Kurbaan Music Review (Salim Sulaiman)

It was something I was waiting for a long time now. And now that it has reached me, I think it should reach you too. So here we go, with my review of Kurbaan's music, that happens to be the third release of Salim Sulaiman in this year.

Shukran Allah: You hear the chorus, you love the music. You hear Sonu, you love the song. A wonderful love song by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal with a beautiful chorus and Salim Merchant for backing vocals. Listen to this and you'll be found trying to sing the words Shukran Allah Walahamidulillah soon.

Dua: In dua, Salim-Sulaiman bring the Fatak combination, Sukhwinder Singh and Kailash Kher along with Marianne DCruz Aiman for background vocals. Dua hai dua hai is again a good song with music lying somewhere between a spiritual song and a dance number. In fact the same can be said about the song's lyrics too.

Ali Maula: In the third song, Ali Maula, that happens to be the only song in the album with a remix, Salim Merchant has done almost a Maula mere le le meri jaan again. Though, this time he doesn't have a Krishna with him and he has sung the song alone. The lyrics of the song are a bit more Urdu-ish than Maula mere. But the song goes deep and will turn out to be one with longer shelf life. Good again.

Rasiya: Background music is important. Not just in movies but in songs too. Yes, the specialists of background music have almost added background music to a semi-classical song sung by Shruti Pathak. The song will be liked in its own time and not everyone is going to like this part-classical thing. But I'd have to say, Salim-Sulaiman are great.

Kurbaan Hua: Even if it's not rock, it's rocking. Vishal Dadlani sings this rock-like-Bollywood-song for Salim-Sulaiman this time and I can tell you, not after listening to the song but after seeing the trailer itself that the song is going to be a hit.

Ali Maula Remix: I generally don't write about remixes nowadays but since Kurbaan has just one remix and fashion had some good remixes, I was tempted to write this one. Well, the remix starts bad, but as it nears the mid of the seek bar, it goes a bit better, and then starts going bad again and experiments done don't save the remix. In short, the remix by Abhijit Vaghani was not much was required, not at least with the song. They could have better done it with Shukran Allah but they probably wouldn't have not tried to take that risk with the superb song.

Overall, with just five songs, Kurbaan is a wonderful album which has not just good songs but quite a variety available. Where Shukran Allah is a love song as good as Jatin-Lalit used to make, Ali Maula gives the album a serious tone and Rasiya gives the album a light classical touch. And finally it all completes with a rocking song by Vishal. Ten on Ten. Can say that.

Farhan didn't sing for Rahman?

Finally the much awaited music of Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Zayed Khan starrer Blue is set to release. The movie came into limelight when A R Rahman decided to make Farhan sing for the movie. Then there was news that Farhan had a sore throat and that made Rahman wait. And now the music is going to release in the second week of September but it's not clear if Farhan is going to sing for the movie.

If we listen to Wikipedia (as on today, September 4th, 2009), Farhan is going to sing the song Bhoola Tujhe along with Rashid Ali. But then, the official site of A R Rahman says something else. The site doesn't mention Farhan's name in singers and says that the song will be sung by Rashid Ali alone.

So most probably Farhan Akhtar is not singing for A R Rahman and we'll have to miss the opportunity to listen to the Farhan Akhtar's voice once again, that too in an A R Rahman composition.

The soundtrack of Blue will have seven tracks for which Rahman has roped in Shreya Ghoshal, Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder Singh, Rashid Ali, Neeraj Shridhar, Vijay Prakash, Udit Narayan, Madhushree and Suzanne D'Mello. Besides, Rahman's blue theme reportedly has six more singers including Blaaze.

Apparently, the song that Farhan Akhtar has missed is going to be a good number as the song not only has Rashid Ali singing but also has backing vocals from singers as good as Benny Dayal. The opening song of the album, Aaj Dil has Sukhwinder Singh and Shreya Ghoshal and should be worth listening. Chiggy Wiggy by Kylie Minogue and Sonu Nigam is already out. The song has a 'masti' feeling to it and the video makes it all the more clear.

While with Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal, rehnuma can be a beautiful love song, Vijay Prakash and Shreya's Fiqrana must be a good song as Vijay Prakash has been getting good songs for quite some time and his last with Rahman in Yuvvraaj was especially good.

With Udit Narayan and Madhushree, the last song of the album, Yaar Mila Tha is going to be a typical romantic song. In fact nowadays Udit Narayan and Madhushree is becoming a new pair of singers as even Sohail Sen has used them both together in What's your raashee.

For now all we can do is guess. So let's wait and watch when the music of Blue comes.

Hope.

