Shaadi No 1   Producer: Vashu Bhagnani Director: David Dhawan Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan, Esha Deol, Ayesha Takia, Sharman Joshi, Soha Ali Khan, Sophiya Chaudhary, Riya Sen, Aarti Chhabria, Rajpal Yadav, Satish Shah Music: Anu Malik Lyrics: Sameer Singers: Abhijeet, Anuradha Sriram, Rahul Vaidya, Sonu Nigam, Krishna, Prajakta Shukre, Anuradha Paudwal, Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Aqueel, Sanjeev, Shreya Ghoshal Audio On: T-Series    Number of Songs: 6 Album Released on: September 2005 Reviewed by: Rakesh Budhu  - Rating: 5.0 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review Movie Review

A “No. 1” David Dhawan comedy caper can arguably be the last soundtrack you’d run to the store for. His long list of them range from the Biwi to the Jodi and now perhaps the culmination in “Shaadi No. 1”, brings together an entirely different cast of Bollywood’s young-uns barring one Sanjay Dutt. Comedic soundtracks are usually either hit or miss or a complete mixed bag. Anu Malik, the other familiar name in Dhawan’s up and coming has also followed that pattern as of late… you simply don’t know what you are going to get. For this multi-starrer the music is clearly a miss, not as appealing but by the end of the album one still asks one’s self… for a comedy film, does it matter?

One can imagine that a film about young couples engaging in affairs must have a swiftly paced teaser like song, right? “Chaand Ko Tod Na Doonga” featuring Abhijeet and the lately missing in action Anuradha Sriram is your typical upbeat Anu Malik tune which is the good kind of situational. The one where you can watch what’s going on and actually tap your feet to the song as well. The song is good for its upbeat qualities, and Abhijeet and Sriram at their feisty best and is almost your staple Dhawan song (it has been a while since we’ve heard Sriram screechy like this). And that’s a good thing.

Anu Malik has definitely re-hashed several of his orchestrations from Dhawan/Vashu Bhagnani films here and given that they aren’t that unique to begin with one can’t blame him, right? The opening tune of the inane “Jitne TV Channel Ke” is quite familiar but furthermore is probably the only best thing about the song! Situational is one factor which usually works for Dhawan soundtracks but this one is borders on nerve wracking no matter how many Bhangra beats you throw in! Sonu Nigam is boring, mainly because it’s hard to decipher whether he is trying to make the song melodious, or not? And the loud Krishna, who seems to be trying to imitate Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, is just that- loud.

There is a little bit of “Kise Disco Mein Jaaye” (Bade Miyan Chote Miyan) in “Hello Madam”. Perhaps it’s the similarly dysfunctional lyrics (Hello Madam, I am Your Adam?), or the pop-styled repetitive beat or what have you. Nevertheless, this is your typical David Dhawan song so much so that you can literally see it play off on screen based on David’s previous films. Newcomer Rahul Vaidya is paired with another newcomer Prajakta Shukre in this song. Both are average to tolerable. As that may be the case… one has to wonder why no names appear on these albums…were credited singers refusing to dish out the inane lyrics?

“God Promise Dil Dola” has that classic Dhawan title and is upbeat like most Dhawan songs except for the obvious and very disheartening rip off of Anu Malik’s “Tumse Milke Dil Ka” from Main Hoon Na. The former was a big song for Malik and Shah Rukh Khan and now the qawaali beat has been beaten up here (and for all we know in the near future many more times). A spicy song, Shreya Ghoshal is great (though sometimes hard to notice) but newcomer Rahul Vaidya has to do a little more to make his voice more distinctive and memorable. Musical interludes are catchy and are good once you forget the unoriginality.

“Ayashi Ayashi” sung by Aqueel, Shaan and Sanjeev is the hero’s tune with a club feel to it. The upbeat pop flavor is formidable on the song which presumably is featured on the three male leads. The tune will probably find many takers in the remix market but aside from its swift beat there is little to offer.

Feisty duo Shaan and Sunidhi Chauhan are at it again in "Dil Nahi Tora Karte" and unsurprisingly English lyrics are around as well. Sunidhi’s voice has been techno-styled and it works. The romantic number is fun and both Shaan and Sunidhi are in fine form in the playful number which is worth an ear or two.

Shaadi No 1 is obviously nothing more than your typical David Dhawan soundtrack. Sometimes you get something great (Mujhse Shaadi Karoge), something dull (Jodi No 1) or something average, like this one Shaadi No 1. Anu Malik has put some effort into making the soundtrack a little tolerable and the outcome is a time pass soundtrack with little less than memorable tunes.