Student of the Year Music Review

Student of the Year Music
Music Direction : Vishal-Shekhar
Lyrics : Anvita Dutt Gupta,Vishal Dadlani

What I expected? : Karan Johar is simply a musical person and with the name Vishal-Shekhar attached to the album, nothing but anexcellent album.!

Ratta Maar by Vishal Dadlani and Shefali Alvarez is a breezy-cool-cheerful-lazy track with some engaging  guitar riffs, suited arrangements and singing, making it worth a hear!
Radha by Shreya Ghoshal, Udit Narayan and Vishal Dadlani throws a pleasant surprise, the track being an enjoyable urbane dance track which begins on a sweet Hindustani note by Shreya but moves up in pace with cool beats and a refreshing tune sung sonorously  by the three singers, giving a good hear!
Ishq waala Love by Shekar Ravjiani, Salim Merchant and Neeti Mohan is a slow moving romantic track with some hatke fusion arrangements and apt singing with a lot of feel by the three singers making up a good hear!
Kukkad by Shahid Mallya is a desi infused dance track with heavy modern arrangements, which is strictly situational and nevertheless catchy. Worth a hear!
The Disco Song by Vishal Dadlani, Sunidhi Chauhan and Nazia Hassan is a booming remix of  Nazia Hassan's the once popular 'Disco Deewane' song, which has been done elegantly with the singers doing a terrific job in the singing department! Nazia's voice from the old song is featured towards the middle of the song which has a very catchy chorus and totally a grt execution!
Vele by Vishal and Shekhar is an average Punjabi hip-hop R&B track with so many unwanted elements which leaves the listener confused.

Verdict : Student of the Year falls short of expectations, still manages to give some good listens in the form of Disco song, Ishq waala love and Radha. Overall a decent effort, not V-S's best!

AVERAGE<GOOD<VERY GOOD<EXCELLENT!<OUTSTANDING! 

Heroine Music Review

Heroine Music
Music Direction : Salim-Sulaiman

What I expected? : Salim-Sulaiman, Madhur Bhandarkar, both when associated previously gave a musical hit Fashion. So expectations pretty high, also because the movie is about Bollywood and Bollywood films. Its ought to be musical.

Halkat Jawani by Sunidhi Chauhan, the highly hyped item number filmed on Kareena has all the elements of a typical Bollywood item song(Desi arrangements, seductive singing) and apart from some very good layering of instrumentation, nothing more nothing less. Must work with the video. Good hear!
Saiyaan by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, a melancholic sad romantic track with a bit of Rajasthani folk elements in it, is immensely forgetful if not for Rahat who brings that smooth singing edge and goes well with the mood setup of the song, thus giving us a good hear!
Mein Heroine Hoon by Aditi Singh Sharma should be the title song, slow, secretive and seductive with suited singing talking about the life of a heroine with some excellent mix of  modern and  classical elements as arrangements should work well with an apt video of same mood.! Good hear!
Khwahishein showcases Shreya Ghoshal's smooth and silken vocals in this situational soft rock track which emits some kind of addictive energy with good lyrics making up a good hear! Loved it!
Tujhpe Fida by Benny Dayal and Shradha Pandit is a pleasant urbane cool romantic track with Benny Dayal sounding as fresh as ever and Shradha supporting beautifully with her modern-ish sweet vocals
along with some lively electric arrangements.! (Has a heard before feel, somehow)Good hear!

Verdict : As expected, Heroine is high on musical elements with some really cool tracks, which if not working as standalones, must work with the situation of the movie. Waiting to see the songs on screen meanwhile enjoying the music! Salim-Sulaiman comes up with a winner in Heroine soundtrack! Go for it!

AVERAGE<GOOD<VERY GOOD<EXCELLENT!<OUTSTANDING!

Oh My God Music Review

Oh My God Music 

Music Direction : Himesh Reshammiya, Meet Bros. Anjjan, Sachin-Jigar
Lyrics : Shabbir Ahmed, Sameer, Subrat Sinha, Swanand Kirkire

What I expected? : Judjing from the theme of the movie, musical expectations were a bit low. But names like Himesh, Meet Bros and Sachin Jigar, people usually with good track record featuring on the album, one looks forward to the album keenly.

