Silsiilay   Producer: Vashu Bhagnani Director: Khalid Mohamed Starring: Tabu, Bhumika Chawla, Riya Sen, Rahul Bose, Jimmy Shergill, Kay Kay, Ashmit Patel, Natassha, Karan Panthaky, Celina Jaitley, Divya Dutta, Priya Badlani and Shah Rukh Khan (cameo). Music: Himesh Reshammiya Lyrics: Sameer Singers: Alka Yagnik, Sadhana Sargam, Alisha Chinoy, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Kunal Ganjawala, Kailash Kher, Jayesh Gandhi, Suzanne and Jolly Mukherjee Audio On: Venus    Number of Songs: 7 Album Released on: May 2005 Reviewed by: Shahid Khan  - Rating: 6.5 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review Movie Review

There were high expectations for the soundtrack of Khalid Mohammed´s "Silsiilay" as the music for his last films ("Tehzeeb" and "Fiza") has been quite popular. Based on these expectations, the album has inevitably been labelled as underwhelming.

I, on the other hand, played the music expecting very little. And I was pleasantly surprised.

“Silsiilay” is the opposite of many other recent soundtracks where music directors feel that their songs must assault your ears in order for it to have chartbusting potential. The numbers are soft and sweet and are just the perfect thing to listen to on a lazy summer afternoon. Even the dance numbers have that rhythmical groovy feel... treating you like a listener rather than something to whack a cricket bat against.

"Ban Jaaiye Is Dil Ke Mehmaan" Alka Yagnik croons invitingly in a lovely breezy romantic duet with Kunal Ganjawala. If I am not mistaken, Yagnik and Ganjawala have not sung together before and this makes for a fresh pairing of vocals. It is great to hear Ganjawala in such a melodious track as it takes him out of sensuous songs about lovemaking or dance numbers about mahiya.

Sadhana Sargam doesn´t appear often enough on the music scene and she sparkles in

"Meri Jaan". So what if the composition itself is nothing mind-blowing or particularly innovational. Tabu looks great in the video and Sadhana´s charming voice suits the actress´ sensitive image to the T. Kunal Ganjawala sings a couple of lines. The lyrics show Sameer at his laziest. But Sargam is the star of this show, no doubt about that.

"Aahista Aahista" lives up to its name by being a slow love duet. A light melody with tender beats that feels like a summer breeze... It has Sonu Nigam at his smooth and romantic best and Shreya Ghoshal at her mellifluous and tender best.

Jayesh Gandhi provides backing vocals, which the song doesn´t really need but it does provide a ´lounge mix´ feel to it.

Sunidhi Chauhan, Suzanne and Jayesh Gandhi jazz things up with "Belibaas" (which means ‘uncovered’ or ‘to uncover’). Made especially for Celina Jaitley’s guest appearance, it is not a song that you will like instantly on first listening. It´s in the subsequent listenings that you notice the dreamy and breezy quality in Chauhan´s wonderful voice. The composition itself is okay but Chauhan brings it alive through the splendour of her rendition. Suzanne doesn´t have much to do but her support to Chauhan´s vocals adds a dimension to the track. Love it when they sing “Chaahat ki guzarish hai, Aankhon main pyaas bhar de”.

More ´chill out´ music comes from Sonu Nigam with "Jab Jab Dil Mile". His sensuous vocals are a boon to the ears. The opening by the chorus is very appealing with them singing "Jab jab dil mile, Pyar ke hogaye silsiilay". This is soft pop that makes for an enjoyable listen. The only downer is Jayesh Gandhi’s vocals, which distract from Nigam’s rendition rather than supporting him. Gandhi sings in an unspecified language, which may partly account for the reason why his voice is distracting.

There has to be a dull track and that is "Meri Chandi Tu" (Sunidhi Chauhan, Kailash Kher and Suzanne). I wouldn´t call it terrible but it is limited in terms of creativity. A tune for a dance song that Himesh Reshammiya probably had lying around his room and decided to use it in a case of emergency. Kher´s repeated sayings of

"Mast mast kalandar" is irritating. This one does not match up to the other Chauhan track on the album, "Belibaas".

The claps at the opening of "Tere Liye" (Alisha Chinoy, Jayesh Gandhi and Jolly Mukherjee), reminds one of the boisterous songs that Laxmikant-Pyarelal composed in the 1980’s. The rest of the song showcases Reshammiya’s trademark penchant for the mixture of pop rhythm and melody. Alisha sails through the song like a pro and you’ll be singing with her when she repeats “..Chupaaye nahin chupte… Chupaaye nahin chupte".

Most of the music is so gentle and syrupy and it is something that you can kick off your slippers and chill out to. Above all, Himesh Reshammiya relies on the singers to bring that special quality to the soundtrack. And indeed they do rise to the task. Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, Kunal Ganjawala, Sadhana Sargam, Alisha Chinoy… all dazzle in their songs and bring them out of the ordinary. “Silsiilay” is definitely good for a few listens and better than some of Reshammiya’s other routine movie soundtracks so far this year.