Dhoom 3 Music Review

Dhoom 3 Music Review
Music Direction : Pritam Chakraborty
Lyrics : Amitabh Bhattacharya

What I expected? : It is Pritam's music composing debut in an Aamir Khan movie. And with all he hype, glitz and glamour associated with the movie, nothing short of an excellent score!

Malang, as expected, intrigues at the first hear itself! The high point definitely being the track's topnotch, high quality production and the impressive wordplay. After the killer 'Zinda', Siddharth Mahadevan (with the subtle support from Shilpa Rao)can easily add a chart buster to his kitty! #Repeat

Kamli partly engages for Sunidhi's upbeat and meticulous voice modulation. Credit goes to the adept interludes too but the lyrical repetition somehow plays spoilsport along the way.

Tu Hi Junoon flaunts a brisk Russian-rock arrangement setup but sadly the middling base tune fails to excite. Mohit Chauhan puts in, at best, an OK effort, not that it helps.

The Title track is neither here nor there, somewhere in between Dhoom1 and Dhoom 2 title tracks. The mishmash gets a dub step treatment in between but for most parts it sounded like Sunidhi's 'Dhoom Machale' itself.

The disappointment is heightened by a lame Arabic Version of the song, sung by Lebanese singer Naya, which apart from the lyrics, has not a bit of Arabic feel in it.

Bande Hai Hum Uske is sweet and outright haunting at the same time! Loved the tune and the toned down rendition by little Shivam Mahadevan equally.

The rest two are instrumentals, Dhoom Tap and Dhoom Overtune where the former is presumably for Aamir Khan's reported Tap Dance scene and the latter most probably will serve in the background where again the signature Dhoom tune is repeated the zillionth time.

Verdict : For what it's worth, Dhoom 3 music score is somewhat a letdown. While Malang scores by its own merits the other tracks just doesn't have have that kind of a stellar punch a movie like this needs. And the repetition of the Dhoom tune throughout the album, wherever possible, is kind of weary. There is nothing much new and the score seems like to be made in a hurry, something we can assume from the lack of musical detailing in many of the tracks. Surprisingly, the man of innovations, Pritam, has run out of fuel here and that too for a prestigious project and I wonder why! Average.

Must Hears! : Malang

AVOIDABLE<POOR<BELOW AVG<AVERAGE<GOOD< VERYGOOD <EXCELLENT!<OUTSTANDING!

Phata Poster Nikhla Hero Music Review

Phata Poster Nikhla Hero Music

Music Direction : Pritam Chakraborty

Lyrics : Irshad Kamil

What I expected? : Commercial, non-stop Pritam!

Tu Mere Al Bagal is routine yet addictive Mika-Pritam combo, something on the lines of 'Pungi', less interesting arrangements but. Enjoyable!

Mein Rang Shrabaton ka's sweety-catchy melodious tune is let down by Atif Aslam's average, heavily auto tuned vocals, while Chinmayi is the only saving grace.

Mein Rang Sharbaton(reprise) scores by leaps and bounds for the one reason Arijit Singh is singing it, and man, he makes it simply gorgeous! How I wish the original version were sung by him! #Repeat

Hey Mr. DJ has Benny Dayal, Shefali Alvares, and Shalmali Kholgade on fire, quite exotic techno dance track replete with spritely arrangements!

Mere Bina Tu gets to the mesmerizing level, the simple soft rock arrangements merged with the pitch perfect singing of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Harshdeep Kaur makes it a stunning listen! #Must Hear #Repeat

Dhating Naach will literally put your legs on fire! An amazingly fast tempoed desi dance track, the energy level with which Nakash Azi and Neha Kakkad sings it is quite remarkable! #Repeat
Janam Janam's heartfelt lyrics are justified by Atif Aslam's soulful, beautiful vocals which demands multiple listens and the same can be said for Sunidhi Chauhan's reprise version, where she shines from top to bottom with her soft, vehement singing act! #Repeat

Verdict : Phata Poster NH comes with strong musical elements, which are bright and refreshing throughout, slight flaws aside! Pritam switches his commercial, yet Very Good mode ON!

Must Hears! : Mein Rang(Reprise), Mere Bina Tu, Janam Janam(both versions)


AVOIDABLE<POOR<BELOW AVG<AVERAGE<GOOD< VERYGOOD <EXCELLENT!<OUTSTANDING!