Go Go Govinda by Shreya Ghoshal and Mika Singh gives a 'chakhaas' start to the album, the track being a typical 'govinda' tapori number boasting of foot-tapping heavy beats, catchy interludes and masala lyrics, which would have gone astray if not for Shreya who gives an out-on-out rendition with the same charisma she had shown in Chikini Chameli, with Mika as puching as ever! Good hear!
Go Go Govinda(Reprise) featuring Shreya Ghoshal and Aman Triikha is essentially the same thing except for Mika's voice which has been replaced by Aman's, which is nevertheless good!
Tu Hi Tu by Mohd. Irfan seems like a soulful romantic song starting with flute, violin, guitar, cool beats and lyrics like 'tu hi tu dil mein hey mere", but turns out to be a song praising Lord Krishna with modern arrangements, which is light on ears, having a catchy tune and simple rendition which makes up a good hear!
Tu Hi Tu(Reprise) sung by Suraj Jagan has only the lead singer changed and everything else remains the same.
Tu Hi Tu Unplugged has a fresh sounding Ash King singing along with basic guitar strings and flute, a good hear indeed.!
Tu Hi Tu Remix has faster resounding electric arrangements and nothing new.
Oh My God Soundtrack  by Zubeen Garg is just a rehash of Tu Hi Tu Chorus with devotional arrangements in the background.
Don't Worry(Hey Ram) by Benny Dayal, Himesh Reshammiya and Arya Acharya is simply addictive from the word go!, beginning with super cool guitar riffs, riding on Benny Dayal's urbane cool full-on-energy vocals(wonder where HR is? Maybe in the chorus) and Arya's surprise rap as an added bliss, altogether making up a superb hip-hop number and a good hear! 
One just hopes that the arrangements in the interludes could have been better, lively.
Don't Worry Remix rectifies this problem which has elevated and booming over the top arrangements which totally changes the face of the song thus producing a complete disco buster! Grt hear!
Mere Nishaan by Kailash Kher with Meet Bros. as composers is an intense sentimental track, inclined to Hindustani classical music, the highlight being Kailash's sad, haunting vocals and good lyrics from Kumaar with apt and needy arrangements giving a great hear!
Hari Bol sung by Kirthi Sagathia and composed by Sachin-Jigar is a typical desi devotional dance track with Indian arrangements on the background, good lyrics by Swanand Kirkire and suited singing but somehow lacking the intended punch, not Sachin-Jigar's best effort, nevertheless making up a good hear at the end!
Krishna Theme(Flute) by Paresh Nath, composed by Meet Bros. is poetic piece of beautiful flute executed elegantly giving a fresh feeling and definitely a good hear!

Verdict : Oh My God sound track doesn't make you say OMG! with awe, but is a fairly good and safe album indeed. Album has some good variety of songs offering a different musical experience which won't leave you disappointed at the end! Try it!

AVERAGE<GOOD<VERY GOOD<EXCELLENT!<OUTSTANDING!

Barfi! Music Review

Barfi! Music
Music Direction : Pritam Chakraborty


What I expected : After seeing 'Ala Barfi' on TV, expectations were quite high, given Pritam's and Ranbir's track record together.!

Ala Barfi! by Mohit Chauhan makes a great start to the album, the track being a quirky-narrative like funny lazy song sung to excellence by Mohit Chauhan and delightfully orchestrated! Grt hear!
Ala Barfi! (Version 2) by Swanand Kirkire has a bit toned down and different arrangements and I felt Swanand's singing too is a bit on the downside compared to Mohit's version. Anyway a good hear!
Main Kya Karoon by Nikhil Paul George is a pleasant confused-romance song dominated by excellent guitar riffs and good singing by Nikhil, making it a good hear!
Phir Le Aya Dil by Rekha Bhardwaj is a soul stirring true blue ghazal, rightly giving us that melancholic longing feeling, all credits to Rekha, and aptly arranged with great lyrics! Grt hear!
Phir Le Aya Dil (Reprise) by Arijit Singh follows up the original truly but with an elevated slow electric arrangements in the background, mourny rendition by Arjit and good lyrics making up a good hear!
Kyon by Papon and Sunidhi Chauhan is totally out of the world, sonorously arranged and smartly sung romantic song leaving the listener confused at the first hear but catches up and sticks to you in repeat hearing. All credit goes to the intelligent tune, superb arrangements and secretive singing by Papon and Sunidhi which makes all the difference.! Grt hear!
Aashiyan by Nikhil Paul George & Shreya Ghoshal is a pleasantly composed romantic track boasting of a lively tune, good singing and ear pleasing arrangement setup comprised mostly of western classical instruments, making it a good hear!
Saawali Si Raat by Arijit Singh is a gem of a song, slow moving, haunting, low pitched, feelful and terrifically sung by Arjit, making a perfect nighttime sit alone song and a grt hear!

Verdict : Pritam has outdone himself again in the album which shows the true talent and dedication of the composer. Not a single song lets you down, and this one's gonna play in my player for a long time! Go for it, the whole album.!


4/5
AVOID<POOR<BELOW AVERAGE<AVERAGE<GOOD<VERY GOOD<EXCELLENT!<OUTSTANDING!!

Raaz 3 Music Review

Raaz 3 Music

Music Direction : Jeet Ganguly  & Rashid (Song # 1)
Lyrics : Sanjay Masoomm (Song # 2,3,4 ), Rashid (Song # 1) & Kumaar (Song # 5,6)

What I expected? : Jeet Ganguly, Bhatt camp, Raaz legacy, so a very good fresh, modern and romantic outing!


Deewana Kar Raha Hai sung by Javed Ali is an outstanding feel-ful romantic song sung to perfection by Javed, composed elegantly and arranged soulfully giving the listener a Grt hear.!
Zindagi Se by Shafqat Amanat Ali is standard Bhatt template milking on 'Maahi' of Raaz 2, nevertheless haunting, catchy and impressive with a hummable tune, good rendition, arrangements and lyrics.! Good hear!
Rafta Rafta by the ever mesmerizing K.K. ends up a beautiful poetic piece of a song riding on KK's fresh vocals, the lovable romantic tune and apt soulful arrangements! Grt hear!
Oh My Love featuring Sonu Nigam & Shreya Ghoshal is another sweet-sugary romantic outing with the singers sounding almost perfect, with good lyrics which overrides the cliché arrangement setup.! Good hear!
Kya Raaz Hai by Zubeen Garg & Shreya Ghoshal, clubbish dance track song, serves the purpose being a melancholic, secretive, peppy arranged track with Shreya stealing the show and Zubeen supporting perfectly.! Good hear!
Khayalon Mein is all Shreya Ghoshal show, the song being composed beautifully, tailor made for Shreya, sweet, romantic, husky and full of life! Suitable orchestration and good lyrics make it a Grt hear.!

