Dum Maaro Dum   Producer: Ramesh Sippy Director: Rohan Sippy Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Rana Daggubati, Prateik Babbar, Bipasha Basu Aditya Pancholi Monty Munford Music: Pritam Lyrics: Jaidep Sahni Singers: Zubin Garg, Anushka Manchanda, Mohit Chauhan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ash King, Papon, Abhishek Bachchan, Ayush Pukan and Earl Audio On: T- Series    Number of Songs: 8 Album Released on: March 2011 Reviewed by: Atta Khan  - Rating: 6.0 / 10   Let us know what you think about this review

The romantic lounge number “Te Amo” comes in with no less than 4 different versions! Firstly we have the original “Te Amo (Duet)” which is sung well by Ash King (UK singer) and Sunidhi Chauhan. Then there’s a more soulful rendition by Sunidhi in “Te Amo (Female)” where Pritam chills out all his instruments to make for a more relaxing experience. Arguably the best of the lot however comes via “Te Amo (Reprise)” where Pritam cuts out all unnecessary sounds and replaces them with an acoustic guitar that sounds so simple yet amazingly melodic! The icing on the cake are the emotive vocals of Mohit Chauhan, pure magic. Lyrics by Jaidep Sahni are simple but a little predictable although the use of Te Amo is at least original as far as Bollywood is concerned. Finally there is “Te Amo (Remix)” which is pretty ordinary. Overall though, whilst nothing ground-breaking, this is another enjoyable song courtesy of Pritam’s experimental touch.

Wow talking of singers, newcomer Papon absolutely ROCKS in “Jiyein Kyun” and reminds you of the old Pritam that introduced some wonderful singing talents such as James and Glenn John. Otherwise the music is nothing new particularly for hard-core fans who will instantly recognise this (rock) music template borne and used often by Pritam. That doesn’t make it any less enjoyable and once you get over the initial familiarity (and disappointment), there’s no doubting its potential to connect with your pulse giving you hours of listening pleasure. Lyrics by Jaidep err on the romantic side but Papon just takes the song to an emotional high with his heavy and uber cool vocals. Listen to it just for his singing and you just might forgive Pritam’s laziness on the music front!

If the penny hasn’t dropped folks then it surely will do after one listen to “Jaana Hai” which kind of underlines Pritam’s strategy for this soundtrack: “Be lazy in the music department but put the best singers behind the mic and make it sound amazing nonetheless”. Here he uses an explosive sounding Zubin Garg who hasn't been used in Bollywood for ages but reminds us what we are all missing! Set against another rock anthem that is peppier than “Jiyein Kyun”, Zubin is easily the highlight thanks in some part to some pleasant lines by Jaidep.

The last track brings you back to the film in question, thank god for that! “Thayn Thayn” is a short situational song about Goa that also gives Abhishek an opportunity to try an alternative career if his current one continues to spiral downwards as it’s currently doing! To be fair he does a reasonable job with support by Ayush Pukan and Earl.

Make no mistake Dum Maaro Dum is another fairly lazy effort by Pritam with only 2 songs that resemble any relevance to the film (“Mit Jaye Gham” and “Thayn Thayn”). However, nobody knows our pulse more than the wily old Pritam and where we can question his originality, his choice of singers give the soundtrack that extra oomph it needs. Just sit back, relax and chill to the music!