Reviewed by Anish Khanna
anish@indolink.com

The trend of turning popular song titles into films continues with the film "Doli Saja Ke Rakhna", which is an expansion on the popular song from "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge". The music of these two films, however, is vastly different. While "DDLJ" was very Yash Chopra/Jatin-Lalit, "DSKR" possesses a score that is pure A. R. Rahman. Like many of Rahman's scores, this is another one that grows on you with each listening.

My favorite on the album and one of the two numbers bound to be a chartbuster is "Kheva Re Kheva". Sukhvinder (of "Chaiya Chaiya" fame) returns in a song where he proves that he is much more than a one-hit wonder. Ranu Mukherjee and he take Rahman's fisherman composition and create a wonderfully catchy and hummable hit. Sure, the tune reminds one of "Kuchi Kuchi Rakhama" from "Bombay" at times, but still - the number manages to forge an identity of its own.

The other chartbuster, which is being played all over the film's trailors, is "Tara Rum Pum". One wonders if this is one of the numbers Rahman worked on for Shekhar Kapoor's temporarily shelved film of the same title. If it is, Shekhar has cause for regret, as the number is awesome! Rahman goes wild on the orchestrations here without going overboard. The singers, Babul Supriyo and Shreenivas, lend apt support to the song.

For the lovers of more classical music, there's "Bol Sajni Mori Sajni", easily one of Rahman's best answers to critics who claim he has no sense of melody. Kavita Krishnamurthy sings in the range she is most comfortable in and in which we love her most. Sonu Nigam, as usual, is a delight. Give the guy a "Filmfare" already!

Anuradha Paudwal does her best singing since her comeback in the romantic "Kissa Hum Likhenge", where she is joined by M.G. Shreekumar (an S.P. Balasubramanian sound-alike). The song itself, though not nearly one of the best we've heard from Rahman, is not bad at all.

Rahman does wonders with what is normally a timepass number in Hindi films with the brother-sister "Jhula Bahon Ka". Sadhna Sargam and Sreenivas do some good singing in a song that is definitely a cut above the other numbers in its genre.

Overall, this album is not really on par with Rahman's last major release ("Dil Se"). One must realize, however, that Rahman always reserves his best for Mani Ratnam. Once you accept that fact, "Doli Saja Ke Rakhna" does not seem like a bad prospect at all.

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