Verdict : Despite the accusation of plagiarism to the first song, Raaz 3 manages to impress big time as a whole album, with all songs being just lovable.! Excellent work from Jeet Ganguly as expected! Go for it!  


3.5/5

Update 1 : Oh My love is a rework of Jeet's own Bengali song 'Oh My love' from movie Amanush, originally sung by Kunal Ganjawala and Shreya. 

Update 2 : Rafta Rafta and Zindagi Se are Jeet's own reworks of their Bengali counterparts, 'Bojhena Se' from Prem amar and 'Porle Mone' from Awara respectively.
Courtesy : Milliblog

Joker Music Review

Joker Music

Music Direction : G.V. Prakash Kumar & Gaurav Dagaonkar

Lyricist : Shirish Kunder

What I expected? : Given the music directors, the director being Shirish and the genre of the film, a musical feast.!

Kafirana by Sunidhi Chauhan & Adarsh Shinde is a faltu wannabe-item number track which falls flat with nothing special to mention about it.

Jugnu by Udit Narayan is a good deal of a song with the soulful sounding Udit at the helm of affairs in  this refreshing track with interesting arrangements. Good hear!

Sing Raja by Daler Mehndi & Sonu Kakkar is an instantly catchy number with Daler and Sonu contributing equally well to this R&B track with Bhangra backdrop! Good hear!

Yeh Joker by Sonu Nigam & Shweta Pandit, the title song probably, serves its purpose well with the track having an Indian feel overall and the singers doing  a decent job. Not great, not bad either, must work with the video.

Tears of Joker - Instrumental. Simply gorgeous play of  Flute flowing along with Violin, Sitar and Tabla chained with elegant use of Veena!! Mindblowingly beautiful!

Alien Arrival - Instrumental. Standard march song band template. Decent one.

Verdict : Music wise, Joker is a bit on the downside, with the best track in the album being an instrumental piece. Hearable songs, but with a lack of novelty. Average.

2.5/5

Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi Music Review

Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi Music

Music Director:   Jeet Ganguly

Lyricist:    Amitabh Bhattacharya, & Faraz Alir (Song # 6)

What I expected? : Jeet Ganguly is simply an innovative music director, so from him, some very good fresh songs.

Ishq Main Tere Bina by K.K. & Shreya Ghoshal is a simple light romantic outing with basic softrock arrangements and soulful singing by both singers, but of less shelf life. Worth a hear!

Khatti Meethi by Shreya Ghoshal must probably have the heroine dreaming about something pleasent, given the lyrics, which is strange in a way(Hinglish) and tender singing by Shreya with a light and fresh sounding background setup makes up a Good hear!

Kaafir Andhere by K.K. makes a start with melancholic guitar along with slow soulful singng by KK, before it changes to the rock mode and back again, moving with good lyrics, ending up again with a good song but which won't be playing long.
Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi by Neeraj Shridhar is the theme song which is peppy, funny and somewhat catchy.
Kuku Duku by Mohit Chauhan has a funny sounding Mohit behind the mike, singing this quirky piece of a song with intersting arrangements! Good hear! 
Rhamba Mein Samba has Usha Uthup singing this heavily arranged funny track, quite catchy, but needs a good visual to work. Good hear!


Verdict : As, Milliblog points out, Jeet has redone his original Bengali songs for the movie, which is somewhat good, ending up with a decent album which is light on ears. Try it!


3/5

Ek Tha Tiger Music Review

Ek Tha Tiger Music

Music Direction : Sajid-Wajid (Song # 1) & Sohail Sen

Lyrics : Kausar Munir (Song # 1), Neelesh Misra & Anvita Dutt Guptan

What I expected : Its Salman Khan, its Sohail Sen and Sajid-Wajid, its Yash Raj, so nothing but an excellent album.!

Mashallah, sung by Wajid and Shreya, sole song done by Said-Wajid, is basically a bland composition with Arabic belly dance loops mixed with predictable vocals, cliché guitar arrangements and average lyrics, adding up to a forgetful affair! Remix is nothing good.

Laapata by K.K. & Palak Muchhal has quite a catchy setup with impressive rendition by KK and Palak, with cleverly arranged Latino music background. Good hear!
Remix is just fast paced.

Banjaara by Sukhwinder Singh showcases the singer again in an easy high pitch mode with a stunningly good Celtic/Irish inclined addictive arrangements! Good hear!
An equally good remix with increased tempo is included!

Saiyaara by Mohit Chauhan & Taraannum Malik, is the best song of the album, tailor made for Mohit with melancholic vocals by Ms Malik supporting beautifully, ends up being a perfect romantic outing with soulful arrangements and fabulous lyrics. Grt hear!

Tigers (Theme) composed by Julius Packiam is Don-Theme infused wannabe Hollywood-ish track with a heard before feel at many parts. Still an engaging one!

Verdict : Ek Tha Tiger is a good soundtrack with Sohail Sen clearly spilling his magic over the three tracks he got. Sajid-Wajid disappoints(again!) through Mashahllah, but minus that, the album is an enjoyable ride. Go for it!

3/5

 

Gangs Of Wasseypur 2 Music Review

Gangs Of Wasseypur 2 Music

Music Direction : Sneha Khanwalker
Lyrics : Varun Grover & Piyush Mishra

What to expect? : Nothing but excellent, given GOW1 was outstanding!

