Pyaar Impossible

Nobody bothered watching Jugal Hansraj's maiden venture Roadside Romeo. Nor did anybody take Uday Chopra's efforts to turn hero seriously. His last release as lead actor Neal 'n' Nikki flopped miserably. In fact, his uday in bollywood is solely due to the fact that he's a Chopra!

Salim-Sulaiman on the other hand have had a superb year, with most of their albums doing pretty well. Their success rate is improving every year and they're undoubtedly the next Vishal-Shekhar in the making.

Let's see how they sign the year off with PI, which is basically a college love story.

1. Alisha : The first trailer of the movie came with this song, and since then the uncanny resemblance of this song to the soundtrack of Dostana (especially Jaane kyun) was observed by many. The Dostana feel is certainly there, but that is no impediment; the highly infectious song with groovy vocals by Anushka Manchanda more than makes up for it. Perfect start.

2. Pyaar impossible : The soothing voice that you last heard in Yeh tumhari meri baatein (Rock On) welcomes you to this thoroughly enjoyable duet. Dominique Cerejo is joined by Vishal Dadlani, who sings with a very pleasant, deliberate nasal twang, showing that he has the ability to sing not just the screaming kind of songs he usually sings. Superb.

3. You and me : Another song sounding more or less like any other song of this album, You and me in traces has the feel of Neha Bhasin's previous song for the composer duo, Kuch khaas( Fashion). There's nothing great in this song (I mean, Kuch khaas to nahi hai), but you wouldn't mind it at all because as I just said, it easily fits into the genre of this soundtrack.

4. 10 on 10 : You realize that things are getting more and more girlish as you tune into this song. Forget the sheepish lyrics, 10 on 10 is another catchy, foot tapping number that again perfectly fits into the feel of this soundtrack. 10 on 10 to Salim-Sulaiman for giving an authentic western feel to this song and to the whole album!

5. Ek thi ladki : This narrative-type song kind of summarizes both the story and the album. The lyrics are again bad and the song is a little childish (and of course, girlish) but on the whole, not a very bad product considering the fact that it's sung by debutante Rishika Sawant.

Pyaar impossible turns out to be a very good album. It's different, and of course, extremely girlish. Well, with more than half the members of ex-band Viva on board, such things are naturally expected. PI showcases the new breed of gen-next Indian women singers. Salim-Sulaiman have come up with a truly western album with a genuine international feel.

Album se toh pyaar zaroor possible!

Paa

Okay, I know this review is pathetically late; I'm probably the only person to review Paa after 3 Idiots, but let me explain. Paa album released in the middle of my semester exams and therefore I didn't review it in time and once the exams got over, I decided to go ahead with subsequent albums. But I always had this nagging feeling of not having reviewed this album, as Ilaiyaraaja sir doesn't compose for hindi films often. Today the feeling got the better of me and here I go!

Paa is director Balki's second venture after the breezy Cheeni Kum. It's the only movie in the world where a real life father-son pair play son and father respectively. Bachchan Sr.is reason enough to watch the movie!

1. Mudhi mudhi ittefaq se : A pleasant surprise as you hear Shilpa Rao's voice in this quintessential, simple Ilaiyaraaja melody because he usually gives songs like this to Shreya Ghoshal, like he did in Cheeni Kum. Shilpa of course grabs the opportunity with both hands and makes sure this song will be remembered at least till the next time the maestro makes an apperance in bollywood.

2. Gumm summ gumm : In its previous avatars, this track was the immensely popular Thumbi vaa ( from Olangal, a 1982 malayalam movie) and Sangathil padadha kavithai (from a 1982 Vijayakanth movie). The latter however, didn't become as famous in TN as its malayalam counterpart did in Kerala. People in TN however took sudden notice of this track when the maestro sang its basic tune in a concert a few years back. Now, the important point is that the song still sounds amazing, 27 years after its original version was out! Sheer magic at work here, showing the evergreen nature of Ilaiyaraaja's songs!

3. Hichki hichki : After two excellent tracks, here's one that's largely situational and would be effective only after the movie releases. Sunidhi Chauhan tries well, but the song is just isn't that captivating, especially after you listen to the first 2 songs.

4. Halke se bole : Another old tamil song, putham puthu kaalai is reproduced here in the form of halke se bole. But unlike gumm summ, the end product in this case is really disappointing when compared to the original. A classic case of "lost in translation".

5. Mere paa : It would take a while for you to believe that the singer is Big B himself! Just where's the baritone?! Again, this song is situational but the interesting lyrics coupled with the unadulterated Paa theme in the middle make it worth listening to at least a few times.

6. Paa-theme(remix) : The unadulterated theme that came in the trailer was so beautiful that you could listen to it tens of times on repeat mode. But unfortunately they don't have in the soundtrack. Only a remix version is available, which of course isn't as good, but unlike most remixes, this one doesn't erode the original completely. Wish they also had the unadulterated theme in the soundtrack!

Paa is no "great" album, but full credit to the 66-year old maestro who still knows the pulse of the audience, after 30 years of glorious music!

3 Idiots

Aamir's life has come a full circle. More than twenty years ago, in 1988, he made a sensational debut as a college student in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, singing "Papa kehte hain bada naam karega..", the evergreen song that indicated the great expectations parents had from their children and how he personally had no clue about his future.

Circa 2009. The perfectionist Khan finds himself in a very similar situation; He again plays a college student whose parents seem to have decided "Hamara beta engineer banega", for no apparent reason. And before he realizes it, he's already in college, to compete in and win the rat race. Whether he wants to or not is not even his choice.

Now to the music. Shantanu Moitra is seasonal yet classy, best remembered for Parineeta and Lage Raho Munnabhai, both associated with Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Will he be able to deliver for a commercial film like 3 Idiots, directed by Rajkumar Hirani (the man behind the two Munnabhai films)?

