Market   Producer: Rama Adhikari, Atif Khan Director: Jai Prakash Starring: Manisha Koirala, Suman Ranganathan, Shweta Menon, Aryan Vaid, Anupam Shyam, Prathima Kazmi, Pankaj Berry, Sri Vallabh Vyas. Sayaji Shinde, Makrand Despande and Govind Namdeo Music: Altaf Raja, Jani Babu, Vaishno Deva Lyrics: Arun Bhairav, Khurshid Hallauri Singers: Hema Sardesai, Sunidhi Chauhan, Altaf Raja, Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik. Audio On: Venus    Number of Songs: 8 Album Released on: 25 August 2003 Reviewed by: Ron Ahluwahlia  - Rating: 4.0 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review Movie Review

Market seems to have a lot going for it: a Nepalese actress

(Manisha Koirala) struggling to regain the enviable status she once held in Bollywood, two South-Indian models-turned-actresses

(Suman Ranganathan, Shweta

Menon) who have shown more flesh than talent (although Ranganathan did make Aishwaraya look like a rookie in

Aa Ab Laut Chalen), and finally, a successful male-model

(Aryan Vaid) who seems like he has nothing more to do in this movie other than pose as Manisha´s suspiciously younger-looking love interest

(Ek Chotti Si Love

Story, anyone?). Put together with music dominated by Altaf Raja (screams of terror justified) and lyrics by complete no-names, Market seems like one movie to look out for; and Abhishek Bachcan is a better dancer than Hrithik Roshan(!).

As a rule of thumb, every album has at least one good song (of course there are countless exceptions). Thankfully, Market has

Hum Pyaar Jo Tera Paayenge. Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu are in full form. They sound like they did in the 90s and sing as though they would for Nadeem-Sharvan. Musically,

Hum Pyaar Jo Tera Paayenge sounds more like a pop song, and is nothing new. The lyrics are basic (marks for adding the odd Urdu word are not given). This song is misplaced in an album like Market, as it doesn´t make you want to punch a hole in a wall. The song is repeated in a solo version by Sanu, but the duet is nicer. It´s a shame Sanu has been neglected by composers these days.

The song that the three leading ladies have been shaking their hips to, Khalliwalli, is not composed by Altaf Raja, but

Jani Babu, with lyrics by Khurshid

Hallauri. Appearing twice in the album--as if once wasn´t bad enough--the

Hema Sardesai and Sunidhi Chauhan version is bearable at most, but

Altaf Raja´s rendition (sadly, more music directors other than himself use Altaf in their songs) is dispicable! Don´t bother with this one.

Meri Galli Mein Tera Aana starts off promising (the flute interlude is reminiscent of

Asoka), but then follows the same path as all the other item numbers that have recently bombarded Bollywood. Sunidhi is good in her version, but is unable to aid the pathetic song in any way. Altaf´s voice, instead of being annoying, is bland. Completely pointless!

I would presume that Alka Yagnik has reached a point in her career where she can be choosy about the songs she sings and associate herself with meaningful music. Then what possessed her to stupidify herself by singing

Aaj To Madhur Milan Hoga? Vaishno Deva´s sense of music is non-exisistant and the lyrics are tried, tested, and have failed miserably each time. As for Yagnik, she sounds a lot like she did in

Saiyan More Saiyan from Khauff ( I think you get the idea.) Skip it! Please!

Sad songs are Altaf´s forte (that´s not saying much), therefore, a song like Mere Toote Hue Dil Ko is a must. Frankly, Altaf sounds like all his other

dard-e-judaai songs. Musically, the light usage of Indian percussion is nice, and the song, lyrically, is truly sad. However, it would have been better if Altaf found someone with vocal talent to be fair to the song.

After listening to Market, questions like Were three item songs truly necessary? Does Altaf Raja really need to have his own version of female item numbers? Market is

truly disappointing. Hopefully, for the sake of all involved, there will be much more to say about the movie.