Aalam Guzarne Ko (Kal Kissne Dekha)

Sajid Wajid are generally ordinary affair. Most of the times, there is not much new in their music and the quality rarely reaches across a certain level. But even with that, Sajid Wajid and Sonu Nigam is something different. And this difference is clear in Aalam Guzarne ko, right from the first line of the song.

Aalam Guzarne ko, or Tere bina raazi nahi as I'd prefer to call it as, is a beautiful melody from Jackky Bhagnani's debut Kal Kissne Dekha, sung by Sonu Nigam, with the soul of Deewana in it. (I hope no introductions required) The song is actually behind its time, but since it has the quality that made songs long lasting in that time, my guess is that many people will like the song as I did.

The good thing about the song is that Sajid Wajid haven't tried to do many experiments with the song and have thus kept it as melodius as they could. The lyrics of the song, written by Sameer, are of course all romantic, non-exceptional, and good. The song does remind one of the albums of Sonu Nigam, and since Sonu is singing this type of melody, that is, one from the generation of his albums after a long time, his fans would surely love the song.

Overall, the song is a soothing experience for the ears and if you are a Sonu Nigam fan and crave for the melodies of 90's, especially those of his album, just go for it.

Song by Song: Muskura (Dasvidaniyaan)

After staying distant from playback singing for quite sometime, Sonu Nigam is back. And with a bang. No, not a bang exactly, as he's not singing those bang-bang type of songs now. But it's much more substantial. Muskura, or Awara Raahi Gumshuda, of Dasvidaniyaan is one such song.

The song is a slow number with music of old times. And even instruments. And it's Sonu Nigam who can sing in any style, so with the background music of Raj Kapoor style, and even lyrics of that mood, the song is completely out of it's time. Which is the USP of the song.

Sonu Nigam is the second most important part of the song, after its style and music. He sings the song really wonderfully. Also, after a long time he seems to be in a 'mood'. Not that other songs he sang recently were bad or something, but this time Sonu has left his signature in the song while singing. Kailash Kher as a composer has probably given full liberty to Sonu and the result is, no doubt, great.

Last, but not the least at all, credit goes to the lyricist (who happens to be Kailash Kher again) for writing such beautiful, and more than that, true lines.

Aawara raahi gumshuda,
Ban ke kyun ghoome laapata,
muskura, mere dil,
Le zindagi ka mazaa..

Listen to this one if you don't hate old songs.

Song by Song: Soniyo (Raaz, the mystery continues)

Emraan Hashmi's movies are known for their great music; generally, typically, fast music for quite some time. But this time there are a few variations probably because we do not have Pritam composing, unlike previous movies.

Maahi, the super song of the movie is of course an instant hit and I don't think I need to write anything about that. The next is Soniyo, composed by Raju Singh and sung by Sonu Nigam with Shreya and Neeraj Shridhar in one version and sung by Krishna alone in the other version.

As far as music is concerned, there is not much new or experimental to the song which, in itself, is a new thing since everyone is trying something new. It's a simple song with most part sung by Sonu Nigam and a para sung by Shreya Ghoshal. The added English lyrics sung by Neeraj Shridhar are fine, though I don't think they add much to the song.

Sonu Nigam has sung the song quite beautifully, as usual. Shreya is good as always with her few lines. Overall, the lack of newness is not felt much and after listening to the song for a few times, probably on the TV, one is very likely to love the song.

The other version of the song, called 'from the heart', is sung by Krishna, the guy who has been known for singing Main Jahan Rahoon with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan along with many other songs. Krishna also gives a special touch to the song which is found in Rahat's songs. There are no English lyrics, and even no female voices, but you get to listen Aalaps in Krishna's own voice in the background in some places, making the song a good feeling, and a completely different one from the one sung by Sonu. In fact, I even feel that in the long run, Krishna version might surpass Sonu version on the grounds of the simplicity of the former.

In any case, Soniyo is a good, simple song which suits the high reputation of Emraan Hashmi, that is, in terms of his films' music. :)

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi Music Review

Finally, the wait is over. Aditya Chopra's next movie is all set for a release and the music is out there. Though the small number of songs, a total six, that is, with an instrumental and a slow version included, might be a bit disappointing, I hope you wouldn't be disappointed when you listen to the songs.

It might be a bit surprising for some people that the music for the film is not composed by the top three composer/duo/trio of India. (namely AR Rehman, Vishal-Shekhar / Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for me) But if you see the track record of Yashraj's past few movies, you will find that Chopras have been trusting Salim-Suleman for some of their largest projects.

And once again they prove they deserve it.

Well, the album has four songs with no remixes, a relief I guess, a small slow version (remember Chalte-chalte of Mohabbatein?), and a medley. Out of the four songs, two are typical Aditya Chopra songs, meant to be hit and preserved in your collections, one is a not-that-long-lasting hip-hop and one is too good that you will surely enjoy, a lot if you're well familiar with old Hindi songs.

