Jannat 2, Valentine's Night - Music Review

Jannat 2 (2012)
Music: Pritam

1. Jannatein Kahaan (Power Ballad) -------------------------------- 9/10
2. Jannatein Kahaan ----------- 7/10


Four years later Zara Sa from Jannat has not lost it's charm. Jannatein Kahaan (Power Ballad) is a proof of that. The main theme of the song has been retained with some tune tweaking in the prose and it does seam well. Thus, there the feeling that a popular song has been rehashed to milk every last bit of it's popularity quickly vanishes and this song becomes enjoyable. Sure, this one does not have KK entertaining us, but Nikhil D'Souza does his best and his best is good us. In fact, the main version is sung by KK and it is the lesser of the two. KK's version sounds more like a techo rap mix with it's rap and gangsta parts. Nevertheless, passable compared to what we have subjected to in the past couple of weeks.

3. Rab Ka Shukrana  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9/10
4. Rab Ka Shukrana (Reprise) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9/10
Here, Pritam summons his Tum Mile tunes. A superb melody that is purely romantically melodic. Mohit Chauhan absolutely dazzles in this one, which is home turf for him: A slow paced calm melody. Very soothing and romantic. Anupan Amod does an excellent job in the Reprise version, which has a better opening than the main version. Mohit Chauhan's stardom slightly overshadows Anupam's voice. However, it would only be unfair to not rate this gem of a performance at the same level as Mohit's act.

5. Tujhe Sochta Hoon --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8/10
6. Sang Hoon Tere ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8/10
Another melody of a forlorn heart by KK and Nikhil D'Souza is able to get us connected to the emotions of the song. A soft melody of a yearning lover is meant for a romantic mood in a state of separation. Definitely not a generic melody. Both are pretty much the same songs, however, KK trumps Nikhil D'Souza in this tete-a-tete. KK has a firmer voice not making it sound like begging. The middle portion of KK's version has huge likeness to Woh Lamhe from Zeher making one wonder: 'What if Atif had sung this one?'

7. Tera Deedar Hua ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8/10
8. Tera Deedar Hua (From The Heart) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 8/10
One of the best qawwalis we have been treated to since Tum Jo Aaye Zindagi Mein from Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai. Great qawwali and for the lovers of this genre there is almost everything to like including Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. It's only drawbacks if they were to be pointed out, is the repetitive tune throughout and not-so fresh tune. Very fun and upbeat. Tera Deedar Hua (From The Heart) by Javed Ali is equally great, however, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan owns this genre.

9. Tu Hi Mera -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7/10
This one is good too. Very simple and unassuming, has a fresh opening and Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan does his best to handle his job. The mood is positive, the fusion of qawwali beats and a regular Bollywood melody turns out good. Not the best of the songs we have ever heard, but nothing really wrong with song.

Final verdict: Overall, as an album whose every song entertains gets a 10/10. The album is not cut out to satisfy the senses for any mood. The album heavily leans towards a strong romantic mood, with a couple of foot-tapping numbers. Don't look for party numbers and you would have set your expectations right with this album. Great album, almost a feature of all Emraan Hashmi movies. Pritam on full throttle.

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Valentine's Night (2012)
Music: Astitva - The Band

A very short album. Not a lot of expectations. And a not a lot to expect, except for a decent classical song. The other songs are not exactly terrible and the band Astitva definitely seem to have potential and they had some fun with this short album. We'll just wait and listen to their future works.

1. Ooo Ree Bawara ------------------------ 8/10
Fans of the classical Indian music have a great song to enjoy in this overly saturated hip-hop and westernizing Bollywood music market. Ustad Ahmad Shakeel Khan justifies his title and presents a pure, classical melody. The start opens a little slow and unimpressive, however, it proceeds into a euphoric crescendo and climax, that it is hard to not like it. Good one.
Jannatein Kahaan (Power Ballad) - Jannat 2 Rab Ka Shukrana - Jannat 2 Tujhe Sochta Hoon - Jannat 2 Tera Deedar Hua - Jannat 2 Tu Hi Mera - Jannat 2 Jannatein Kahaan - Jannat 2 Rab Ka Shukrana (Reprise) - Jannat 2 Sang Hoon Tere - Jannat 2 Tera Deedar Hua (From The Heart) - Jannat 2 Ooo Ree Bawara - Valentine's Night

Tezz, Hate Story - Music Review

Tezz (2012)
Music: Sajid - Wajid

Sajid - Wajid make an appearance this week again with a major release. The music is noticeably better than Zindagi Tere Naam. That said, the album is fairly mediocre nevertheless. It is large album with 11 tracks with only 4 originals. Thus, despite the size, the album as a whole is repetitive and not refreshing.