1. All Izz Well : If it was Paatshaala for RDB, it's All izz well for 3 idiots. Unconventional, catchy lyrics characterize this fun song in which the protagonists indirectly convey the sad state of the unprecedented engineering craze in the country and how they're utterly confused and start losing track of life in the mad rat race. But they know they don't have a choice; they also know that after all, as the adage goes, all izz well that ends well. A definite student anthem in the making!

2. Zoobi Doobi : Remember Pyaar ki yeh kahani from Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd? The strong Latino flavor is obvious in this thoroughly enjoyable track too. Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal, who've given some memorable duets this year, can confidently add one more to the list. It's tango time, folks!

3. Behti hawa sa tha woh : This song is about reminiscences of all the good times two friends have had with the third and how much his easy-going has attitude inspired them, etc as they go in search in of him. Since it's not a fun track like the previous two songs, you don't find it that impressive even though it's pretty decent. Will definitely be more effective when you see the song in the film, rather than just listening to it.

4. Give me some sunshine : Another song with brilliant, thought provoking lyrics that reiterates the point that All izz well emphasized. Sample : "Conc. H2SO4 ne sara bachpan jala dala..". How true! As the title suggets, the song is about redemption; redemption from the bonds of H2S04 (sulphate?), from the enormous baggage of books, from parental pressure and of course, from alpha, beta and gamma! Another sure shot student anthem!

5. Jaane nahin denge : A solo Sonu Nigam show. Taking a cue from 5 point someone, I guess this song will be played when one of the protagonists is in a serious condition after a failed suicide attempt from the top of a building. The song talks about the intense friendship between the 3 idiots and how nothing can ever separate them. Like song no:3, this song is likely to be more effective in the movie rather than just the audio.

Aamir Khan has always been lucky in the sense that irrespective of the music director, he has always had very good songs in his movies. Unbelievable, but his lucky streak continues. Shantanu Moitra exceeds all expectations. Swanand Kirkire shows how good a lyricist he is.
Final verdict ? All Izz Well, indeed!

Kurbaan

Salim-Sulaiman have been slowly yet steadily climbing the ladder of success. Starting from Kaal, they've struck gold with Chak de! India, Fashion and RNBDJ. Their last album this year, 8 x 10 Tasveer was a forgotten picture (pun intended). Hence the soundtrack also was majorly forgotten. They now have the opportunity to erase that bad memory with Kurbaan, presented by Karan Johar's Dharma productions and directed by debutant director Rensil D'Silva. Do they?

1. Shukran allah : Ever since the promo video of this song was out on TV, it has generated a lot of curiosity because the big question was if this was Kurbaan's answer to Subhan allah (Fanaa),as both films are based on terrorism. Let me get to the point right away. Shukran allah is no Subhan allah. Nevertheless, it's a beautiful romantic number rendered aptly by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal and whose popularity would only increase due to the Saifeena factor and would possible be synonymous with Kurbaan in the long run.

2. Dua : Ace singers Sukwinder Singh and Kailash Kher team up for the second time this year after Fatak (Kaminey) and produce similar results. Raw and rusty, it doesn't sound all that impressive first but with time you realize Dua is not a bad song after all.

3. Ali maula : The album takes a serious turn with Ali maula, and this time it's Salim Merchant himself behind the mike. I couldn't make much out of the song due to the predominant urdu lyrics and thus am unable to appreciate it completely. Again, not a bad song tune-wise.

4. Rasiya : In an age where ragam based songs are a rarity, here's a complete stunner in Panthuvarali(or one of its janya ragams). Sung by Shruthi Pathak of Mar jawaan fame, Rasiya is pure bliss in an era of computer generated tracks. Sensuous, soft and brilliant!

5. Kurbaan hua : The title track arrives in true Salim-Sulaiman style and has Vishal Dadlani at his throaty best. His unique voice is the only one that could have done justice to this song. But a small problem lies in the song's structural similarity to Nazaara hai ( 8 x 10 Tasveer), which happened the last time these three combined. But never mind.

Kurbaan is one of the countable good albums that have slowly been coming in the second half of the year. Salim-Sulaiman can continue holding their heads high!

Jail

Coming soon!

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

If you claim to be a Bollywood fan, then you should've watched Andaz Apna Apna. As simple as that! There are people who watch the cult classic once a week. Such is the popularity of AAA, Rajkumar Santoshi's only attempt at comedy till date in his entire career. The veteran went ahead and did a lot of serious films later on. Now he's back with a romcom, Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani.

Music-wise too, his films haven't been bad at all. AAA and Pukar had a few memorable numbers and of course, Khakee had the extremely popular Dil Dooba.

Pritam on the other hand has been kind of choosy this year. He's had 2 super hit soundtracks in Love Aaj Kal and New York and other albums weren't bad too. Nothing path-breaking is expected in APKGK too!


1. Main tera dhadkan teri : After Twist, here's another song from Pritam that's all set to burn the dance floor. With K.K and Sunidhi Chauhan at the helm with Hard Kaur chipping in with the rap, this song picturized on Ranbir is sure to be a nightclub favorite and would stay on top of the charts for the month, until Pritam comes up with another song like this!

2. Tu jaane na : Atif Aslam teaming up with Pritam has always yielded very good results, in the form of Tere Bin (Bas ek pal) , Pehli Nazar(Race) and Bakhuda (Kismat Konnection). Tu jaane na is no different. The song is so simple(yet effective) that 1 minute into it, you start singing with Atif. Definitely one of the few good romantic melodies to have come out this year. One line bears a startling resemblance to a line from Koi tumsa nahin (Krrish) though. Never mind, it's Pritam; it's expected!

3. Oh by god : The bum bum bole-ish start makes you curious but then this song turns out to be too noisy. Mika and Sunidhi try hard, but are unable to save the song. I don't think this will be used as a full song in the movie, maybe just here and there in the background.