Starting with the songs individually, the first song Tujh mein rab dikhta hai is a wonderful song sung by Roop Kumar Rathod that anybody will like while listening for the first time itself.

One interesting thing i found with the song that when the song starts it reminds me of Veer Zaara, with the very first note played, and then it takes a turn to a complete new song. Roop's voice also generates a sense of Veer-Zaara as you see him singing for SRK yet again.

The second song, Haule Haule is already a hit I guess. The song comes with the power of Sukhwinder Singh and is a bit faster than the first one. The song has a bit of hip-hop flavor attached to it but all of that is prepared in typical Indian instruments. This song goes high in some places and Sukhwinder Singh sounds absolutely fantastic in those places.

Also, the lyrics of the song are quite lovable and you might like some lines a lot.

Third song Dance pe Chance maar le is a Sunidhi Chauhan song which is a complete hip-hop, a typical Sunidhi number. The song doesn't sound very good in the first listening, but history proves that Sunidhi's songs rarely fail. I guess this one is not going to be an exception and somehow, people will love this one too. Also, the voice of Labh Janjua is used for the song which might help in making the song more popular.

The fourth and last original song of the movie is Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte. (I don't know why I wrote Original) This song is some wonder by Salim Suleman and in fact Sonu Nigam as well. The song goes something like this, it opens with the background music of Awara Hoon, and mentions almost all Raj Kapoor hits in one para. Then we have Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar, jiya o jiya kuch bol do, pal bhar ke liye koi humein pyar kar le in second para, Yahoo and others of Shammi in next, then Rajesh Khanna, Dard-e-dil and some more for Rishi Kapoor. The mukhda of the song goes as 'Hum Hain Raahi Pyaar ke, Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte', which if you see a bit closely, are movies of Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, and Shah Rukh Khan respectively.

But I guess that is not all about the song. You need to listen to it yourself to enjoy the magic of the composers and Sonu. Special credit to Jaideep Sahni for the wonder-wonder lyrics.

The fifth song, a female version of Tujh mein rab dikhta hai is sung by Shreya Ghoshal and she has finely rendered the few lines given to her even though there is not much in store for her here.

The album ends with a medley which is not very good and feels like an extra addition. Or maybe it's here just as per the tradition. Whatever the reason be, overall Rab ne Bana di Jodi is a good album. So better buy it and put to your collection.

Rehman Again: Yuvvraaj, music review

Composing music is surely not an easy task. But when it comes to AR Rehman's music, even reviewing becomes difficult. After the amount of effort put in by Rehman, even a listener has to put in some effort and time to get the real taste of music. And now that I feel I have got some idea of Yuvvraaj's music, here is my review.


The album starts with 'Tu meri dost hai'. Yet another song on friendship of a guy and a girl, surely reminds one of Kabhi Kabhi Aditi of Jaane tu ya jaane na. But the song is quite different and goes higher in notes and deeper in meaning as the words come from Gulzar's pen.

The song has voices of Benny Dayal and Shreya Ghoshal, while Rehman also comes in between for a few lines sung very smoothly with Shreya.

The second song, Shano Shano can again remind you of Pappu can't dance for a few seconds in the start, but the two songs don't have much in common except that both are foot tapping dance numbers by Rehman. An interesting thing is that even after being a dance number, Shano Shano is a slow song as far as pace is concerned, but one is sure to enjoy it after a little time.

I guess the music of Shano Shano is going to be liked people a lot in sometime as I myself didn't like for the first time but it's something that gets into one's mind slowly. The music of the song is experimental as usual. Especially the music of lines 'Ud ke to dekho, oonchi udari, mit jayegi hasraten saari saari saari' brings in some wonderful heights in notes. Check it out when you listen to the song.

The third song 'Muskura Muskura' by Alka is a not-so-Rehman-specific song but may remind one of Tu bin bataye of Rang de Basanti. Still, the song is more like a normal love song of Jatin-Lalit and Nadeem-Shravan genre. The music of the song is fine and music of tu meri dost hai playing in the background gives added effects. A negative point of the song is 'mooskura' of Alka which becomes very clear as she speaks 'mooskura' once and 'muskura' the other time in adjacent lines. Benny's high pitched entries in between are additives for the song. Overall, a not-so-special song which should just work fine.

Now get ready for a Rehman treat, presented by Sonu Nigam and more. My advice, do not try to get into the meaning of the song for the first time, just enjoy the voices, the sounds, the music. This song comes straight out of Rehman's song factory where he makes things nobody else makes. I don't know what you might think of while listening to this song, but whatever you think of, it's a song which can be felt. Sonu Nigam also deserves credit for giving his wonderful voice in his old uninhibited style.

