Reviewed by: Mohammad Ali Ikram
ali@indolink.com

Irrespective of the unimpressive quality of movies arising out of the Guddu Dhanoa-Sen brothers' combination, their musical collaborations are always of above average standards. The songs of Elaan, Tu Chor Main Sipahi and Ziddi all succeeded in bringing a few smiles to this listener's face. You may now add Aflatoon's music to my list of smile-inducing film soundtracks.

"Aflatoon Aflatoon" is sung by Remo Fernandes with as much gusto as he can muster together. (I wish he would refrain from over-doing the sound effect noises in all the songs for which he provides playback.) The song is quite catchy, provided you have never heard Dilip and Sameer Sen's use of the exact same music for the title song of the early nineties' Govinda-Kimi Katkar starrer, Zulm Ki Hukumat. What movie... you may ask??? Forget it. You will not remember unless you are a die-hard fan of Hindi movies.

"Poster Lagwado Bazar Mein" is an infectious tune with cute lyrics, and it is included in two versions on the audio tape. You will want to get up and dance to its Arabic-influenced musical rifts. Note however that the singers, Lalit Sen and Shweta Shetty, were probably used because earlier in 1997 they provided the vocals to Ziddi's peppy chart-busters, "Ore Ore" and "Mera Dil Le Gayee Oye Kamo Kidhar". An intelligent choice by the Sens and Mr. Dhanoa. Both singers are competent, though I must admit that Ms. Shetty is more talented than Mr. Sen. (In case you have not yet guessed, Lalit is the brother of this movie's music directors.)

Udit Narayan and Anuradha Paudwal sing "Oye Oye Teri Si Ladki" with pizazz and verve. Percussive beats dominate the foot-tapper. Unfortunately, Anuradha's rendition of "Ooee Maa Ooee Maa" with Abhijeet is not as inspiring as the previous song. Maybe it is the out-dated lyrics or the mediocre singing, but I did not like the song. Anuradha rarely sang such naughty cum double-meaning songs before her semi-retirement a few years back. The reason for this choice is displayed in "Ooee Maa...". The decision was not ethically or morally motivated. Ms. Paudwal simply lacks the talent to sing a "Choli Ke Peeche" type number.

Vinod Rathod's "We Love - We Love Rocky" is a rip-off of "We Will - We Will Rock You". Enough said.

"Tu Maange Dil, Main De Doon Jaan" has Chitra and Hariharan scaling the same stratospheric heights of Ziddi's wonderful "Hum Tumse Na Kuch Keh Paaye". Both songs make you wish you had a beautiful companion to keep you company. Urmila Matondkar, Aflatoon's heroine, would suffice for me.

Alisha Chinoi and the folksy "Chori Chori" wind up the end of the album. Alisha is so infamous for her pop tunes, that one wonders why she agreed to sing folk tunes for Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen twice: earlier in Tu Chor Main Sipahi's "Yeh Aag Thi Dil Mein" and now for this 'Afla-tune'. Not that Alisha does a bad job of either number, but folk songs are just not her forte. Of course, she is unbeatable in Mr. India's "Kaate Nahin Katte" and the title track to her album "Made In India".

Aflatoon is a commendable effort on the part of Dilip Sen - Sameer Sen. (This statement in no way implies that the score is comparable to their unforgettable music for Yash Chopra's Aaina.) The quality of the songs ranges from slightly below-average to amazing, and because of the trendy music Anand Bakshi's lyrics are intentionally not poetry-based. It would be wise to purchase the economically priced compact disc for Aflatoon (on the T-Series label) so you can jump the less impressive tracks. Personally, I intend to spend some quality time with Urmila and "Tu Maange Dil..." Later folks!

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