4. Prem ki naiyya : Finally a song where Neeraj Shridhar doesn't sound hoarse, as he always does! Prem ki naiyya can be aptly called the Chor bazari of APKGK. It's a nice, fun track with a lot of cuckoos in the background

5. Aa jao meri tamanna : Javed Ali, who got his big break with Ek din (Naqaab), teams up with Pritam again after a super successful stint with ARR. This song isn't instantly appealing as have been most of the other songs in this album, but takes time for you to get familiar with it. Anyway it isn't that great a song; just above average. May catch up after the film releases.

6. Tera hone laga hoon : The trash English lyrics at the beginning of the song instantly put me off. Again, we have an average number here. But for Atif Aslam, the song is completely forgettable. Alisha Chinoy is hardly there, only her digitally enhanced voice is heard in whatever little we hear of her. But the excessive promotion has actually made many people like this song. Sad.

7. Follow me : Hard Kaur gets a whole rap track for herself. This track forms the base for song no: 1. Again, will be used only in the background.


It's Pritam's year. The soundtrack is more than sufficient for a film like APKGK. Nothing path-breaking, nowhere close to Love Aaj Kal or New York, but good enough to be played on for a few weeks, as long as the film survives at the box office.

London Dreams

Vipul Shah's affinity towards the city London continues. His previous ventures as a director, all of them starring Akshay Kumar, have had good music, with Namstey London being the best among the three. London Dreams also brings together Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn after a decade. They were last seen together in Hum dil de chuke sanam. LD is also Asin's 2nd film in bollywood.

Initially the makers wanted ARR as the music director, but due to some problems they didn't get him and have therefore settled for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. They haven't been having the best of times lately and there can be no bigger platform to make a strong comeback than a grand musical like like LD.


1. Barson Yaaron : As soon as the song unfolds, you wonder if it's another Rock On from SEL. A true rock song, everyone would have believed had you told them that this was a deleted song from Rock On. Towards the end, a few lines of the Hanuman Chalisa are energetically fused and thus the song makes the prefect start for a musical like London Dreams.

2. Man ko ati bhavey : This song, shot in front of an extremely rare blue-lit Eiffel tower, is basically a fun song that you'd take to after the first hearing itself. It strongly reminds you of another SEL-Salman number, Tenu Leke from Salaam-e-ishq. But the song does appear too local to be shot in front of something sophisticated like the Eiffel!

3. Tapkey Masti : From the Eiffel tower, transport yourself to the fields of Punjab. An extremely earthy song blended with the electric guitar, Tapkey Masti isn't bad but would obviously be best received in Punjab thanks to the bhangra factor.

4. Khanabadosh : The song talks about the ambitions of the band (consisting of our heroes and herione) to make it big. Debutant Mohan gets to sing this average song that doesn't make that much of an impression.

5. Khwab jo : For a second I thought I was listening to Ikatra, because the start is so similar! A very slow song, this one's kind of boring too. It's always been bad whenever SEL have tried too hard to create melody. A line goes "Neend ko raag de", and that's exactly what the song does for you. Just as your eyes droop, the crowd roars in the background and you're shocked when you realize that this is intended to be a stage song!

6. Yaari bina : The hackneyed lyrics as soon as the song starts put me off again. Just as I think "Now here's another song going down the drain", the "Yaari Bina" part just about salvages the song thanks to the apt use of the electric guitar.

7. Jashn hai jeet ka : A song that celebrates victory in an album that majorly fails to impress! Again a very average song that you'll no way remember after a couple of weeks. By this time you eagerly wait for the album to be over. But hey, then there's song no:8!

8. Shola shola : A Shano shano [Yuvvraaj] like start raises your hopes of at least a decent finish but as expected, it doesn't happen. There's absolutely no point in a song like this. You won't remember this 2 days after you listen to it. Man, that songs are going to hamper the progress of the film when they're supposed to take it forward is saddening.

The London Dreams soundtrack is a nightmare (a little exaggerated for the pun). Atleast most of it is. A Barson Yaaron can't save the album. SEL, in their quest for experimentation over the last 2 years, are losing consistency and becoming average. Well guys, you do come with perfectly decent albums like Wake up Sid but then that's nothing compared to the phenomenal work you've done in the past. No problem guys, you've established yourselves and of course, you need to experiment. You have a lot of big movies coming up; bounce back!

Blue

First time director Anthony D'Souza presents to us the most expensive bollywood film ever, Blue. Akshay Kumar hasn't had a blockbuster in nearly a year though Kambakkht ishq did somewhat well to keep people interested in him. He'll be banking on this film would put him back on track. To support him is the ever-bankable Sanjay Dutt. And as for Zayed Khan, well, no comments.
And as has been the trend in his last few films, there's a collaboration with an international music star. After Snoop Dogg and Bohemia, this time it's Australian sensation Kylie Minogue.

With all this and A R Rahman in charge of the soundtrack, nothing but a shoddy script can possible stop Blue from being a blockbuster.

1. Chiggy Wiggy : Ever since this song was aired on TV, it has been the butt of many jokes. Because, this song is actually very plain and sounds too feeble for an ARR product. Had you not known that ARR was the music director, you would have thought chiggy wiggy to be a Pritam number for sure. In the video, Kylie begins the song and Akki( Sonu Nigam) rudely interrupts her in true Indian fashion and from then on it's bhangra. Despite being truly average, this song is already a massive hit solely because they play it atleast a 1000 times on TV everyday.

2. Aaj dil gustakh hai : As you sigh and think sadly how even ARR has bowed down to commercial pressure(chiggy wiggy), the magical guitar chords of Aaj dil make you instantly sit up and notice. Sukhwinder Singh and Shreya Ghoshal sing this stunning track that so heavily depends on its chords. The caribbean beats in the background only add to the joy of listening to this song. What a comeback after the banal chiggy wiggy!

3. Fiqrana : This song is somewhat like Behka in the sense that is it's extremely weird when you listen to it the first time and you think ARR is nuts to come up with something like this. But a few listens later, he shows us who's nuts as Fiqrana turns out to be another superb , super innovative track sung by Vijay Prakash(Manmohini, Yuvvraaj and Pal Pal hai bhaari, Swades) and Shreya Ghoshal.