The next song is going to remind you of Hariharan. 'Zindagi Zindagi' is a typical slow song that just goes with Subhash Ghai's movies, and reminds one of Yaadein and Taal. Actually the song is sung by Srinivas, a person with the same voice as Hariharan. (remember the kaisi hai ye rut song from Dil Chahta Hai? It's the same guy)

The next song, a seven and half minute long Dil ka Rishta, is hardly a song. At least don't expect some song that you can be singing after listening twice. To be true, it's more of pure music, probably running in the background in the movie. But it's again something that can be felt. At the same time, if you go deep into the song and listen to the lyrics, the song has got some wonderful lines from Sampoorna Singh Gulzar.

AR Rehman surely is a person who keeps on doing different things. Manmohani morey is yet another example. Vijay Prakash this absolutely wonderful thing that runs only for 3 minutes and 12 seconds. (WHY?) To me, it seems to be a classical song put on a fast track or with added music in the background. But whatever it is, the song is a feast in itself even though it has few lines and a small running length.

The album ends with a remix of Shano Shano. It's a small remix that is just two and half minutes long. Actually I couldn't find many changes in the remix version of the song and it ended before I could find something substantial.

And then, the first song starts again. :)

Well, jokes apart, Yuvvraaj is an album where we can find the old Rehman in a number of songs. Talking numerically, at least three songs are going to be wonderful, namely Tu meri dost hai, Manmohani, and Zindagi Zindagi. But I guess most of the songs have good potential in them and I feel ALL the songs of the movie are going to be hit in their own time. From me, it's a must buy album as in long term its surely not going to disappoint you.

Thodi Life Thoda Magic Music Review

In one word, it's Old. And it's not gold at least. With its music, Thodi Life Thoda Magic seems to be a movie of '90s. Even with some good tracks in the movie, it seems like the movie is behind its time.

The movie, which has its name conflicts unresolved with Kunal Kohli's Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic got it music launched by Amitabh Bachchan. The album has 5 tracks plus 2 remixes and a sad version, making the count go eight.


The first song, 'Thoda sa Gham Ho, Thodi Khushi Ho' starts with a music that may remind you of '60s or '70s, but once Sonu Nigam comes in with his typical soft touch, the song turns out to be a good soothing number.

The lyrics of the song are good too. And probably for the reason that the song is good, the composer Vinay Tiwari has tried to cash the song with both a remix and a sad version. The remixed version of the song starts off with some hope generating music and the final result is not very bad either. Even though the lyrics hardly match the pace of the song, the song is not bad for an age where every song reaches the dance floors with a remix version.

At almost 9 and a half minutes, the least that can be said about the sad version of the song is that it's too long. And before the song runs one fourth of its length, you realize it can only be good for background music, preferably in a saas-bahu serial. The great voice of Sonu doesn't help the song very much.

'Zindagi Zindagi Kaisi Hai Tu Paheli', the second song of the album runs for one minute and 18 seconds even with a dialog from Jackie Shroff. Though the song is not bad, it's hardly more than the length of a TV promo. Seems to be a late addition in the movie.

The third song of the album is again a slow number starting in the beautiful voice of Shreya Ghoshal. The song is very good from the point of 1990-95 era but the song will prove good in today's age is doubtful. The song has voices of Sonu Nigam and Vinay himself too.

'Tune Kahi Aur Maine Maani' of Kailash Kher is a typical sufi number and looks just like any Kailash Kher songs as long as instruments don't come into picture. But as they do, the song seems to be from Kachche Dhaage age, ten year old Sufi songs' era. In any case, Kailash Kher hasn't lost his touch to music and one can feel Kailash in the song.

The remix version of the song is comparatively an experimented with and the result is pretty good, at least comparatively.

The last original track of the album 'Maana Ye Aaj Humne' is again a song suitable for '90s. The song is sung by Shaan, Vijay and Swati. Well, the last two names are quite unknown to me too, probably not even winners of some show. Still, the singers have done a not-bad job.

Overall, Thodi Life Thoda Magic would have surely been a hit had it been released ten years ago. But for now, there are too many questions as the album looks stale. Still, some people may like it. Try it once if you still like to listen to '90s songs.

Do kadam aur sahi

Kiski aawaz hai, sunn,
Ye naya saaz hai, sunn,
Kaun deta hai sadaa,
Chal ke dekhen to zaraa,

Raah veeraan sahi,
Raat sunsaan sahi,
Har ghadi saath rahe,
Kitne gham saath sahe,

Thode gham aur sahi..
Do kadam aur sahi..
Do kadam aur sahi...
Do kadam aur sahi....


singer: Sonu Nigam
music: A R Rehman
album: Meenaxi - a tale of three cities