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Music Review

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Music
Music Direction : Pritam Chakraborty
Lyrics : Amitabh Bhattacharya

What I expected? : Understandably, Pritam will pull all strings to ensure a fantastic music score for a Ranbir Kapoor film which is huge in making and high on hype! Nothing but a 'fun'tastic album!

Batameez Dil is instantly trippy, quirky and peppy with highly imaginative lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya. This Benny Dayal & Shefali Alvarez sung track gonna be high on the discos! #Repeat
Balam Pichkari by Vishal Dadlani and Shalmali Kholgade, the holi song, is addictive from the word go! Especially the 'balam pichkari' hook stuffed brilliantly inside the largely colorful and energetic arrangements! #Repeat
Ilahi and Ilahi Reprise, respective versions sung by Arjit Singh and Mohit Chauhan, are exactly the same not for the singers, but definitely arranged well, especially for the sound placing of the chorus. Mohit edges over Arjit by a bit in the singing department, rawness in voice contributes, nevertheless, superb track! #Repeat
Kabira is soft rock melody, templatized by a bit, but sung well by Tochi Raina and Rekha Bharadwaj.
Kabira Encore, the second version by Arjit Singh and Harshdeep Kaur is actually way more likable due to the folkish rich arrangements, which suits the composition more in entirety. Good Hear!
Dilliwali Girlfriend by Arjit Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan comes with the heavy heard before feel which usual Punjabi songs give, enjoyable but situational.
Subahnalla, even with the prosaicness in the composition department, rises above the usual due to the flawless rendition by Sreeram with ample support from Shilpa Rao. Good hear!
Ghangra is strangely staid albeit the singers being concerned is Rekha Bharadwaj and Vishal Dadlani, mainly due to the mediocre arrangement setup and less lively singing. May work with a video.

Verdict : The score does not satisfy huge expectations. Its a 50-50 affair, Pritam begins the album in a fantastic note through Batameez Dil and Balam Pichkari but then falters through the middle of the album. While all the songs are good enough to ensure a good promotion round for the film, the album as a whole is not enough to satisfy the demands of the music audience. On the up side, the album does scores through the first three songs, which becomes its high point, and which makes this one lively and worth trying. Good effort!

Must Hears! : Batameez Dil, Balam Pichkari, Ilahi


AVOIDABLE<POOR<BELOW AVG<AVERAGE<GOOD< VERYGOOD <EXCELLENT!<OUTSTANDING!

Murder 3 Music Review

Murder 3 Music
Music Direction : Pritam Chakraborty
Lyrics : Sayeed Quadri

What I expected? : Expectations quite high, given the franchise has given a good deal of chart busters  and of course Pritam.

Teri Jhuki Nazar by Shafqat Amanat Ali is soft and simple, good singing but immensely forgetful. The problem is with the beaten to death tune and lyrics, just worth a hear.
Mat Aazma Re by KK does try to bring back the old Pritam-KK hit feel, but fails to grab your attention by all means, the song has nothing innovative to its credit and the 'bar bar' loop is annoying! Worth a hear.
Jaata hai tujh Tak by Nikhil D'Souza is another song which strangely fails to relate with the listener by large margins. Disappointing!
Hum Jee Lenge has Mustafa Zahid singing and composing but a bit too reluctant to go out of his templated zone, resulting in a slow romantic but average hear.
All Pritam songs have one more version each which are not worth mentioning.

Verdict : Murder 3 music is a Himalayan letdown from Pritam, one of his weakest soundtracks in years!

Must Hears! : None

AVOIDABLE<POOR<BELOW AVG<AVERAGE<GOOD< VERYGOOD <EXCELLENT!<OUTSTANDING!

Race 2 Music Review

Race 2 Music
Music Direction : Pritam Chakraborty
Lyrics : Mayur Puri, Prashant Ingole &Yo Yo Honey Singh

What I expected? : Coz Pritam is in excellent form and the movie is the sequel to a musical chart buster, an out and out modern commercial outing.!