4. Bhoola tujhe : The kabhi kabhi aditi guy Rashid Ali is back to sing this slow track but it's the cleverly orchestrated background that captures your attention first. The initial slow background tune has a slight Lagaan-ish feeling and the overall background has a Mehfuz-ish(Euphoria) feeling, but otherwise it's an okay song.

5. Blue theme : The theme track is a rap performance by an array of artists led by Blaaze. I'm not a big fan of rap and therefore find it more or less like any other rap track. It's another example of the commercial pressure faced by ARR. That this track will be used extensively in the background in the film is all I can say.

6. Rehnuma : Like fiqrana, first time this song sounds bizarre. But the 2nd time onwards you realize it's another super-innovative, dark track from ARR with Shreya pleasantly screeching at the top of her voice and Sonu Nigam's deep voice( the way he starts his part is brilliant) complementing her. The Bond-ish background tune has a faint dil ka rishta(Yuvvraaj) influence at some places. Rehnuma belongs to Shreya Ghoshal; her larynx traverses extreme high and low pitches with remarkable ease.

7. Yaar mila tha : Starting with the taxi taxi/gasolina beat, you expect a young singer to proced but you're plesantly surprised when you hear veterans Udit Narayan and Madhushree. This song is another purely commercial track, having a typical bollywood feel all over it but while any other music director would have used dhols, ARR uses the taxi taxi beat and that is the only new thing in this song.

Thus actually speaking Blue is a good album. Some songs are brilliant and indicate the ARR presence while others are purely commercial. The one sad thing in Blue is that Shreya Ghoshal's voice is not her natural voice in many places and has some studio work(digital modulation) done all over it. Again blame it on the commerial approach of the film.But then Blue, with a budget of 100 crores, is all about commerce!

Wake up Sid

When a movie is from Karan Johar's Dharma productions, you expect something phenomenal from the album. And why not, we've always had it that way, even in last year's Dostana. Even before that it was exactly that way, in all the 6 films since 1998, all starring SRK.
The music directors here are naturally Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, as their partnership with Karan scaled new heights in KHNH and KANK. However, since KANK happened, SEL have kind of been experimenting and haven't given anything that exceptional. So this album is all the more important for them.
Meanwhile, Ranbir Kapoor needs this film to do well in order to move on, after a colossal disaster called Saawariya and an average Bachna Ae Haseeno.
The album also has one track composed by Amit Trivedi, last seen in the super innovative Dev D.

1. Wake up Sid : This title track falls in the typical SEL genre that the versatile music director trio has pioneered over the years. The main line "Wake up sid" is brilliant, but the rest of the song is rather slow and almost betrays the very purpose of the song. The song asks Sid to wake up from the kind of life he's living and start exploring the world by himself. Again, towards the end of the song there's a completely unnecessary change of scale which adds no value to the song. Look's like it's become some kind of a fashion statement for music directors to change the scale at the end of the song. But overall, good.

2. Kya karoon : The song has a jaane kyunish feeling(as far as the background music is concerned) all along and is sung by Clinton Cerejo. I have a feeling this is the same Clinton who sung Oh! shanti shanti in VA. Anyway, this song is about Sid analyzing his life and trying to figure out how to move on from his lazy lifestyle. The song is okay, and should help in moving the film forward.

3. Aaj kal zindagi : Sid seems to have finally found out what to do with his life. He's wide awake now. Aaj kal zindagi tells us about his new found state of self-realization. Shankar Mahadevan effortelessly sings this inspirational number. The background music though is surprisingly similar to that of saawariya saawariya(Swades), especially the beginning parts.

4. Iktara : Amit Trivedi, the composer of the unconventional yet exceptional Emosanal Attyachar guest composes this song, sung by Sufi singer Kavita Seth. And what a composition this turns out to be! Nobody would have thought that the guy who gave us a song like Emosanal Attyachar would give us something drastically opposite(yet superb) in Iktara. The message in Iktara is very clear : Amit Trivedi is here to stay!

5. Life is crazy : One minute into this song and you know you're back in SEL territory. Because, at this point you realize there's not much variety used by the trio in this album. I mean at the beginning, all their 4 songs roughly sound similar.There's nothing great about this song and it's more or less in the same genre as the first 3 songs. However, I guess it'll fit well in the narrative.


The album is not bad as such, but is easily overshadowed when you compare it with other movies from Dharma productions. But such a comparison is irrelevant here as the story and scenario are completely different from typical Karan Johar tearjerkers. The album should do well with college going crowds.

Dil Bole Hadippa!

Pritam's been rather choosy this year. He's worked on only 3 major projects: Billu, New York and Love Aaj Kal, and has only been getting better each time. So you definitely expect some good music in Dil Bole Hadippa!.
Coming to the film, initially the makers wanted to call this film just Hadippa, but Sanjay Leela Bhansali had already registered the name and so they changed the title to Dil Bole Hadippa!. Either way, you expect it to be a hardcore Punjabi album with a genorous dose of bhangra. And that's exactly what the album turns out to be!

1. Hadippa : Mika Singh, the almost perfect man to start the proceedings for any album of this kind(the perfect one being his eldest bro Daler Mehndi), croons this title track and in the process adds another superhit track to his kitty. When I first heard this song on TV, it didn't sound all that impressive; it looked like just another of those loud bhangra songs. But this one's actually good, as I discovered with gradual hearing. If it's picturized when they're playing the all important cricket match ( and winning it of course!), this song has in it to become the next Chak De!.

2. Discowale khisko : Ah, this is the average kind of song I was expecting Hadippa to be. Discowale is no Hadippa. It's only, say, half as good as Hadippa. It's however decent enough to do well enough in the Punjab circuit.

