Golmaal Returns --- Music Review

The first thing that comes to my mind while listening to tracks from Golmaal Returns soundtrack is that it is an outright commercial album . The original Golmaal had songs that were written and composed by Vishal Shekhar and hence they were not only good on commercial scale but also had some nice lyrics and tunes to back'em up . This one though is composed by Pritam and has lyrics by the king of commercial lyrics , Sameer . Sameer if you don't know has written most of the songs of the 90's that had lyrics like " Teri Naani Mari to mein kya karoo " so don't expect anything in terms of lyrics . Then on musical terms we have the Great Thief himself , Pritam , so expect a tune that you would have definitely listened to , somewhere else.

Moving on , the first track on the album is "Tha Kar Ke" whose meaning I don't know . This one has been composed by Ashish Pandit and he grabs the popular tune of the Spanish song Gasolina by Daddy Yankee and mixes it with some strange lyrics by Sameer and creates a very commercial track . The lyrics are not that catchy and the tune and lyrics are bit of a mismatch . The track though is a commercial one yet it won't get popular as a "Kajrare" of BAB or "Beedi Jalayle" of Omkara did . The song is majorly sung by Neeraj Sridhar and some bits are by other singers . The singers do a decent job but it is the tune and lyrics that spoil the whole show . The song on a whole can be listened only once , the music though would sound better on a good music system . Still , I would any day prefer listening to Gasolina instead of this one .

The next track on the soundtrack is "Vacancy" which is also the title track and has a very groovy tune attached to it . Lyrics once again have nothing new and are quite commercial . In fact , it is the English Lyrics by Neeraj Sridhar that have done most of the job . He has also sung the song and as usual is good at whatever he does and such songs suit only him among male singers .He is also backed up by Suzie Q. in some parts where she also does a fine job. I can now identify her voice anywhere especially after recent hit "Jee Karda" in singh is kinng . The song on a whole is good but not as good as the title track of original golmaal was . Anushka Manchanda got instant fame with that one . That one in my opinion was much cooler and groovier than this one yet this one is also not that bad .

Next comes "Tu Saala" by Anushka Manchanda . This one is again a completely commercial track and has nothing much to offer . Anushka sings well but the the music and lyrics on this make it an average track . I can't write anything more about the track apart from the fact that it is a commercial track that would look bad even in the movie . Still , I don't how the video on this one looks and probably the video might pull it off a disaster . The good part though is that it is just 3.5 minutes long and also quite pacy so won't damage the pace of the film .

Next comes a song called "Meow" which is a little on the sensuous side so it would have a Hot video with one or all the leading ladies showing off their assets . This one again is a little different and not that commercial . Yet the lyrics and tune are not good enough to make it a popular song . The singing and lyrics by Suzie Q. are great and she does a very fine job . She can definitely sing English tracks with utmost perfection . She would have gone a long way if she would have been in West . Though she has sung many songs yet she has not got that perfect English track that could make her popular . This one has both Hindi and English lyrics and hence is a nice blend . Pritam does a good job but nothing extraordinary .

Then comes an English Version of Meow which is also almost same as the original one but has no Hindi lyrics in it . Suzie comes in full form in this one and gives a fabulous performance . In all , same as the original one with some extra English lyrics .

Then there are four remix tracks , the first one being the remix of Vacancy . The remix has been done K&G and they have not done much apart from just making it more pacy than the original one . The next remix is of Tha Kar ke which again is just a paced up version with some extra effects of the original one . This one has been remixed by DJ Amyth who has done quite a regular job and nothing new .Then there is a remix of Meow which has been done by DJ Nikhil and DJ Naved who have done a good job and given the song a different touch . This one is different from the original one and is also worth listening . The whole concept of remix is that it should sound completely different from the original and Nikhil and Naaved do a fine job in that respect .
The last remix is that of Tu saala which has been done by Bunty Rajput who does nothing but add some bass to the original one .

After these there are also some bonus tracks which are the original songs from the previous golmaal and are much better than these . That album was much original and had some very nice tunes and lyrics that made it a quite popular album . We can still see the songs from the original one being aired on Music channels whereas these won't even get one fourth of the airtime that those have got .

In all , the album is commercial one and has only two songs , Vacancy and Meow which are worth listening . The two that I have mentioned are also good comparatively and are just ordinary in general sense . The lyricist has not done much hard work and even the music director has done quite usual job .

Album Rating : Two out of Five Stars ; Commercial and quite a disappointment as compared to the soundtrack from the first golmaal .

