Planet Bollywood
Humraaz
 
Producer: Venus Films
Director: Abbas-Mustan
Starring: Bobby Deol, Akshaye Khanna, Amisha Patel, Johnny Lever
Music: Himesh Reshammiya
Lyrics: Sudhakar Sharma
Singers: Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Shaan, Kavita Subramanium, K.K., Sunidhi Chauhan, Kumar Sanu, Sonu Nigam and Jaspinder Narula
Audio On: Venus    Number of Songs: 10
Album Released on: 08 May 2002
Reviewed by: Rakesh Budhu  - Rating: 8.0 / 10
 
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Movie Review
Public Rating Average: 5.12 / 10 (rated by 411 listeners)
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An Abbas-Mustan thriller with just as thrilling music hasn’t come in a while. The director duo with a good ear for hit music (that situation doesn’t always call for excellent musical scores) has come up with a combination of hit music and good music for their next film

Humraaz. While that is the case, the outcome isn’t an all out winner but decent enough.

Music director Himesh Reshammiya has gotten it right this time, the techno fusion works completely unlike the jumbled up Yeh Hai Jalwa. But the general outcome could have been a little better, or more different than what is here. That is clear from listening to some of the regular songs on the soundtrack in comparison to the average ones. Thrilling- is not a perfect description for the soundtrack as not all of the songs carry the punch that would declare the album perfect. As a whole, the album turns out just enough, but individually some songs stand out more. Himesh comes close, but not enough, to the techno formed Viju Shah who manages to make each of his songs stand out in most of his soundtracks. What Reshammiya has done well is made use of some overall regular lyrics from Sudhakar Sharma. The lyrics, however, are supposed to serve the film well in narrating the story, as stated by directors Abbas-Mustan.

“Dil Ne Kar Liya Aitbar” seems like it is a number made for Abbas-Mustan. Directors are often branded for carrying some styles of songs, and this one undoubtedly has their stamp on it. The song does however, turn out to be much better than most of their recent tunes. Sudhakar Sharma's lyrics are not path breaking as the tune is just another tune about two lovers falling in love, but Himesh Reshammiya makes the lyrics sound good as if it weren’t for the different base the song would turn out to be really run of the mill. The piano stands out as the most effective part of the tune. The song serves as a theme track of sorts as there is an instrumental from this tune in each of the following tracks as well.


Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik sing in good altos. This is a judgment based on the song they’re singing. Since the song is not meant for a periodical extravaganza, Narayan and Yagnik sing in tones which manage to erase from our memory the redundant, dull and stale tunes we’ve heard from them repeatedly this year.

“Pyaar Kar” is one of Akshaye Khanna’s stage songs. Again, Reshammiya succeeds here with his techno musical base that is catchy but the song is a regular stage number. The song is full of masti with Udit Narayan and Kavita Subramanium, but Shaan’s contribution stands out the most.

The three versions of “Tune Zindagi Mein” don’t share any differences except the singers (Alka Yagnik sings two of the three, Udit sings the other). The song utilizes the piano and the saxophone in parts to emphasize the feel it hopes to depict. Reshammiya does add his own touch to it and hits the right notes. Sudhakar Sharma’s lyrics are supposed to be telling a story in the film at this portion, and for that we wait for the film.


It seems that the title track for Abbas-Mustan’s films are always excellent. Just looking back at Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Baazigar O Baazigar, Soldier Soldier and especially the more recent Meri Zindagi Mein Ajnabee, that specific tune which resonates the title of the film never fails. “Sanam Mere Humraaz” proves just that. The best song in this ensemble, the tune opens up with an Arabic influence and progresses with excellent use of the violin and infectious synthesization. Sharma’s lyrics are also intriguing. But though Reshammiya has given probably his best this year in the instrumentalization, it’s

Sanu who shines with probably his best singing this year. Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya may be his closest bet, but here he drops his nasal tone and sings just perfectly. Alka too is perfect, but Sanu walks away with the acclaim here. The whispers of “Humraaz” also add to the beautiful orchestration that the song exhibits.

For Punjabi lovers, “Life Ban Jaayegi” provides ample entertainment. Sort of typical, yet different at the same time, Sonu Nigam and Jaspinder Narula set the song apart from your typical number. Sudhakar’s lyrics are typical and the use of English doesn’t do much to help it.

“Bardaasht”, a lyrically fun number, which also should be featured on Amisha and Akshaye is peppy, up beat and manages to please a listener a lot. Were there a better choice of repetition besides “Aye Aah Oh”, the song would have been better. (But isn’t that what stage singers croon nowadays?) Still holding good use of dance music, K.K. and Sunidhi Chauhan singing at a different aptitude do the song some good. The song ends off with a wicked laugh.

The song is featured again in a remix that is even faster and features Sonu Nigam instead of K.K. It’s hard to choose, but Sonu still has an edge over K.K.

The theme track is an instrumental, which infuses pieces of every tune it. The portion you’ll remember is the parts from the title track and the effective use of the violin, which is one of Akshaye’s trademarks in the film.

The soundtrack has a certain appeal to lovers of all kinds of music mainly because Himesh has experimented in key departments, especially in “Sanam Mere Humraaz”. It is a safe buy for a few songs but not all of them. Though if you purchase the cassette Venus has excluded the theme track and the sad version of “Teri Zindagi Mein” hence you’d be better off buying the CD.

Humraaz is certainly not a masterpiece or anything close to it, but definitely leaves a listener satisfied to an extent and turns out to be a better soundtrack overall than those from previous Abbas-Mustan films. More importantly, it is successful in creating a curiosity in finding out the raaz that the three,

Amisha Patel, Bobby Deol and Akshaye Khanna share in the film.

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