3. Ishq hi rab hai : The only non-bhangra, romantic song in the album, occuring possibly when Shahid is bowled over by Rani (pun intended). It's a melody, not a typical Pritam one though, but good. Sonu Nigam appears well after 3 mins into the song to complement Shreya Ghosal.

4. Bhangra bistar : Well, so we know about the 5 Ks of the Punjabis. Here's a song that introduces you to the 4 Bs of theirs. With Sunidhi Chauhan and Alisha Chinoy singing the number picturized on Rani and Rakhi, the song is bound to do extremely well. Yet another bhangra that's somewhat loud yet not bad at all.

5. Gym shim : Yet another song(yeah, bhangra) that has nothing great, but you wouldn't mind playing it at all. It's as good as Bhangra bistar. This song probably shows the transformation of Rani from Veera Kaur to Veer Pratap Singh.

Thus the album completely justifies the title. No doubt on that. The songs would definitely stay on for a while.

Aadhavan

After the mammoth Dasavatharam, director K.S.Ravikumar presents to us Aadhavan, which has Surya in a double role. Despite Dasavatharam having good music by Himesh Reshammiya, K.S.R goes for Harris Jayaraj for Aadhavan's music. I'm sure this is only because he thought (rightly) that Harris suits a Surya movie better than anybody else, and nothing else.
Meanwhile, this is also Surya's third consecutive movie having Harris Jayaraj as the music director, after an excellent Vaaranam Aayiram and an ok-but-still-successful Ayan. So what's in store for Aadhavan?

1. Hasili Fisiliye : Enter typical Harris territory. Another song that again sounds so damn familiar, that you can sing along after listening to it just a couple of times. Despite all this, you still know that it's going to become a super hit. It sounds like Oh Aayiye + Unnale Unnale. And finally, it's nice to hear Harini after something like 3 years.

2. Yeno Yeno : This is supposed to be the first tamil song to be shot in Iceland. Some portions of the first stanza remind you of Yedhedo ennangal from Pattiyal. Also Sudha Raghunathan sings her 2nd song for Harris after Annul maelae, which makes one wonder why she's needlessly venturing into commercial film songs. The song is just average.

3. Vaarayo Vaarayo : Starting with a good piano bit, this slow duet is sung by Unnikrishnan and Chinmayi, with Unnikrishnan sounding a lot like Sonu Nigam in the beginning parts. Again, it slightly resembles a few of Harris's old songs but otherwise it's good.

4. Dheko Dheko : Bad, like honey honey in Ayan. Don't waste your time listening. One of Harris's worst songs ever.

5. Damakku Damakku : Again, here's a song that's plain average but would eventually become at least a decent hit as it's supposed to be the hero's intro song. Still, some parts of the song make you feel that you're listening to Pala Pala from Ayan.

6. Masi Masi : "Mano? Really?", you think when you read the singer's name. You also expect the near extinct, experienced, once-an-ARR-favorite singer to make a comeback. Never did you think that he would do so with a trashy song like Masi Masi.


At the end of it, Aadhavan is a huge disappointment. All songs look like variations of Harris's previous songs. In the long run, it would be remembered as a small mistake of Harris Jayaraj. Also of K.S.Ravikumar.(For not choosing Himesh again? :) )

Kaminey

Vishal Bhardwaj is an extremely talented guy who never fails to surprise us. Few know that he started off as a music director and only later ventured into direction, only to excel in that too. His last movie Omkara had good music (by him, of course), with beedi still being extremely popular.

Along with his movies, his music also earned critical acclaim all along, but his movies usually outshone his music. In Kaminey, however, the situation might change. For, what we get to hear is an excellent album that is more commercial than any of his previous albums yet is in perfect sync with the theme of the film.


1. Dhan te nan : The similarity of this song with Misirlou ( the Pulp fiction theme) and the beginning of the title song of Cash is noteworthy. Local examples that i can relate this song to are deepavali ( from sivakasi), engeyum eppodum etc. Of course, the culprit is ragam thodi! Despite the similarities, the song is a high energy track and is rendered aptly by Sukhwinder & Vishal Dadlani.

2. Pehli baar mohabbat : Mohit Chauhan, who has had a great year so far, continues his great run with this stunning mild rock track that talks about the first love of the protagonist, which also happens to be his last love. The lyrics penned by Gulzarji are different, nice & fresh and complement the song well.

3. Kaminey : The multifaceted director himself comes behind the mike this time. The result is a slow, okay-ish song with periodic, affectionate calls of "kaminey"! How times have changed! When was the last time you heard a hindi song in which the singer politely refers to somebody/something as "kaminey"?

4. Fatak : The only song that's not immediately impressive. Especially when you expected something great when you see Kailash Kher's and Sukhwinder's name mentioned. Fatak is meant to appeal to the masses like beedi, but i doubt if it would achieve the same popularity. But repeated hearing should do the trick.

5. Raat ke dhai baje : Thankfully, there's no disappointment this time as the combination of Sunidhi & Rekha Bhardwaj works big time. Again, this is a song about the first love and last love being the same, as told by the female protagonist. This would probably turn out to be the most popular song of the album in the long run.

6. Go charlie go : It's just the theme track but Vishal's made this one sound very interesting too with all that instuments! This will probably be used extensively in the background.

Kaminey joins the small list of very good albums that have come this year. It also brings the best out of Vishal Bhardwaj till date. Very Very Fexy indeed!

Love Aaj Kal

Imtiaz Ali sure has a penchant for 3 word movie titles . Love aaj kal is his third such movie, after the breezy Socha na tha, which was Abhay deol's launch vehicle and the more recent & immensely successful Jab we met. JWM was also the one of the biggest musical successes of 2007. So expectations from Pritam are high. And with 3 being the director's lucky number, let's hope he scores hat-trick!


1.Twist : During the first hearing, twist would seem a cliché. Yet another intro song that satisfies all the necessary conditions to make it big : meaningless lyrics, lot of background rap, Neeraj Sridhar etc. But after a few more times, you feel even though it's indeed clichéd, it's quite catchy and would after all become popular.