Hulla --- Movie Review

This week three small budget films have released together , Saas Bahu aur Sensex , Welcome to Sajjanpur and Halla . If you look carefully all of these films have been distributed by three big names in the industry like Big Pictures , UTV Pictures and the latest entrant , world heavyweight , Warner Bros . This coming together of three heavyweight production houses for very small budget and simple looking films gives a glimpse of Positive future of Film Industry where probably talent and content would be more important than Glitz and Glamour .

Well , talking of Halla which has been produced by Handmade films India which also produced the comic hit Bheja Fry last year . That one was by Sagar Ballary and this one has been directed by Jaideep Varma . Hulla as the name suggests concerns the noise that any Metro citizen deals with and in a way makes a point that how a small issue can cause so many big problems in our lives . The story mainly focuses on two characters Raj Puri who is a share broker played by Sushant Singh and a small trader which has been played by Rajat Kapoor who lives in the same building where Sushant also moves in.

Sushant is a share broker who makes some decent money as a share broker and lives a typical metro life along with his wife played by Kartika Rane who is from a rich family . They move into this new apartment and in this new building and there's a watchman that blows whistle at night which causes a sleeping problem to Sushant alone . Sushant asks the poor watchman to stop blowing the whistle at night so that he can sleep but he says to him that he can't do so because he has strict orders from the Head of the society . Then Sushant decides to ask the Chairman of the society Rajat Kapoor to ask the watchmen to stop doing so . But Rajat insists to him that it is important for the security of the building and only he is having problem in the entire building so he can't stop that just for the sake of one person . Sushant tries too hard to sleep but he is not able to do so . Every now and then he tries with all his efforts to stop the noise so that he can sleep but he fails . He psychologically gets affected due to the whole noise thing and even a little noise starts irritating him . Due to lack of sleep his work starts getting affected and he under performs at his office . His in laws being rich also don't consider him as a good professional person and always try to demoralize him . Kartika as a good wife supports Sushant in all possible ways but since his problem gets more psychological than an actual one she also starts getting irritated of him .

On the other hand Rajat who is a very small trader is a lower middle class person and he tries very hard and works on his principles but fails to generate a good income for his family . His wife having dreams like that of a typical house wife , keeps nagging him from time to time . Rajat invests in Shares also to earn some extra income but nothing much happens over there too . He is proud to be the Chairman of the society and his wife also gets a little happiness in that respect . He struggles too hard in life but is a person who has never compromised on his morals to get some extra wealth . But he too , as time goes by and under the pressure of doing well compromises on his principles and goes a little out of the way to earn some money . He earns money but still is not as rich or educated as Sushant is and hence has certain differences with him .

The third person that plays an important character in the film is a Watchman who is a very poor retired army man . He represents that section of society which is helpless and can't take any decisions on their own . They just follow orders and in a way their entire lives are in hands of their respective bosses . The poor watchman gets trapped between Sushant and Rajat and just has only one thing on his mind that he doesn't lose his job . His job is the only support in his life and he cannot survive without it . This character also depicts the poor condition of our soldiers and how they can not even generate bare necessities after their army life .

One small incident happens and the lives of all the three characters gets affected in a big way . The dreams of a happy family and high earning which are the dreams of any average Indian family gets shattered and the worst that gets affected is the Watchman . This is the case in our society from always . It is the decisions that a person above you takes and you are the one that have to pay for it along with him . The whole Whistle blowing incident is just the backdrop but what the Director mainly wanted to convey was the state of our society and its dreams and aspirations .

During the starting scenes of the film I observed that in Sushant's apartment you can clearly see a DVD of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro kept in the shelf . And Hulla is exactly like that one . In Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro also director Kundan Shah depicted the life of the common man in our society and showed his helpless condition . He also used Comedy as a backdrop to show the reality of our society and how people instead of fighting against the problems should learn to adapt themselves along with them to live a happy life because if you try to fight against it you are the one who will get affected the most . That movie released in 1983 and exactly 25 years later the situation is still the same in India . Hulla also uses Humour to show us the reality of our society .

Talking of Acting , Sushant and Rajat , both are fabulous actors undoubtedly and hence give a very fine performance . Just observe the way Rajat is sitting in his very first scene and you would realise how great an actor he is . He plays the role of a common man in a great manner and gets into the skin of the character . He is one of the best actors today in our Film Industry and he deserves an award if you ask me for his performance . He is always ignored when it comes to Awards . Sushant gets a complete role to play after a long time and he gives his best . He very well portrays the role of a person who struggles with his problems when nobody is supporting him and how things get out of his hands . There is a very small role of Gujju played by Vrajesh Hirjee which is quite funny and he also acts very well . The actor who acted as watchman has also given a very fine performance and he has done full justice to his character . You feel sympathised with his character all throughout . Kartika also plays her role quite well and she should act more often .

