Producer: Shree Krishna International
Director: Suneel Darshan
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor, Lara Dutta, Juhi Chawla
Music: Nadeem-Shravan
Lyrics: Sameer
Singers: Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik, Abhijeet, Sukhwinder Singh, Kunal Ganjawala, Kailesh Kher, Vasundhara Das, & Sarika Kapoor
Audio On: Shree Krishna Audio
Number of Songs: 7
Released on: November, 2005
Reviewed by: Manish Dhamija
Reviewer's Rating: 6 out of 10
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Dosti – Friends Forever is the latest offering from the Darshan brothers, directed by Suneel Darshan, a film that stars their favorites, Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol, supported by Kareena Kapoor, Lara Dutta and Juhi Chawla. As is the case with many of their soundtracks, the music is composed by Nadeem Shravan with lyrics written by Sameer. Similar to their previous effort his year,Barsaat , this film offers music that ranks high on melody, but treads in the safe territory with little experimentation with new sounds, lyrics, or even singers.

The album begins with a song that serves as a tribute to friendship, expectedly titled “Yeh Dosti”. Sung by two of today’s top singers, Udit Narayan and Sonu Nigam, the song begins with a prelude of a piano only to be replaced by the typical beats of Nadeem Shravan. The singers’ voices are a bit subdued, but complement one another perfectly.

The album picks up pace with the next song, “Dulhaniya”. The song begins immediately with a chorus chanting ‘dulhaniya’, making it obvious that the setting of the track is an engagement/wedding scene. Kunal Ganjawala takes over the chorus and sounds great for this energetic, upbeat track. Abhijeet and Alka Yagnik provide support and do their best to keep up with Ganjawala. On first listen, the song is a bit annoying, but after giving it another chance, it grows on you a bit and will probably be more exciting to watch on screen.

Abhijeet and Alka Yagnik are featured once again on “Aisa Koi Zindagi Mein”, a slower, sweet love song. The arrangement, including lyrics, tune, and vocals, is very simple, perhaps creating the appeal of the song. The song is classic Nadeem-Shravan, and Alka Yagnik and Abhijeet are perfect choices for the vocals as their approach makes the song very melodious and instantly catchy for those who love romantic songs.

The album reverts back to a faster pace with the next song, “Let’s Boogie Woogie", a title that is truly cringe-worthy. In spite of its laughable title, the song had to be given at least one fair chance. Unfortunately, it ends up being the worst track on the album. The lyrics are trite, the English interludes are unnecessary, and it is a little embarrassing to listen to. It basically sounds like a failed attempt by Nadeem Shravan to create their own version of “It’s the Time to Disco”. The only positive aspects are Kunal Ganjawala and Vasundhara Das, both of whom who try their sincere best to save this boring song.

Sukhwinder Singh and Kailash Kher make an appearance in the next song, “Ishq Na Ishq Ho”. Undoubtedly a qawwali, this track obviously has a more traditional feel to it. Singh does a great job in infusing the song with plenty of energy and passion, while Kher is perfect support to Singh.

The next song, “Aur Tum Aaye”, is along the likes of “Aisa Koi Zindagi Mein”. Sung by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik, it is slower-paced in an effort to convey to sadness and deep-rooted emotion. The song can get a bit boring at times as its lyrics and approach are all too familiar. Nigam and Yagnik do rise to the occasion and effectively display the emotions needed for this song.

The album ends with “Yaar Di Shaadi”, a song that has its Punjabi influences. It features a chorus that repeats Punjabi lyrics, but majority of the song is obviously in Hindi. Sung by Sonu Nigam, Abhijeet, Alka Yagnik, and Sarika Kapoor, the song is just about average. It doesn’t really exude energy like you would expect and at times sounds like a Yashraj reject.

The soundtrack to Dosti – Friends Forever is all in all slightly above average. The lyrics unfortunately do not offer anything new and exciting and the beats are recycled Nadeem-Shravan fare. A few tracks are notable, but in time, will probably not be too memorable. Others are purely situational, while some are not even worth a second listen. It seems as though the songs may grow in appeal after the film is released, but that is up to the viewer to decide. After over a decade in the Hindi music industry, Nadeem Shravan have unfortunately resorted to churning out the same type of music over and over agin, making this album akin to old wine in a new bottle.