2. Chor bazaari : Neeraj's voice sounds so irritating when he attempts songs like this that don't suit his voice at all. He should realize that his voice is tolerable only when the song is picturized on Akki or if the song is something like twist. And as for the song, nothing much to write about it except that it would just act as a filler in the movie.

3. Aahun Aahun : It's Neeraj again, but thankfully he's in his comfort zone. Aahun Aahun is the result you would get if you give a Punjabi number to a DJ. It sounds like a high tech bhangra number and is chakna-ish in nature and hence, it doesn't disappoint.

4. Dooriyan : Calling this song the Aao milo chalen of LAK will probably be a good way describing it. Some clever work by Pritam again, as it sounds like some melodies from Fashion and Bas ek pal in some parts, but it doesn't show much, so good for him.


5. Aaj din chadheya : You know what to expect when you see Rahet fateh ali khan's name below the song and he doesn't let you down, for,Ajj din turns out to be a very beautiful song that's tailor made for Rahet. It's one of the best songs to have come out this year and is definitely the best song of LAK.


6. Thoda thoda pyaar : This is a highly infectious song and can end up becoming a kajra re or a beedi, if promoted properly.This song is hardly being promoted, dunno why the makers think twist deserves better promotion. And of course with this song, Sunidhi has another number with mass appeal in her kitty.


7. Main kya hoon : An average song that seems to be forcefully included in the album. It fails to create an impact and KK appears wasted.

So, Love aaj kal is a worthy successor to Jab we met; well, almost. With about a fortnight remaining for the film's release, there's still time and some intelligent promotion now can yield very good results.

Kambakkht Ishq

First of all, let me apologize for the blog's inactivity during the last couple of months. It was exam time and i couldn't squeeze time for the blog. Immediately after the exams, i left to kerala for a small vacation, and finally i'm back and settled, raring to go!
Fortunately, so fortunately for me, during 90% of the last 2 months, there was a deadlock in bollywood due to the producers-distributors issue and not a single film released till the 12th of june, with the exception of 99. So basically, we haven't missed much.


Coming to the point, wikipedia says Kambakkht ishq is a remake of Pammal K Sambandam. Now that's some news I didn't know! The music is by Anu Malik, who seems to be back after some good hibernation. The poor fellow had vanished after an excellent Main hoon na about 5 years back, resurfaced for Jaan-e-Mann, but unfortunately, the film vanished, despite having a good soundtrack. And finally, not even a single album of his that came out in the last 2 years is worth mentioning. Thus, the stage is set for a comeback. He couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to bounce back, as all eyes will be on Akshay Kumar, whose last 2 films were disasters.

1. Om mangalam : Anu malik makes the perfect start to this album with this very catchy unofficial title track that has Akki lamenting about the choice of his love. This song will most probably be among the most played songs on radio and tv for the next couple of months. The occasional english lyrics are quite stupid though.

2. Lakh lakh : During the last couple of years, whenever Neeraj Sridhar crooned a song picturized on Akki, the whole nation crooned with him, even if the songs weren't great. Unfortunately, that won't happen this time, as lakh lakh turns out to be an insipid offering that seems to be the grand concatenation of many typical bollywood dhol songs that we've heard over the years. Apart from that, the first 2 lines are glaringly similar to Sajna ji vari vari. Not surprising, considering the fact that Anu Malik was the Pritam of bollywood before Pritam came. Don't bother listening!

3. Bebo : The It's rocking combination of Alisha Chinai and Kareena Kapoor is back, this time for a song that's dedicated to Kareena. Probably the first of it's kind. A song dedicated to the heroine, ie. The song isn't bad at all and there's something about it that makes you press the 'play' button again. And I'm not referring to the video!, though it will have it's share in increasing the popularity of the song.

4. Kambakkht ishq : This song is quite different from the famous kambakkht ishq song picturized on fardeen khan that came out early in the decade (though just the starting line may sound similar; i guess that's intentional) and despite falling in the same category as lakh lakh, this one is much more tolerable and has a better chance of being lapped up by the masses. It's surprising to see KK being used for a loud song like this though.

5. Kyun : There are 2 versions of this song, and i jumped straight to the Shreya Ghoshal version and wasn't disappointed one bit. Kyun is a song that both she and Anu Malik will be proud of. It's probably the best melody so far this year. The other version has Shaan joining Shreya and is equally good.

6. Welcome to hollywood : This is a stylish, slow, short, slightly oru koodai type song that enlightens you about hollywood and probably will be used in the background when the movie begins.


Thus, Anu Malik orchestrates his comeback quite well and as i said, the album has enough firepower to sustain for the next couple of months at least. Unless the film vanishes, of course.

8 x 10 Tasveer

8 x 10 Tasveer, an eagerly anticipated thriller, has an unusual combination. Nagesh Kukunoor, the director, who is considered a sensible film-maker, has critically acclaimed films like Dor, Iqbal, and the trendsetting Rockford to his credit. On the other hand, we have Akshay Kumar, who is a mass hero, well known for his mindless & logicless comedies. However, there's one thing that's common to them. Their last films (Bombay to Bangkok, CC2C) fared miserably at the box office.

Coming to the music, you have the duo of Salim-Sulaiman, who're on the top of the world with two back to back super hits, Fashion and Rab ne bana di jodi. So you expect them to be in terrific form.

Now, the big question. Is 8 x 10 Tasveer "picture perfect"? At least musically?

1.Nazaara Hai : This looks like the unofficial title song of the film and is sung energetically by Vishal Dadlani. Heavily depending on the electric guitar, the song holds your interest throughout and will be liked best by rock enthusiasts.

2.Haafiz Khuda : Sung by the masakali man Mohit Chauhan and the Himesh patronized Tulsi Kumar, this track is somewhere in between Masakali and Kuch Khaas, Mohit's earlier hit with the music director duo. It's soft, melodious and lilting, but lacks the class of the above mentioned songs.