The script and Direction by Jaideep Varma is great but the screenplay is a little weak . The movie is much on the slower side and has no commercial elements in it so only multiplex audience will love it . The people at large won't watch it in the cinema halls but that doesn't take anything away from the film . It is a fine piece of Cinema that is also meaningful and at the same time also quite entertaining . Such films don't come often and people should appreciate such films . The Music by Indian Ocean is also great and suits the film . Overall , the film is a nice mixture of Humour and Realism and would interest only to a few cinema loving audience . Still , it is a fairly entertaining film and even general audience won't mind watching such a film .

Movie Rating : Three and a Half Star out of Five ; A Nice blend of Humour and Realism .

Gomaal Returns --- Trailer Review

Last year was full of comedy flicks that ruled the box office . The long line up included Welcome , Partner , Heyy Babyy , Bhul Bhulaiya ,Dhamaal , Bheja Fry etc . All of them were box office success and everyone started believing that Comedy films are the roads to success . On the contrary this year very few comedies got released and the few that got released suffered at the box office . This year films like Sunday , One Two Three , Mr. Black Mr. White , De Taali , Ugly aur Pugly and Maan Gaye Mughal-e-azam released that were all rejected by both audience and critics . All of these films didn't have neither the script nor the star power . The only comedy film that worked this year is Singh is Kinng . In fact it is the biggest box-office success of the year . Well , trying to break the streak of bad comedies this year comes a sequel to a big comedy hit , Golmaal , with the entire team along with some new faces .

The first trailer of Golmaal Returns is out now and from the looks of trailer it seems that a potential comedy hit is on its way . This time though the Golmaal series gets a little more star studded with Kareena joining in the group along with the other girls like Celina , Amrita Arora and Anjana Sukhani . So this time every guy has his own girl to woo . One guy has also changed , Sharman has been replaced by Shreyas Talpade .

Talking of the trailer , it starts off with some flashback scenes of Golmaal . While these scenes are played a line comes on screen which says that all the fun and madness of Golmaal will return this Diwali along with the fools . After this we see Tushar in his typical voice communicating on a Phone . Then comes the introduction scene of Ajay standing on two Hummers this time instead of two bikes . After Ajay comes Kareena riding on a Honda Motorbike in her new born sexy avatar . After the two stars the rest of the group is introduced one by one doing their respective stunts , Arshad along with Amrita , Shreyas along with Celina and Anjana along with Tushar . Then the whole group is shown dancing to the new Golmaal song which also sounds quite groovy like the original one did . While the whole track is been played in background some more shots of all the leads are shown which keep showing them doing some stunts and comedy . Some of those scenes are quite funny and some them being quite old . There's a scene that shows a Goa Police Van which means that this one is set up in Goa . The entire trailer majorly focuses on the title track with some of the scenes from the movie inserted in between . The scenes made me believe that there would be all kinds of Jokes in this one . Some very old jokes and some quite new . All the stupidity and Gay Jokes along with some age old Sex comedy would be present there . Then at last come a few mindless action scenes that are always part of a Rohit Shetty film . He has a fascination for toppling cars , he did this in both of his films whether its Golmaal or Sunday . Then at last comes a line that says "Have a Blast This Diwali" .

Lets hope that we do have a blast while watching this film and this one turns out to be as good as the original . Expectations are quite high since Golmaal was big hit and that one was loved even by the critics . That film had situational comedy and the script in itself was quite strong . I just hope they don't create situations in this one and the scripts has them inherently . The whole chemistry between the actors is looking great but chemistry would do no good if the script isn't funny . This one though doesn't have Sharman who is basically very good at comedy and his absence would definitely damage the film a bit . He is replaced by Shreyas who is also a great actor but he would look good only if the character has been written well . His behaviour and acting isn't that funny so he needs a very well written character so that he can portray it well . His character in OSO was a strong one and he delivered it accordingly .Lets hope he fits in the boots of Sharman exactly like him . Kareena can also do comedy and her character is that of Saas-Bahu daily soap lover . She might turn out to be the funniest character in the film .

Talking of Director , Rohit Shetty , I hope he doesn't do what he did in Sunday . He should stop stuffing in mindless action that is not required in the script . This film would be a real test for him since his last film Sunday failed at the box office . Ajay also hasn't had the best year with Halla Bol and Sunday not doing well and his Directional debut U , Me or Hum also doing so so . The year has also been bad for Kareena with her Tashan not impressing anyone .

