My gut is telling me - praying actually - that Vipul Shah´s Bollywood debut will be an entertaining farce. With this hot and happening a star cast, we expect plenty of style and panache. So, Aadesh Shrivastava´s got his handle over the panache. And Jatin - Lalit excel with the romantic fusion styles. But the music directors´ choice of Remo as the vocalist anchoring the title tunes was a bad move for this "dangerous game".
Shrivastava´s "Ghustakhiyan Hain" does its best to maintain the electrifying momentum of the first track, and does a decent job keeping up. Aadesh´s own singing is pretty good, but I would have preferred to hear more of the rarely heard actress/singer Vasundara Das. She´s got a lot of talent, this lady. Jatin - Lalit´s "Kucch Kasme Hain Jawaan" is a beauty! The brotherly music duo return to a genuinely inspired state after a long slump. What sets this short Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik ballad apart from the team´s past efforts is its ability to weave between soothing and rocky moods at different periods. We ought to thank Vipul Shah for not using the hokey wordsmithing of Sameer too. Praveen Bhardwaj´s lyrics are sooooo much better. Don´t get too complacent though. Be prepared for boredom in spades when Remo returns for the Jatin - Lalit version of the "Theme Song". Mr. Fernandes has gained a modest amount of notoriety for his trademark jibberish singing, but a tune´s sole dependence on this style is plain stupid. More so because it is the same jibberish/words he has used in Daud, Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Khamoshi: The Musical and countless other movies before. Speaking of inspiration, "Phatela Jeb" sounds very much like the "Excuse Me" track from N. Chandra´s recent flick, Style. Mere coincidence? I think not. With Nitin Raikwar contributing to both tunes, along with Aadesh Shrivastava and Arun Bakshi this time around, it is no surprise. What is confounding though is that this ´ripped´ tune needed the creative faculties of Jatin - Lalit, Aadesh Shrivastava and Nitin Raikwar to be put together!?!?! Alka Yagnik invites Javed - a newcomer to the playback scene with this unimpressive two-line launch - with the double entendre filled "Chalka Chalka", and the lady has us hooked instead. Sure, the tune would probably go to Asha Bhosle in the days of yore, but Yagnik does a very good delivery too. Plus, the prospects of seeing either Sushmita or Bipasha boogey to this bar tune on screen are pleasant enough. Ready for some Bhangra-ish, Rock and Swing? Jatin - Lalit sure are, and so am I. I love it when directors try something different. It is even better when it works. Thanks to Udit Narayan, Kavita Krishnamurthy-Subramaniam and the instrumentation this one scores in a big way. Kavita is in fine form, the best she has been in months. How I wish the album would not have ended on the frivolous notes of Remo´s "All The Best". Some readers will hate me for lacking the tact to convey my feelings better, but I must say, "Remo man, shut up dude." Were it not for the Remo misfires, I probably would have loved Aankhen´s music. The soundtrack comes nowhere near classic status - I doubt it even aspires to such categorization - but it is fine for several months of regular listening. In fact, Jatin - Lalit are far more laudable for this one when compared to their recent Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham efforts. Just get the earplugs out for their versions of the two theme tracks on the score. But if you still want to listen to the them, for your eardrums I wish you, "All the best". |
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The upbeat Aankhen title song, prefaced with an entrancing Amitabh Bachchan soliloquy - which Universal´s label clowns call a "soliloqi" - sets the trendy precedent that the rest of the soundtrack must match. Techno-friendly Aadesh gives us a tune to enjoy and
Sonu Nigam is at home as the lead vocalist. And, for the first and last time in the soundtrack, Remo is suitably restrained in the background.