Reviewed by Sunder
sunder@indolink.com

The music of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan should figure along with the better scores in David Dhawan movies. Viju Shah's music adds to expectations from this coming together of Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda under the baton of David Dhawan. As in any other David Dhawan score, lyrics are written to be expressed on screen with dance and caricature, and hence little attempt is made by Sameer for poetry beyond limericky. And perhaps that works just well for the score too. The music itself throughout the album has a good pace, a nice rhythm and perhaps little novelty. Even the usual technical orchestration so characteristic of Viju Shah plays second fiddle here. All the good points noted, this is a good distance from good music or even melodious music. But then, would anyone want to hear that in a David Dhawan movie?

The album starts of with the pacy title song "Bade Miyan to Bade Miyan" with Udit Narayan doing wonders for Govinda, while Sudesh Bhosle as ever does the part for Amitabh with little brilliance but a lot of voice similarity. A few other singers of little fame give little more than chorus effects. Sameer comes up with some nice playful lines, and the music sounds oft heard but very easy and catchy.

The voice of Amit Kumar is heard in two songs - "Makhna" and "Dil Deta Jai Jo Re Dilda" - singing for the Bachchan. And he does a splendid job with the singing, especially in the latter song - that you wonder if the voice similarity of Sudesh Bhosle matters at all. Makhna is a fast dance tune with a distinct Punjabi folk flavor with Alka Yagnik leading for most - as Amit Kumar and Udit Narayan provide support. Dil Deta Jai Jo Re Dilda takes some time to get used to, perhaps due to the dialected lyrics and the male singers - Amit and Udit make this song even more catchier than it would have been. Anuradha Paudwal and Kavita Krishnamurthy add support though they sound a little too shrill in this song. This song has another version with the females leading and the guys supporting which is just not as much fun - and Alka Yagnik replacing Anuradha Paudwal does a lot better along with Kavita, while Sudesh Bhosle is just not where Amit Kumar was in the other version. Udit Narayan is most competent in all versions as with all songs in the album.

Udit and Sudesh come together again for what sounds like a theme song for the movie - "Assi Chutki Nabbe Taal", another playful number with creative lines by Sameer. Sudesh sounds better and closer to this song maybe as the tune is closer to a talk at times. This one also has two versions, with the second one a far shorter one.

In the other numbers, where the heroes would not be together on screen - Udit teams with Alka for "Koi Disco Mein Jaayen", which has some innovative use of sounds and playful lines again. This is perhaps the most catchy song in this album. And once again, it is Udit who brings a lot of life into this song. The other single hero song is "Dhin Tak Dhin Tak" - sung by Jasbinder Narula and Sudesh Bhosle. The song really makes good use of Jasbinder's vocals as in Pyar To Hona Hi Tha, but Sudesh is just not Remo and this is only more apparent on this song. But impressions could change when we have Amitabh on screen. But on the audio this song sound good only in its female portions.

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