Reviewed by Mukul Deshpande
mukul@indolink.com

I have so many great things to say about "Tere dil ke paas". The brilliant use of Indian percussion instruments (i.e. 'tabla' & company). The amazing form both Asha Bhonsle and Sonu Nigam are in. Someone going "sa-sa-ni-sa-ni-sa-ni-sa-sa-..." in the background. Forget it. I'll just say: Great song. Period.

If the last song was great, then this one's even greater. The Udit-Alka duet "Akhiyan akhiyan" sounds smooth and normal ... until the end of the mukhda. Gaane mein twist!!!. I may be sounding like a crackpot, but you guys won't understand ... until you listen to the song.

After three great numbers, the law of averages is bound to catch up with Sukhwindara. There's nothing naturally original about the next song sung by Alka, "Mera dil nai lagda". So Sukhi adds some bizzare sounds here and there to make the song sound unnaturally original. So we have glass breaking, bees buzzing etc. etc. But nothing can save this song. There are also a couple of 'songs' by Sadhana Sargam at the end of Side A, each one being a few femto-seconds long. So it's blah, blah and blah.

There are even more bizzare sounds in "Main Hindustan hoon", but this time it all sounds better. The song, which I guess should be played with the film titles, has everything it takes to be in a Manoj Kumar film. There is nothing horribly wrong with the song, but I didn't quite like it. I don't have a penchant for patriotic songs, unless they're as cool as "Hindustani" (Dus).

Cool the next song certainly is! The Abhijeet-Poornima duet "Love love" has its moments and should be popular among those who don't mind treating their ears to loud beats.

Q: What does a remixed sad song sound like? A: "Ranjhana ve". Sukhi has obviously worked overtime for this Alka solo to reach the above average level. The song may not be a rewind candidate, but it certainly isn't a forward one.

Then we get to hear the 'real' Sukhwindara, the one who sang "Chaiyya chaiyya" (Dil Se) and "Mehboob mere" (Biwi No 1). I thought Sukhi was overshadowed by Udit in "Jalwa jalwa", and his earthy voice was pretty irritating in "Main Hindustan hoon". But here Sukhi rules. "Ishq brandi" (and no, it's not "Ishq brandy" as I thought it was when I scanned the cassette sleeve for the first time ... that was when I thought Sukhi was trying to beat Altaf Raja's "Pee lo ishq ki whisky"!) deserves to be a rage. And yea, I love the guy in the background who goes "pak-chik-pak-chik-...".

I'm too bored to write about the last song. For the record, it's called "Is paar sarhad ke" and is sung by Sukhi and Anuradha Paudwal.

So that's Hindustan Ki Kasam for you. It's a mixed bag. But I'm sure you can tolerate watching the losers to shake hands with the winners. So I give you permission to buy this one.

Which brings us to an important point. The timing of this film. It's perfect. The film is about to release when Indians are feeling very emotional about their country. We're annoyed about Pakistani troops systematically crossing the LoC while our Prime Minister was discussing peace plans with his Pakistani counterpart. We're annoyed about Pakistan returning our dead soldiers minus various parts of the bodies. We're annoyed about Pakistan acting as if it knows nothing. We're annoyed about this and a lot more. So, quite naturally, we now want to see Pakistan getting bashed up - both in reel life and in real life. The reel life bashing is going to come with Hindustan Ki Kasam. As for the real life bashing - well - our soldiers need our support. And 'hindustan ki kasam', we're right behind our brave ones.