Chhi (Chha Ledar) by Durga is a funny, peppy and addictive folk song mixed with electric backgrounds, with hilarious vocals and lyrics! Grt hear!

Kaala Rey by Sneha Khanwalkar is true blue gem of a song with the tender sounding melancholic Sneha, along with slight soft rock imaginative arrangements.! Song of the album. Grt hear!!

Electric Piya by Rasika D Rani is a quirky folk item number-ish song with only Dholak and Harmonium in the background, which holds your attention for its funny occasional Hinglish lyrics and rawness. Good hear!

Electric Piya (Fused) by Rasika D Rani has more modern electric  arrangements and thats it!

Bahut Khoob - Instrumental is a chaotic mix of random village children sounds. Donno wat to say, it doesn't qualify as a song.

Bahut Khoob 8 Bit by Shubhankar Dutta. Electro mix of the word Bahut Khoob a 1000 times along with other random words and strange electro sounds.!

Taar Bijli by Padmashree Sharda Sinha is that kind of hardcore village song where people(here, all women) sit in a group and sing along basic instruments, which is damn catchy and folkish! Grt hear!

Aabroo by Piyush Mishra & Bhupesh Singh is another strange hardcore village dance song with dholak in the background, which is strictly situational but works for its purpose.! Good one!

Perpendicular (Theme) - Instrumental takes another route in mixing random sonds which is, must say, not that catchy.

Moora by Sneha Khanwalkar & Robbie Styles has a low singing soulful Sneha with Calypso influenced arrangements. Good hear!

Moora (Morning) - Instrumental is surprisingly pleasant and fresh with enhanced electric arrangements.! Good hear!

Tunya - Instrumental. Strange.
KKL by Sneha Khanwalkar  is as a final say, with folkish mix of Keh Ke loonga, hell lot of sounds, electric loops with occasional vocals shows what Sneha Khanwalker is. This is one of her signature styled tracks.!


Verdict : GOW2 is a very good outing, but pales compared to GOW1, which had more variety of genres in it. Neverthless, Sneha Khanwalker as a composer scores second time in a row, and her prowess is never to be underestimated! This one is imaginative, innovative funny and simply beautiful. Go for it!


3.5/5

Aalaap Music Review

 

Aalaap Music 

Music Direction : Agnee 

Just my brief review as time restricts me from writing a detailed one. 

Aalaap is a full on rock music outing except for one track. 

Ek nayi Roshni by Mohan is hard rock, engaging in parts and a worthy listen.  

Dil yeh awaaz de by Meera Shenoy, Mohan and Varun Venkat is progressive rock influenced which is thoroughly entertaining and captivating! Good hear!  

Paa para paa by Nikhil Bonnie nd Dhruv is Jazz infused rock and ends up being a delightful track with careful arrangements. 

Soniye by Mohan has pure sufi-Rock backdrop ending up with a winner with multiple listens! 

Shuruvaat pyaar ki by Nikhil and Yamini is a dreamy soft rock romantic gem of a song! 

Chadhti Jawani by Kanika and Bonnie is a peppy and well executed desi item number track. 

Verdict : I don't understand rock music much but I definitely enjoyed Agnee's Aalaap with a wide variety of songs! This one's a winner! 

 3.5/5

Jism 2 Music Review

Jism 2 Music

Music Direction : Mithoon, Dr.Arko Mukherjee, Rushk, Abdul Baasith Saeed

Lyrics : Neelesh Misra, Dr. Arko Mukherjee & Munish Makhija

What to expect? : Given the genre of the film and considering that Jism was an excellent soundtrack, nothing less than a very good erotic romantic ride.

Abhi Abhi (Male) - K.K. Soft rock love song in sync with the Bhatt camp. Sadly, apart from KK's open throated singing, the song has nothing new to offer. Arrangements and lyrics are average. Even the tune was not so catchy for me. Still manages a repeat. 

Hum To Haare (Abhi Abhi) - K.K. & Shreya Ghosal. Hear an unconventional Shreya while she tries to bring that low pitched rough erotic edge to her voice which is actually nice on ears, and comes back to her old self. KK remains the same, implies that this version is better because of Shreya.

Yeh Kasoor - Sonu Kakkar. Keyboard based romantic track with Sonu's voice dominating the scene, with a haunting effect intended but works in vain. Sonu's singing is atrocious and fails to capture the mood of the song, clearly this was not a song which is suited for the voice setup of a singer like Sonu Kakkar. Nothing to mention about the arrangements and basic tune. Worth a hear for the lyrics.

Maula - Ali Azmat. Strange sufi-rockish sad track which works mainly due to Ali's rendition with pain, giving an effect of really crying out loud, the beats, catchy loops and sudden up and down  changes in notes. Good hear!
Ye Jism Hai To Kya - Ali Azmat. Loved it! Ali's painful high pitched rock singing continues in this beautifully tuned and arranged track with a sad, nostalgic backdrop, which works to a great extent.! Ali has poured his heart out in the track which has the feel of internal rage and stress of love(lust?)!Waiting to watch this on video. Grt hear!

Darta Hoon (Adhoora) - Rushk. Rehash of the song 'Adhoora' by Pakistani band Rushk. The arrangements are a bit reduced from the original loud noisy Gothic metal setup to somewhat progressive metal backdrop, but Nazia's singing manages to maintain that secretive, sad, haunting nature. Ziyyad and Uns Mufti supports beautifully. Good lyrics.! Repeat! Good hear!

Hey Walla - Unoosha. All English nightclub track sung by Maldivian artist Unoosha which has addictive beats, excellent orchestration and super cool rendition! Good hear! Sad it doesn't come with a remix!

