movies, which were commercial potboilers.

However, the album seems to be fairly commercial. Salim-Sulaiman, basking in the success of Fashion, are the music directors of this album.

1. Tujh mein rab dikhta hai : If DDLJ had a Tujhe dekha to yeh jaana sanam and Mohabbatein had a Humko humise chura lo, can RNBDJ be far behind?! Tujh mein rab dikhta hai is the quintessential romantic number that is an integral part of movies like this. Sung beautifully by Roop kumar rathod, this song is definitely one of the better melodies to have come out in recent times. There's a female version of the song too, later in the album and Shreya Ghoshal only makes it sound better.

2. Haule Haule : Whenever Sukhwinder Singh & SRK combine, they've been heard all over the country. Think Chaiyya Chaiyya & Chak De India. But this time around, it's not that effective because Sukhwinder is proficient in high pitched songs and this song hardly goes into high pitch notes, except for a few times. It's a good song alright, just that it's not as effective as their previous songs together. But because of its simple, catchy tune and excessive promotion, this one too in all probability will be heard all around the country!

3. Dance Pe Chance : With a title like this and Sunidhi Chauhan at the helm, you know what kind of a song to expect. And she doesn't disappoint you much either. It's a situational song, with Anushka teaching SRK how to shake a leg. Being an above average number, it takes a few hearings to get used to it and like it. But not bad.

4. Phir milenge chalte chalte : This song is a tribute to the bygone era of bollywood. Or, you can say, a tribute to the Kapoors. Both pretty much mean one and the same! It's an amalgamation of various famous songs of that glorious era. Starting off with the background tune of the legendary Raj Kapoor's Mera joota hai japani from Shree 420 ('55), the first stanza mentions a lot of his songs like Pyaar hua iqraar hua, Jeena yahan marna yahan, Bol Radha Bol, to name a few. The second stanza is dedicated to Dev Anand, though i don't recognize most of the songs as they're very old. The next stanza is a tribute to the Elvis Presley of India, Shammi 'Yahoo' Kapoor! It mentions his greatest hits, including Aaja Aaja & O haseena from Teesri Mazil('66) and Badan Pe Sitare from Prince('69). The next stanza has the hits of India's first ever official "superstar", Rajesh Khanna, like Jai Jai Shiv Shankar, Meri sapnon ki rani(Watch out for a small piece of humming having Kishore Kumar's original voice) etc. And the last stanza is for Rishi Kapoor and it starts off with the tune of the original Bachna Ae Haseeno from Hum kisise kum nahin('77), and mentions Dard-e-dil & Ek hasina thi from Karz('80). Phew! Even if you haven't heard any of the above mentioned songs, doesn't matter, the song is still enjoyable!

5. Dancing jodi : This song is some kind of a remix of all the previous songs in this album and hence there's nothing new musically.

So Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is a fairly good album. Salim-Sulaiman keep up their good work.