Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai   Producer: Yash Chopra Director: Sanjay Gadhvi Starring: Uday Chopra, Jimmy Shergill, Sanjana, Bipasha Basu, Alok Nath, Saurabh Shukla, Neena Kulkarni, Bindu Music: Jeet-Pritam Lyrics: Javed Akhtar Singers: Asha Bhonsle, Alka Yagnik, Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan, K.K., Sudhesh Bhonsle, Sunidhi Chauhan, Jaspinder Narula Audio On: Saregama    Number of Songs: 6 Album Released on: 25 April 2002 Reviewed by: Rakesh Budhu  - Rating: 8.0 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review Movie Review

There is no reason why the audience shouldn’t be anticipating Yash Chopra’s home production Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai. The producer/director has proven for many years that he can direct and produce excellent romances, even with beaten up story lines. He also has an excellent sense of music, his recent directorial venture Dil To Pagal Hai stood out as a musical gem for Bollywood. Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai is certainly another good musical album from the Chopra house, it holds key experimentalism in parts but in others still has the old Jatin-Lalit styled tunes. However, the soundtrack is definitely a musical worth your ear, especially if you love romance songs and soundtracks which ensemble excellent singing.

Jeet-Pritam whose work for Tere Liye went completely unnoticed have gotten the chance of a lifetime to show us their worth, and their efforts shouldn’t go unnoticed.

The soundtrack opens up with the semi-familiar “Ek Ladki”, semi in the sense that the backdrop is indeed reminiscent of many of the Chopra Production house tunes, but, still has enough variety to call it a decent composition. Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik are absolutely perfect in their rendition of Javed Akhtar’s sweet and syrupy lyrics. Alka is sidelined to the background for the most part but still does an excellent job, much more than she has been doing in some of the mundane soundtracks we’ve heard recently.

Asha Bhonsle seems to have turned back the clock on time, at least for her voice any ways. The singer just sounds younger and younger with her recent tunes! “Sharara” is a techno friendly song, which is completely enhanced thanks to her vocales. The song has interesting intervals by an un-credited chorus. The lyrics, quite undistinguishable are also quite appealing. The song seems like a dance number that should feature Bipasha Basu in her guest appearance. The song is immensely catchy thanks to infusion of several key instruments and definitely calls for a repeat.

The title track, “Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai” is a typical shaadi number, but one didn’t expect anything else seeing as though the film is about a wedding. A festive number, the key factor is that it manages to hold your attention without having you fast forward. Though evident reminiscence of Saajan Ke Ghar Aye, Mehendi Lagake Rakhana are there, the song does inhibit a few changes from the tunes. Again, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam and Alka sing excellently making the feet-tapping tune a decent listen.

The soothing ness and the excellent experimentalism in “Jaage Jaage” make the song the best on the soundtrack. Jeet-Pritam would go much further if they continue to compose songs like these. Extracting excellent vocales from Sonu Nigam, Alka and Udit (again), the song excels in creating a romantic mood. The musical pieces are very entertaining. Javed Akhtar’s lyrics are also pleasant. The ending of the song with the chorus also enhances the feel good feeling of the song.

“Humne Suna Hai” is the drawback of what would be a complete musical bouquet of decent tunes. The song seems more situational than anything else and just turns out being regular. The singing by Alka, Udit, Sudesh Bhosle and Jaspinder Narula just adds to the pass feeling of the song.

Changing from soft and romantic is “Hum Dono Jaise”; a swift number that is reminiscent of the tunes Harris Jayaraj gave us from Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein, and the Tamil version of that same film. K.K. sings well enough but his counterpart Sunidhi Chauhan still needs to work on her shrill vocales. The song is feet tapping and stands out more because of the instruments and orchestration on Jeet-Pritam’s part.

This re-make of ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ – (leaving no room for suspicion with its English translation Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai!)- has good music. Much better than the utter disappointments we’ve heard all year. Jeet-Pritam have followed up with a decent soundtrack after their good debut in Tere Liye, though their lack of exposure will probably not do much for them. Javed Akhtar scores in many senses here. His lyrics are more appropriate than outstanding but still invite the listener much more than other lyricist’s redundant words. Fans should expect to see more of him now that veteran Anand Bakshi has passed away. Amongst the other pluses of this soundtrack is the singing. Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Sonu Nigam are just excellent in their tunes. One also doesn’t miss Lata Mangeshkar, a usual for the Chopra camp, as much thanks to this. Yash Chopra has always made sure he has at the very least good songs for his films- Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai proves just that.