3. Aaja Maahi : Neeraj Sridhar has had great success singing for Akshay Kumar(Heyy babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyya title tracks were sung by him). Unfortunately, he shouldn't have been chosen to sing this otherwise good semi-rock song with a catchy chorus. His voice sounds fake and lacks depth. Keep off melodies, man!

4. I got the picture : Once again, Akshay calls on Bohemia after they combined in CC2C. I'm generally not a rap fan, and it's no different for this song. There's no scope for innovation here, just the same old plain boring rap.

5. Kuchh is tarah : Ditto song no:2, haafiz khuda, with different lyrics and with Tulsi kumar sounding a bit better. Looks like the music director duo ran out of ideas!

Well, so there's nothing great in the album, though it does have a couple of good songs that will last for quite some time. Probably the duo is tired after the 2 big albums they gave and are taking some rest.

13 B

"Fear has a new address", claims the trailer of 13 B. But the soundtrack doesn't really sound spooky, expect for the theme. The film is a bilingual, and is called "Yavarum Nalam"in Tamil. And of course, Maddy badly needs a hit, especially when he has Three Idiots up next, along with Sharman Joshi and Aamir Khan. The music of 13 B is scored by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, whose last few offerings were only mediocre, excepting Rock On. And btw, this is only the 2nd tamil film that has music by SEL, the first being Aalavandhan!

1. Aasma Odh Kar : After a really long time, here is track from SEL that is not so typical of their style yet has some class. Like Aaj ki raat, for instance. The only drawbacks being the seemingly "heard before" feel in the second stanza and the Paartha mudhal naal type beats in the first stanza.

2. Bade se shehar main : Again, there's a very small heard before feel in the first stanza, but it's within permissible limits this time. The tune is simple, but this song sung by Karthik isn't that impressive and may take 2-3 listens to get accustomed to.

3. Sab Khairiyat hai : Lasting for only 1:48, this song gets over before you actually begin to think about it. A below average track, won't be remembered at all.

4. Oh sexy mama : Attempting in vain to sound really cool, this song completely falls flat. Can't believe that SEL are giving a song like this. The Johnny Gaddar title track like picturization with a devilish looking Madhavan doesn't help either. And of course, with the word "sexy" being used so many times, this song will find it impossible to penetrate into homes in Tamil Nadu!

5. 13 B theme instrumental : The only thing that sounds somewhat spooky in the album, this instrumental will most probably be used in the background during the film. Good work here, though i hear the theme is composed by Indrajit Sharma and Parikshit Parik and not SEL.


So, at the end of it, there's nothing worth hearing in the album except Aasma. Let's hope SEL are savibg the best for My Name is Khan!

Ayan

So it's Harris again for Surya. And of course, their combination has been extraordinary so far with Kaaka Kaaka, Ghajini and VA. What about Ayan?

1. Oo Aayiye Aayiye : I just don't know how Harris manages to do this, giving amazing songs despite them sounding similar to his own earlier works, ie. In spite of a direct lift from Adiyae Kolluthey(listen to the 3rd line of both the songs), here you have a song that still sounds amazing! Sure chartbuster!

2. Pala Pala : With a slight Latin flavor and nice rhythm in the background, Pala Pala is a Rangola type song sung by Hariharan. Hear it a couple of times and you'll know that this song is soon going to become a rage!

3. Nenje Nenje : People who like Paartha mudhal naal, Unakkul naan etc etc, tune into Nenje Nenje. Harris does it again!(pun/no pun intended!) It is the kind of a song that only Harris can give. Brilliant.

4. Honey Honey : B-grade song from Harris. Don't bother listening to it. Hard to believe that this song has been composed by same guy who has composed the above 3 songs and the next one. You can't track the flow of this song.

5. Vizhi Moodi : Lastly, the inevitable Karthik song in this Harris-Surya combo. You can officially and proudly say that with this song, tamil cinema has a Bol na Halke halke too! Brilliant!


Harris clearly has a huge winner in Ayan. There are people who don't give him credit and say he copies. I too did that for a while but then realized that this fellow has enormous talent too. He does copy, but that's only around 5-10% of his work! Who cares? You're the best thing that has happened to tamil cinema in this decade, Harris!

Delhi 6

The last time Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and ARR came together, ARR showed his true colors. Rang De Basanti, I mean. Now, Rakeysh is back after a gap of 3 years with a completely different story set in the backdrop of Old Delhi , and ARR is, well, the most talked about composer in the world! In RDB, ARR had scored an incredible 10/10. Here the denominator is 10 again, but what will the numerator be?

1. Masakalli : With Kuch Khaas last year to his credit, Mohit Chauhan shows that he can give more khaas numbers! A song totally dedicated to the pigeon by the same name which acts as the messenger of love between the 2 lead actors, Masakalli easily qualifies as the best song in the album.

2. Bhor Bhayi : Songs like this don't feature in movies. Bhor Bhayi is only for purists. It's a ghazal type song in ragam Shubha Panthuvarali. With this song, Shreya Ghosal proves that she can sing almost anything in this world, and complements a pro like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan with remarkable ease.

3. Noor : Just as a symbol of luck, this track has AB Sr. doing a short narrative. AB Jr. badly needs luck since he's not been having a great time at the box office after the colossal disaster called Drona.

4. Aarti : This is basically a slow prayer song sung by Rekha Bharadwaj. It reminds you Ek Onkar in some places, but in case of a comparison, Ek Onkar wins hands down.


5. Genda Phool : Aah, Rekha Bharadwaj scores for the second time. A simple, small song with a folkish tune, it gets you hooked after a few listens.

6. Dil Gira Dafatan : A very slow song but rich in background instrumentation, this offbeat song has a slight Yuvvraaj-ish feeling and is very good.

