Nayak is a rip-off of the South film “Mudhalvan”, directed by the same director, Shankar. Shankar is of Hindustani, Humse Hai Muqabla, Jeans, etc… fame. It stars Anil Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee, somewhat of an odd combination, but holds promise for success for both actors. The music has helped them get to their cause. The first song, “Chalo Chale Mitwa” is a medium paced song sung by Kavita Krishnamurti Subramanium & Udit Narayan. As always, Rahman’s beats are awesome, and this song is a definite chart-topper, as its already popular among the circuits even though the music has just released. Kavita and Udit are both outstanding, but Udit’s voice turns out to be the dominating force making the song really worth a few listens. Bakshi’s lyrics are first-rate also. The music has a slight Scottish mix with Indian tones dominating the melody. “Shakalaka Baby” , the next song, has (obviously) no-brainer lyrics, and fast paced music. Rahman’s beats are similar to his Muqablas of previous years. The song is still a good listen, though. The singers, Pravin Mani, Shiraz Uppa & Vasundhra Das, all do a good job. Shankar Mahadevan and Alka Yagnik tune “Rukhi Sukhi Roti” which probably features Anil Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee dancing in some type of Roti eating situation. The song is fast paced, but is average fare. “Saiyyan” , voiced by Hans Raj Hans and Sunidhi Chauhan, has a beat and melody dominated by music, the voices can almost fade into the background. Somehow, Rahman usually picks ideal singers for each song, and therefore, their voices blend into the background of songs quite well. Its nice to hear Abhijeet and Sanjeevni after a long absence, as they both combine to sing the next song “Chidiya Hoti To.” The song has very Indian beats with a little synthesized music. Sanjeevni especially sounds refreshing in this song, with a bit of Asha-ish style and a sweet, although more mature voice compared to her first album, Kareeb. Hariharan and Kavita tune the sixth song of the album. “Tu Aacha Lagta Hai” has a medium paced beat with good singing by both singers; it is especially nice to hear Kavita hitting the really high notes with ease, softly. The music by Rahman is a little varied, though still sounds typical Rahman. The final song is a second version of the first song, so it’s a pleasure to listen to. Kavita has a larger presence in this song. Her voice sounds refreshing and beautiful. Overall, this album has the looks of a typical Rahman album, although it may be average for him, if this was an album by any other composer, it may be considered brilliance, or at least a very good album. Shankar has had some decent Hindi films, but they were all dubbed movies and usually hit the floor hard. Hopefully, this one (which isn’t dubbed) turns out to be a success. |
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With music by AR Rahman, Nayak comes out to be a winner, no matter what quality Rahman’s music is. Usually, Rahman’s worst is equivalent to any other music directors’ best. Therefore, average fare from Rahman means brilliance compared to other composers.