 
Verdict : Jism 2 does not live up to the expectations, but 2-3 good tracks make it a worthy hear. Some songs as standalones are a letdown, but most probably will work when infused with the situation of the movie. Have to watch out! Give the album a try!

3/5


Update : The female voice in the beginning of Abhi Abhi duet is NOT Shreya Ghoshal as tweeted by Shreya. Shreya takes over to the end of the track only.
Thanks to my friend Arjun K R for pointing this out.

Update 2 : The uncredited female singer in Abhi Abhi duet is Akriti Kakkar.
Courtesy : Musicaloud.com

Update 3 : After repeated listens, Yeh Kasoor turned to be somewhat enjoyable, unlike what I said in my first review. But the rating remains unchanged.

Mere Dost Picture Abhi Baki Hai Music Review

Mere Dost Picture Abhi Baki Hai Music

Music Direction : Sukhwinder Singh, Rajendra Shiv, Subash Pradhan & Parvez Qadar
Lyrics : Sameer, Ravi Chopra, Swasti Shree Sharma & Taabish Romani

What to Expect? : No Idea.

Picture Abhi Baki Hai - Shabaab Sabri. A fun song with a desi touch, strictly situational. Catches your attention to an extent. Worth a hear.

Salaame-E-Ishq - Sunidhi Chauhan. Yeah. Item number track. Thankfully this one's a bit techno- groovy, so rises up a level from the usual item numbers roaming around now. I loved it actually, with club beats, the English pop infused with Sunidhi's haunting longing vocals. Good hear!

Chala Hai Joshi - Parvez Qadar. A strange soft rock track, slow and haunting vocals, with a jazz outlook. Its actually good. Can't help shaking your head! Good hear.!

Koi Na Samjha - Parvez Qadar. Slow sad soft rock song with guitar dominated basic arrangements. Lyrics are average, good rendition which actually captures the feel of the setting. Composition stands out along with singing. Good hear!

Its Rain Rain - Sukhwinder Singh & Sunidhi Chauhan. Outdated track, seems like a track from a 1990's Bolly romantic movie. Its rain rain, its fail fail.!

Sanam Sanam - Shaan & Shraddha Pandit. The starting "oooooooooooh" resembles a Himesh Reshammiya track. This is another outdated romantic track with irritating repeated loops. Worth a hear.

Zindagi Mere Paas - Sukhwinder Singh. Slow sad song with old outfit. Apart from excellent singing from Sukku ji, it has nothing to offer.
 
Verdict : 2 good songs, 1 OK song, fails to live up as a complete album. Average.

2.5/5

From Sydney With Love Music Review

From Sydney With Love Music 

Music Direction : Sohail Sen,Thor Patridge & Nabin Laskar

What to expect : No Idea. It came out of nowhere. But one of the MD is Sohail Sen so expect some real cool tracks with intelligent backdrops.

Feeling Love In Sydney - Sohail Sen. A modern urbane song thats breezy with a nice tune, yets seems like milking on Sohail's own 'Choomanter'(MBKD). Nice hear! Remix is added, which is super fun with funny dialouge pieces added. Good one!

Ho Jaayega - Mohit Chauhan. Guitar dominated romantic track. Mohit is excellent behind mike. Also the uncredited female singer. Has a good tune. Arrangements are nothing special. Anyway a good hear! Remix is added, which is outstanding with bettr arrangemets. Original should have borrowed a bit from this.

Khatkaa Khatkaa - Mika Singh. Qawaali infused fast Indian dance track with modern arrangements. Mika is in high pitch in most parts as usual, but goes down at times. Good arrangements and definitely worth a repeat. Good listen!

Naino Ne - Palak. A sweet romantic track with an engaging tune, Indian flavour and impressive orchestration. Good and promising singing by Palak and the unknown male voice is good too. Has a heard before feel. Grt hear!!

Item Ye Hi Fi - Neeraj Shridhar. Very Neeraj Shridhar-ish dance track with modern club beats and a lot of things mixed together. A harmless song with nothing special. Worth a hear.

Pyaari Pyaari - Brooklyn Shanti. This one's something. Light hearted song sung superbly with highly addictive loops and a cool bit of  European feel arrangements and lyrics. You'll find yourself shaking your head. Grt hear!!

Verdict : From Sydney With Love is a nice package of  good songs, that won't leave you dissappointed. Good hear!

3/5 

Kya Super Kool Hain Hum Music Review

Kya Super Kool Hain Hum Music

Music Direction:   Sachin-Jigar, Meet Bros.Anjaan & Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Lyricist:    Mayur Puri (Song # 1) & Kumaar (Song # 2, 3, 4, 5)

What to expect : Looking from the perspective of the movie, some cool modern peppy tracks.

Dil Garden Garden Ho Gaya - Vishal Dadlani. Music By Sachin Jigar. Starts off with cool club beats. A peppy fun song with slight romantic outlook. Vishal gives that rock-ish rendition which is grt! Catches your attention. Good One!

Remix is almost the same with slight change in arrangements(beats with more bass). Good.

Shirt Da Button - Sonu Nigam & Anjjan - Meet Bros. Music by Meet Bros. Sonu Nigam is soulful behind the mike for this lovely romantic Qawaali. Orchestration is impressive! Weird lyrics, and song has a heard before feel(Mere dil bhi kitna pagal?), but overall manages to be a good song which asks repeat hearing. Good one!