Lat Lag Gayi has Benny Dayal and Shalmali Kholgade kick starting the procedures with this not-so-appealing techno dance track filled with "lat-lag-gayi", "yeah-ah-ah-ye" loops and template beats. Might work hugely on screen but as standalone track, just good.
Be Intehaan by Atif Aslam and Sunidhi Chauhan, the Pehli Nazar substitute works in vain even with the feel good tune and standard arrangements mainly due to below average, ear throbbing singing by Atif and Sunidhi being utterly pointless. The song could have done wonders if it was sung by some other singers, say Arjit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal, but for the Atif tag it can actually work with the singing being fakely termed as 'soulful' even when the track remains average.
Remix is a fast paced DJ gimmick.
Be Intehaan(Unplugged) by Rahul Vaidya is mesmerizing, still a but conventional. Better than the original anyway!
Party on My Mind is ear splitting techno dance and right from the start, I'm counting "I've heard this before" parts of the song(technically 'Inspirations') hence the song is just worth a hear even with the energetic singing by KK, Yo Yo Honey Singh and Shefali Alvarez. Another one which might work on screen.
Remix remains remix.
Alla Duhai Hai by Atif Aslam, Vishal Dadlani and Anushka Manchanda is at last terrific, terrifically addictive rock-techno which follows the lines of Race Saanson Ki, but keeping its own identity engaging you from start to finish blending a huge deal of sound engineering techniques into the fair tune with powerful singing! Good hear and a thumps up!
Remix has a false tempo. Not very appealing.

Vedict : Not for Alla Duhai Hai, Race 2 was a pretty average fair for me. Even then it doesn't elevate the prospects of the album, since Alla Duhai hai comes under the situational song category. No doubt Pritam has worked on the album well, there is a fair deal of DJ ing done, but something is amiss and hence the album is worth a hear, nothing more. Just like Players in 2012, Pritam starts with a dud in 2013!

Must Hears! : None

AVOIDABLE<POOR<BELOW AVERAGE<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!!

Jannat 2 Music Review

Jannat 2 Music
Music Director : Pritam Chakraborty

One of the most anticipated soundtracks of 2012, given that Jannat was a classic album.

Tu Hi mera : By Shafqat Amanat Ali. Essentially a qwaali love track, but you can't help getting hints of Ishq sufiana and Pee loon, the latter by Pritam himself. Still no where near those songs. The same and constant tabla beats, with no kind of innovations. Shafqat's singing is average but thats his usual style. Let go. Overall a good one time hear.
Tera Deedar Hua : By Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Again sufi and qwaali. But this one catches ur attention. FAK has let himself loose in this song. Good arrangements. Meaningful lyrics. Chorus is catchy. A great deal of new sounds can be heard in between. Good hear!
 Tera Deedar Hua(From the heart) : Javed Ali. Javed maintains his identity behind the mic. Personally I feel this version is better than the original. Superb!
Tujhe Sochta Hoon. KK. Of course, what is Jannat without KK? You expect an urbane cool melody from Pritam -KK combo. And here it is, nice and smooth in league with Jannat soundtrack. touching guitar strings and beats. Loved the flow of the track and KK's soulful rendition. The aalap will get addictive once you hear it 2-3 times. KK all the way. Winner.!!
Sang Hoon Tere : By Nikhil D'Souza. Another version of Tujhe sochtha hoon. The tune is so good that it doesn't matter who sung it. Nikhil is impressiveand fresh with a bit of english parts. Have to watch which version works with the masses.
Rab Ka Shukrana. :  By Mohit Chauhan. A grt song all the way! Sufi elements merged with Mohit's vocals presented in an unplugged mode with a good deal of lyrics. Violin and piano adds feel to the song. Mohit is perfect behid the mic. This one's gonna be a chart climber!
Rab Ka Shukrana (Reprise) : By Anupam Amod. Greater orchestration and they are good too. Anupam is  huskier and less nasal than Mohit, but feel remains the same.
Jannatein Kahan. : KKs back with Zara sa, this time with an improved version. Modern and fresh. The addictive aalap remains the same, all else different. Didn't understand the intention of the raps though. Loved it. Maybe because of KK. Good hear.!
Jannatein Kahan (Power Ballad) : By Nikhil D'Souza. Not much different from the originals except for the enhanced beats and rock edge. Good one.

Overall, Jannat 2 is a very good album but we expected an outstanding one. It is in league with Jannat but not one of Pritam's outstanding scores. All songs are good but what missing is a single chartbuster. All hopes on Rab Ka Shukraana and Tujhe sochtha hoon.


3.5/5