7. Hey Kalaa Bandar : Weird song, somewhat like what Behka sounded first. There's an Arabic feel to this song and it has loads of rap too. Everybody is mysteriously searching for a mysterious monkey in the song. And ARR doesn't seem to have come out of the Yuvvraaj feel! A line from Dil ka rishta is used as a bgm piece here!

8. Rehna Tu : A lot is expected from a song sung by the maestro himself. But what a disappointment this is. The high pitched parts of the song just don't suit his voice. Not a great tune either. And the classical ending is highly unnecessary.

9. Delhi 6 : Yet another rap song, this track sometimes sounds like Aye Bachchu. It is a song about Delhi , and will therefore be best received by the college going crowds in the capital.

10. Arziyan : When the track length is 8:41, you're not really motivated to listen. But this qawwali type prayer song goes on very smoothly, largely due to Javed Ali's perfectly fitting vocals.

So the numerator? I would give it 7-7.5. Because, while RDB's songs are still remembered today, I doubt if these songs would be recalled with the same affection say, a year later.

2008- Year End Analysis

2008 has been a fabulous year for Hindi music, better than some of the other years of the decade. This is due to the fact that Bollywood is getting intensely competitve year by year. With close to 10 films releasing in a month, all that producers can hope for is the Fri-Sat-Sun weekend to get back their money.

As far as the music is concerned, A R Rahman has been the undisputed king of 2008. It has been one of his best years ever. All his albums, namely, Jodhaa Akbar, JTYJN, Ada, Yuvvraaj & Ghajini were very good. Also, he's been nominated for the Golden Globe awards from Slumdog millionare and has made us Indians proud.

Pritam too has had a very good year. Music sales wise, he's been number one, with Singh is Kingh, Race & Jannat being the top 3 best selling albums this year, together selling 50 lac units .

Vishal-Shekhar have also done very good work and are among the most sought after composers today, after OSO gave them the big break. They have Bachna Ae Haseeno & Tashan to their credit this year,together selling 30 lac units.

SEL have had an average year with a superb Rock On (showing their amazing versatility), but a below average Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic has done them no good. But their 2 songs from CC2C were good, though not great. I'm eagerly waiting for Zoya Akhtar's Luck-by chance,which i hope will have a great soundtrack.

It was very difficult to pick out 10 best songsof the year; therefore i have picked out 10 best albums of the year and mentioned the songs i like in those albums.

My top 10(hindi) are:

1.Yuvvraaj : Dil Ka rishta,Tu hi meri dost hai, Tu muskuraa & everything else!

2.Ghajini : Latoo,Aye Bachu,Guzarish

3.Rock On : All songs

4.Jodhaa Akbar : Jashn-e-bahaara,In lamhon ke daamon mein,Khwaja mere khwaja

5.Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi : Tujh mein rab dikhta hai,Phir milenge chalte chalte,Haule haule

6.Dostana : Jane Kyun,Shut up & bounce, Desi girl

7.Fashion : Mar Jawaan,Fashion ka jalwa,Kuch khaas

8.Race : Race saanson ki,Pehli Nazar, Zara zara touch me

9.Singh is King : Jee karda,Bas ek king,Teri Ore

10.Tashan : Dil Haara,Tashan mein,Dil Dance maare

Those which I wanted to include but couldn't fit in are JTYJN, Bachna Ae Haseeno,Jannat & Karzzzz


THE song of 2008(hindi) : Dil Ka Rishta



And in Tamil, I don't think there were even 10 albums that were worth listening to. However the following are my favorites :

1.Vaaranam Aayiram : All songs

2.Bheema : Oru mugamo,Siru Parvayale,Mudhal mazhai

3.Dhaam Dhoom : Anbe en anbe,Sakiye

4.Dasavatharam : All songs

5.Santosh Subramaniam : Adada adada


THE song of 2008(tamil) : Oh Oh Sanam


As seen, it's been a Harris show all the way, except for some nasal intervention from Himesh, who produced a superb Dasavatharam.

Villu

Devi Sri Prasad has always impressed. Be it Mayavi, Aaru, Sachin, Mazhai, Something Something or Santosh Subramaniam. Being a Tollywood import himself, this time he brings with him a whole set of singers from there, to sing for Villu.

They say where there's a villu, there's a way. What about this villu?

1. Hey Rama Rama : Undoubtedly the Vijay entry song, it portrays his larger than life image,and has Kovai Sarala to pep things up a little bit. Surprisingly the song is not too loud but a very decent hear, far better than many of his recent intro songs.

2. Nee Kobapattal : This song has exactly the same kind of feel, beats and instrumentation as Nee mutham ondru from Pokkiri and hence there's nothing new. Average.

3. Daddy Mummy : I remember bugging Mogi to explain in detail the meaning of "Puli maanai vettai dhan aadidume kaatil,maan puliyai vettai dhan aadum idam kattil", acting as though i couldn't comprehend anything. Daddy Mummy takes vulgar lyrics to a different level altogether, making it an all time high.

4. Are you crazy : Lasting just 46 seconds,this track consists of Nayanthara throwing insults at Vijay, but the way it's been made into a tune is innovative.This will most probably be played only in the background.

5. Jalsa : The Jalsa line is catchy and the rest of the song isn't bad too. The song hints at a dance showdown between Prabhu Deva &Vijay, which means that the success of this song depends on the video as well. Nayanthara & a certain DSP are also mentioned. I scratch my head and begin to wonder who this DSP could be and then suddenly it strikes me! Devi Sri Prasad of course! Isn't that smart?

6. Vaada Maapilley : A very enjoyable village folkish track, this song is small too and before you realize, it's over. There's also Vadivel's gibberish in the middle but otherwise the song is good.

7. Dheemthanakka Thillana : Other than the fact that DSP himself is singing it, there's nothing much to this song with silly lyrics. Average.


Devi Sri Prasad continues to impress. There's nothing great in this album, but it's more than enough for a Vijay movie. All the best for Kanthasamy, dude.