Shirt Da Button (Version 2) - Kailash Kher & Meet Bros. Anjaan. A bit more modern but intelligent arrangements. This one catches your attention, mostly because of Kailash's topnotch singing with a classical touch which suits the Qawaali setup and the difference in mood. Liked this version more. Its sad and nostalgic. Grt hear!

Hum Toh Hain Cappuccino (U.P. - Bihar Lootne) - Sukhwinder Singh, Daler Mehndi, Riteish Deshmukh & Swaroop. Music By Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Long time since SEL has done a song in Bollywood. Anyway this is not an original, rather a rehash of their own song, the once highly popular 'Mein Aayi hoon UP Bihar Lootne' (Courtesy : Shilpa Shetty :P). Needless to say the song is instantly catchy, with SEL giving an extra coating in the form of  'Hum Toh Hain Cappuccino'. Sukhwinder is first class in rendition and the song works for multiple reasons. The excellent singing, the 'nach le' mood created by the beats and the outstanding orchestration. Its more rich and has that namkeen feel to it! Loved the change of mood in the middle. Waiting to watch this on video.Grt hear!!

Volume High Karle - Neeraj Shridhar. Music by Meet Bros.Mr Shridhar gets his usual club dance song which he sings effortlessly, but the song asks for repeat in vain. Original itself seems like a remix with so much things added together that nothing is clear. Uninspiring tune. Didn't work for me. Remix is added.

Verdict : Except for Volume High Karke, the rest songs work big tym. Hum Toh Hai has the potential to become a chartbuster(again!) if promoted well. The composers have done a good job. Its Kool! Go for it!

3/5

Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai Music Review

Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai Music

Music Direction : Anu Malik

Lyrics : Anand Bakshi, Faiz Anwar, Kausar Munir & Anu Malik

What to expect? : When Anu Malik comes as the music director, one looks forward for some good melodies. With the tracklist featuring all the biggie names in Bollywood, album is great in expectations.

Pyar Karna Na Tha (Male) - Mohit Chauhan. Singer of the season. Light romantic melody with a highly catchy tune and simple, beautiful arrangements.(Especially liked the usage of Veena in the interludes.) Mohit's singing is first class and sonorous. Long tarck with a running time of 7 mins.! Wonderful lyrics by the late Anand Bakshi. Grt hear!!

Pyar Karna Na Tha (Female) - Shreya Ghoshal. The tune is so beautiful and Shreya is mesmerizing behind the mike. The same arrangements as of the former, this one is dreamy and an absolute winner!! Grt hear!!

Tere Bina Jee Na Lage - Mohit Chauhan & Suzzana Demello. Starts of with the pop-ish English piece by Suzzane and once Mohit comes in between, the track turns to be an outright romantic and delightful melody. Oh the arrangements.! The beats, keyboard, guitar and flute is perfect! Suzzane's "come back to me.." gives a European, nostalgic feel.Good lyrics. Winner!!

Naina Thak Thak Haare - Roop Kumar Rathod. Its delightful to see the name of Mr Rathod as one expects a soul stirring melody. And here it is a sad, nostalgic track sung perfectly by Rathodji with a slight Arabic infused soulful Indian arrangements. Lyrics are supportive of the song mood and the song flows accordingly. Mesmerizing! Grt hear!!

Kyon? Kyon? - Shaan & Shreya Ghoshal. Peppy romantic track with a heard before feel. Hated the "kyon kyon kyon..' part. Club-ish haunting arrangements and singing is in the same mood. Singers do a good job, but song is average. One time hear. 

Big Fat Indian Wedding - Neeraj Shreedhar & Anmol Malik. Wedding-Fun dance track which takes a dig on the 'big-fat-Indian wedding' :D. Lyrics are funny and Neeraj and Anmol are good in rendition. Good North Indian arrangements. Loved it! Good one!

Angel My Angel - Sonu Nigam & Alisha Chinai. The flute in the beginning is absolutely gorgeous.! The slow-swaying romantic tune, excellent use of Keyboard, Violin and Cello with the tender tender vocals of Sonu Nigam and Alisha makes a perfect nighttime hearing track.! A song with the refreshing western classic feel and lyrics that you keep chanting on and on. You'll love it! Grt hear!!

Verdict : Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai is a very good full fledged romantic album which leaves the listner delighted. A good deal of superb songs with great repeat value and great potential if promoted well. Anu Malik is in the helm of the affairs and is back with the same calibre he had shown in the 90's. Good work! Go for it!! 

3.5/5

3 Bachelors Music Review

3 Bachelors Music 

Music Direction : Daboo Malik

What to expect? : No Idea.

Dag Mag Dag Mag : Shaan & Sunidhi Chauhan. Outdated and uninspiring romantic song with od style beats. Singers do justice but forgetful.

Dhoom Dham : Arvinder Singh and Kalpana. Dance song with some catchy dholak beats. This one catches your attention to an extent. Kalpana gives a very 'namkeen' rendition. Good arrangemets. Good hear!

Shankeriya Shankeriya : Vinod Rathod & Mou Mukherjee. Another outdated sounding track. But I enjoyed it, seems like a track from the early 2000's. May not go with the masses. Good singing though.

Verdict : 3 Bachelors has 3 old sounding songs that does not go with current music scenario. Below average.

2/5

WORLD MUSIC DAY FOLKS!!

 

JUNE 21

ITS WORLD MUSIC DAY FOLKS!!

HAV A BLAST WITH SOME COOL MUSIC TO HANGOUT WITH!