1. Main Hoon Shab ---------------------- 8/10
This track by Mohit Chauhan stands out in the entire album full of repetitions. And the fun part, is this track does not has not been remixed. This is a signature Mohit Chauhan track, which is a slow and soft romantic. His fans will love it, as it very reminiscent of Tum Se Hi from Jab We Met. This song is also a huge relief from this overly repetitive album, which also happens to be corny.

Brownie point:

• Tere Bina, Tere Bina (Indian) - Die hard Rahat Fateh Ali Khan fans may like this one. Good for dhabas. Very Nadeem-Shravan-esque track. A certain misfit in current musical sensibilities, but deserves a mention for the fans of it.

Bad album. What market forces employs this musical duo for mainstream movies is a conundrum of this past decade.

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Hate Story (2012)
Music: Harshit Saxena

Well, most people might know Harshit Saxena for voicing the chart buster Haal-E-Dil from Murder 2, he is in a different role here. He doesn't impress very much in this avatar of his though. His attempt is decent, leaning towards unimpressive.

Brownie point:

• Dil Kanch Sa - An intense song of a broken heart. The message and emotions are well portrayed in the song's tune and genre which develops as the song progresses. The tune is very commonplace though, and a song that plain causes pain with it's not so great tune is not worth remembering this.
• Mahe Jaan, Mahe Jaan (Rock) - This song performed by Harshit Saxena is ditto in it's performance as Dil Kanch Sa. Develops into a decent song as it progress, does not pass muster with the audience. Harshit Saxena performs well. The Rock version is also well done.
• Raat - A very good opening, which just fizzles out over it's length, which is a tad too much.

Yet another week of bad, bad music.
Tere Bina - Tezz Main Hoon Shab - Tezz Tere Bina (Indian) - Tezz

Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi, Bumboo, Zindagi Tere Naam - Music Review

Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi (2012)
Music: Vinay Jaiswal
1. Deboshree --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8/10
If you are a fan of jilted lover songs genre with a Pakistani singers like style, this one is for you. Although, there is no Pakistani singer involved here, just Nitin Bali. The emotion is well expressed, the guitar strumming is pleasant and the tempo consistent. The tune elevation towards the end is a little unnecessary, but can be ignored if you like the song overall.

To the music director's credit, he does appear to care about the album with Galiyan and Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi. However, they fall well short of being the songs to remember due to a serious lack of novelty. Pretty bad album overall, except for the one above.

Bumboo (2012)
Music: Faiz Ur Rehman, Santokh Singh
It's contribution to mankind. Probably, Pinky Punjabi, addition to the list of creatively named item numbers. But only probably. This song is upbeat, but lacks the qualities of hit item numbers like racy lyrics and an exotic voice. Hopefully, the video supports the song's purpose in life, otherwise, it's a very run of the mill item song.

Zindagi Tere Naam (2012)
Music: Sajid - Wajid
A super ordinary album from Sajid-Wajid. They seem to have tried to save their face by not creating an absolute debacle. They are not the most looked forward to musical duo, but the secondary treatment given to this album is evident. It's place in sun?

• Kya Khata Ho Gayee - Good for dhabas, rickshaws and buses.
• Tauba Tauba - Sangeet performances in weddings

That caps off a week of fairly bad music.

Deboshree - Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi

Housefull 2, Bittoo Boss, Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein - Music Review

Housefull 2 (2012)
Music: Sajid-Wajid

Brownie points:

• Right Now Now - One of the best grind tracks from Bollywood. Part goofy part seductive, this song gets the relaxed disco floor mood right with it's beats and instrumentals.

• Anarkali Disco Chali - Mamta Sharma has almost cemented her item queen status with her latest offering. The lyrics are fun and the beats foot-tapping enough to lighten up a party. The song offers not much in novelty, and compared to her previous songs: Munni Badnam Hui from Dabangg and Chhanno from Gali Gali Chor Hai, this one is pretty mellow.

Overall: Very mediocre album. Almost as bad as Housefull (1).

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Bittoo Boss (2012)
Music: Raghav Sachar

A predominantly rough cut Punjabi album would be it's best description. We were recently treated by some slick Punjabi themed music in Tutiya Dil, not this one. But since the movie tries to capture the corniness of average people of northern India, the musical genre has been deliberately been given a 70s and 80s as well a folk appeal. The resulting album is very boring for the average Bollywood music lover. Vishal-Shekhar showed us how this is done in The Dirty Picture. The only romantic track Kaun Kenda has a strong semblance to Shukran Allah from Kurbaan, that it loses it's charm right away by it's stale tune. Even Shreya Ghoshal and Sonu Nigam cannot help lift the song's fortune. Such is the fate with this album, that almost every track reminds us of some other track of the near past in a yawning way. A flat album.

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Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein (2012)
Music: Salil Kulkarni

Not sure if the music director of the movie producers were serious about the quality of music. Fairly substandard music and lyrics.
Rum Mein Gum, could only be of some interest due to it's holi-esque appeal.
Right Now Now - Housefull 2 Anarkali Disco Chali - Housefull 2