LIFE SUCKS! MUSIC DOESN'T

Thattathin Marayathu Music Review

 

Thattathin Marayathu Music

Music Direction : Shaan Rahman

Anuragham(F) : Divya S Menon.

Anuragham(M) : Rahul Subramanian. One of the sweetest romantic track in the recent malayalam music scenario. Everything just works. The wonderful composition, Rahul's and Divya's seamless rendition and the perfect arrangements(wonderful guitar in the BGM in M version) with intelligent lyrics. The F version is a bit more keyboard based. Divya is a singer to be watched out. The song moves in a delightful mode in overall. Grt hear!! Highly recommended.!

Anuragathin Velayil : Vineeth Sreenivasan. The 'love at first sight song'. Starts of with a dialouge piece by Nevin Pauly which is outright romantic. Another great tune compiled by the composer. Vineeth is easy behind the mike singing in low pitch while the arrangements are quite basic with tabla beats which are great. 

Grt hear!!

Muthuchippi : Sachin Warrier, Ramya Nambeeshan. Hindustani at core. Ghazal infused love song. Catchy tune, while the singers do justify the song. Ramya's rough voice surprisingly just gets along with the mood of the soong. Sachin has done a grt job too. Grt hear!!

Namosthuthe : Arun Alat. Devotional track in an unplugged mode. Good singing. but the orchestration is quite unlike we have heard until. Slow drum beats, cello and keybord. Its strange as the song moves like a romantic track while the lyrics are devotional. As if like the hero is worshipping the heroine. Holds the attention of the listner in a grt deal. Winner!!

Praanande Naalangal : Yasin Nizar. Starts with 'vande mukunda hare' but then we hear some unconventional orchestration for a Malayalam song. Surprisingly short track sung aptly with quite good arrangements. Just works! Good one!!

Shyamambaram : Vineeth Sreenivasan. Another romantic track with simple lyrics and simple tune. Vineeth is low pitched and romantic. Good lyrics which gives that longing feeling. Good arrangements. Good hear!!

Thattathin Marayathe : Sachin Warrier. Slow romantic track which stresses on the lyrics and singing which are more than impressive. Arrangements are good with keyboard and violin dominating. Grt Hear!!

After a good Malarvadi Arts Club with Vineeth Sreenivasan, Shaan Rahman storms into the music scenario with Thattathin Marayath. Not one song lets you down in the whole album. Every track manages to stand out in its own way. It just reflects the pain and homework done by the composer and the depth of his creativity. Kudos to Shaan Rahman. We look forward to more outstanding works like this. Musical feast.!Go for it!! 

4.25/5 (Its the first time I've given a rating above four!)

Maximum Music Review

Maximum Music

Music Direction : Amjad Nadeem , Daniel , Vikram-Sawan, Devi Shri Prasad

 Aa Ante Amalapuram - Malathy. Desi item dance track. Hindi version of Devi Shri Prasad's Telugu song. I hated the telugu version. No change of heart here. Absurd lyrics. Don't work. Forgetful.

Maan Qunto Maula - Raaga Boys. Music by Vikram Sawan. Sufi soft rock track. Orchestration is first class with the clearcut fusion of genres. Nice singing by the Raaga boys. Lyrics are good. Loved it!!

Ya Maula - Shafqat Amanat Ali. Music by Amjad Nadeem. Begins with the soothing sound of shehnai which continues throughout the track. A slow moving pure sufi song. Basic but apt arrangements.Singing by Amanat Ali is low pitch and haunting. Lyrics hav that longing feeling. Good One!

Aaja Meri Jaan - Tochi Raina & Ritu Pathak. Music by Amjad NAdeem. Fun intended romance track. Amit Trivedish. Singing is good. Arrangements are modern and good too. Ends up as an above average track. Good hear.

Sutta - Nadeem Khan & Tulsi Kumar. Music by Daniel. Dance track with desi flavour. Funny lyrics. But fails to hold your attention. Forgetful.

Namami Shamishaan - Bandini Sharma. Devotional shiv vandana song gets rehashed with only keyboard and violin in the background. Singing stands out. Extremely sensitive track which just flows. Good one!

Verdict : Maximum came out of nowhere, but has three very good songs which you'll totally love.! Ignore the dance tracks. Have to watchout whether the music will work or not. 

3/5

Cocktail Music Review

 

 Cocktail Music 
 Music Direction : Pritam Chakraborty

Tumhi Ho Bandhu - Neeraj Shridhar & Kavita Seth. Surprisingly delightful peppy song. Kavitha Seth's voice stands out. Its hard to drive out of your head the phrase 'tumhi ho bandhu sakha tumhi' sung aptly by Neeraj even if you have heard the song only once. Arrangements are modern and electric still okay but the songs gonna be a chartbuster!! Grt hear!!

Daaru Desi - Benny Dayal & Shalmali Kholgade. Another modern and funny and lazy song. Breezy singing by Benny Dayal and Shalmali. This is too comes with a terrificly simple and catchy tune. Find yourself singing it in the middle of something. It doesn't makes you dance, but you'll sway to the music. Get a fresh feel after hearing this. Grt hear!!

Yaariyan - Mohan Kanan & Shilpa Rao. Soft rock romantic song. Nice tune. Painful singing by Mohan. It just holds your attention as Pritam takes you to the 'Life in a Metro' zone. Shilpa gives a sufi edge. Hear it and forget everything. Just let it flow... More than impressive!!

Yaariyan (Reprise) - Sunidhi Chauhan & Arijit Singh. Starts with piano and moves slowly in an unplugged mode. Sunidhi is first class in rendition.! The feel she puts in is unmatched. Arjit Singh gives the same style singing he gave in Agent Vinod. Soulful and high pitched humming. Superb!

Second Hand Jawaani - Miss Pooja, Neha Kakkar & Nakkash Aziz. This is pure desi at core. Dholak beats with funny lyrics and suited slow singing. Find yourself shaking your head.! Have to watch out for the video. Good one!

Tera Naam Japdi Phiran - Javed Bashir, Nikhil Dsouza & Shefali. Club song and DJ beats. Javed's singing is but Indian with the Punjabi-infused lyrics providing the same feel. Nikhil and Shefali give the club singing. So kind of R&B feel. Good one! 

Tera Naam Japdi Phiran (Remix) - Javed Bashir, Nikhil & Shefali. Well a good remix but nothing innovative. Heard before arrangements.

Luttna (Saif Ul Malook) - Masuma Anwar, Sahir Ali & Anupam Amod. Sufi song. No wait, you can hear DJ beats.! I don't know what genre this song belongs to. Masuma Anwar gives a hardcore desi sufi rendition. The co-singers chorus comes with tabla. But electric arrangements dominates. And it goes perfectly smoothly and its haunting. Strange really! Pritam expiriments. But good one!

Luttna (Version 2) - Masuma Anwar, Sahir Ali Bagga & Anupam Amod. Different beats. A bit more soulful arrangements. Singing is the same. But I feel this version's better. Good one!

Jugni - Arif Lohar & Harshdeep Kaur. This one has a bit Pakistani in it. Rock song with  Punjabi-Urdu lyrics and singing is the same way too. Sounds a bit like Falak's songs. A bit too long but grabs your attention with the repeated high pitched loops. Good singing(in a way). Good one!

Main Sharabi - Imran Aziz & Yo Yo Honey Singh. Bonus track. Trance track. Must find its way into discos. Funny lyrics. Coated in modern arrangements. Chorus 'mein sharabi' is addictive again. Good one!

Verdict: Pritam has always done magic with Saif. Love Aaj Kal, Agent Vinod and now Cocktail. You can find almost every musical ingredient in Cocktail. Fresh, modern, desi, peppy. Pritam has again come up with a heavily loaded album which soul stirring songs.!! Go for it!

4/5

Bol Bachchan Music Review

 

Bol Bachchan Music
Music Direction : Himesh Reshammiya, Ajay-Atul.

Bol Bachchan - Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan & Ajay Devgn. Title track. Absurd but funny english lyrics. Catchy tune with grt Indian flavour. Amitabh, Abhishek are good behind the mike. Will linger for some time.Good One!
Remix comes with enhanced beats. Nothing new.
Chalao Na Naino Se - Himesh Reshammiya & Shreya Ghoshal. HR behind the mike again. This tym with the peppy dance romantic song. Average singing, Shreya is pretty good but gets only less scope. May work once video is out. Remix is just a remix.
Nach Le Nach Le - Sukhwinder Singh & Shreya Ghoshal. By guest composers Ajay-Atul. This one will put your legs on fire. Furiously fast and over the top singing by Sukku ji and Shreya supports beautifully. Perfect arrangements with the traditional desi feel. Go for it! Yeah, remix is there.
Jab Se Dekhi Hai - Mohit Chauhan. This is one song HR will sing himself if needed for one of his acting films. Sufi infused slow moving song with a lot of feel. Mohit has done a good job. Kind of nostalgic track, perfect for sitalone night time hear.! Good one! Could've avoided the remix.

Verdict. Above average album. Himesh lets down with Chalao Na. But the title track will catch up and Jab Se will be too. Have to watch out for Nachle. Come up with more innovations HR.

2.5/5

Teri Meri Kahaani Music Review

Teri Meri Kahaani Music
Music Direction : Sajid-Wajid


Mukhtasar - Wajid. Cool urbane love song. Catchy and addictive beats. The word 'mukhtasar' will linger, so the song won't go out of your head. Good and haunting singing by Wajid. Has a club feel to it. Good one!
Remix by DJ Suketu is added which is just OK.
Allah Jaane - Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Traditional sufi song. Good singing by RFAK. Basic arrangements. Composers have succeeded in bringing the sufi element to the song. Lyrics are to be mentioned. Catchy tune and great repeat quality. Good one!
Jabse Mere Dil Ko Uff - Sonu Nigam & Sunidhi Chauhan. The 1960 track. Sonu and Sunidhi try to bring that old feel to the singing. Arrangements are good. Nothing great in the track. One time hear.
Humse Pyar Kar Le Tu - Wajid, Mika, Shabir Bro & Shreya Ghoshal. Traditional Qawaali dance track. 'Humse pyaar karle tu' loop is addictive. Can't help shaking your head. Same expected arrangements. Singers have done a good job.Good one! Remix is added.
That's All I Really Wanna Do - Shaan & Shreya Ghoshal. Cool love song. Situational track. Simplicity is what I liked in this track. Light hearted melody with a great deal of orchestration. Rendition of Shaan and Shreya is simple. Tune is  lovely. Good one!


Verdict : After prolonged flops, Sjid-Wajid delivers a surprise in Teri Meri Kahaani. While 'Mukhtasar' will work with youth in no time, the other songs namely 'Allah jaane' and 'Humse pyaar karle' has good hit potential if given essential promotions. Honest effort but nothing great.


3/5