In all , the trailer looks good with usual funny scenes from the film and a very good sounding song in the background . The film is all set to release on October 29 on the Diwali's Eve . Check out the trailer (courtesy Youtube , not uploaded by me ) :

Drona --- Music Review

The music of yet another fantasy flick Drona is out in the stores now with just 20 odd days left before the release of the film . Drona as I said in my earlier posts is a testing film for Abhishek and his star power . The film's music has been done by Dhruv Ghanekar who has done a decent job as a newbie . The Lyrics are by Vaibhav Modi . The movie has put on stake a lot of money and work since it has been into making since past few years . The soundtrack consists of Seven songs in total out of which Five are originals and Two being the remixes .

The first track on the album is the title track which has been mainly sung by Dhruv . This track is a fast paced track that kinda gives an introduction of Drona . The lyrics are very mediocre and even the basic tune is just good . The overall music is good but it has no newness to it . The tune is good but not good enough for a title track . This matters more since this song would feature in the background in several important scenes in the film .In my opinion there should not have been a Title track instead they should have kept some theme music . The song has a nice pacy nature to it and I hope even the movie has so . It should not be a Fantasy cum Melodrama . Overall the song is nice but could have been much better . The singers have not given much to the track and its music only does most of the job .

The next track on the album is "Oop Cha" which is on air these days . The song is a techno friendly one but the lyrics and music are very old sounding . This one sounds like those strange South-Indian songs which have even stranger videos . The lyrics are very amateur and have actually done no good to the song . The oop cha goes well with the tune but the tune itself is not that great . These kind of songs look good in the film but are not meant for listening purposes . Still it can be heard once . Sunidhi , a sincere request , please stop singing such songs !!! You have much more talent than this . Why waste it on such songs ? Let new girls sing such songs . You can find typical Sunidhi in this one and even she does her job like always .

The third song on the soundtrack is "Bandagi" which is a little better than the previous two in terms of both lyrical content and music . The vocals on this one are also by Sunidhi and these are the type of tracks that she should now focus on . She sounds really good in this one as compared to the previous track . But the Sunidhi of "Bhaage Re Mann" of Chameli was still missing . This track is more on the slower classical side and also has vocals by Roop Kumar Rathod who sings quite well . The song has been composed in an interesting fashion by the composer and has given it quite a modern classical kinda feeling . Overall this is the pick from the entire album .

The next track is "Nanhe Nanhe" by Sadhna Sargam which is a very slow track . This track makes me believe that this film would have a melodramatic angle and the last thing that I would want to watch is a Masala-Fantasy film . I just hope that even if there are some emotional scenes they are not done in typical old style and are put in a nice way . The song has been sung nicely by Sadhna Sargam and has a nice tune also . Overall again it is a nice but can be avoided kind of song . Would sense more in the film along with some situation .

The last track on the album "Khushi" sounds like a song straight out from the musicals by Disney . Even some of their Cartoon Films have similar songs . This track also has glimpses of Nanhe Nanhe in it . It is more a of a Jazz Band kind of song that were quite popular in the Hollywood's Golden Days . Those who love Jazz Bands might like this song a little bit . A poor attempt mainly because of the very amateur kind of lyrics . They more sounded like a Hindi Translated version some of English track .

Then come the two remix tracks of the album out of which the Redux of Drona comes first . A very usual kind of Remix which has been sung by Sundhi instead and is almost same as original just with few DJ beats and effects . The last track on the album is a Remix of Oop Cha which is even more techno friendly than the original one . Nothing quite extraordinary about the track .

Overall , the album is nice but has not even a single song that can be called a winner . The song Bandagi is the best on the album but still is an average track . The lyrics are probably the weakest point in the entire album . The album in whole has not much to offer and would work more in the film rather than on its own . All the songs are just about average tracks with same old music .

Album Rating : Two out of Five Stars ; Bandagi being the best .

Kidnap --- Music Review

After wining the showdown against Harman , Imran is all set to have a one on one with Abhishek on the coming Gandhi Jayanti . This time though the contest is little harder and Abhishek is having a fan-following which would definitely be more than Harman Baweja . The common thing though in both cases being that Imran's film is pitched against a high budget Fantasy film . Last time it was Love Story 2050 and this time being Drona . His small budget youth love story became the biggest hit of this year and made him star by night . Though this film would be a real test for him , his acting skills and his stardom . The Music of any film as I always say plays the biggest role in its publicity apart from its stars and in that front Kidnap is definitely scoring some goals over Drona . And as I suspected in my earlier post , Kidnap Vs. Drona , the music of Kidnap is definitely sounding a little better .

The soundtrack consists of seven songs out of which five are originals and two are remixes . The soundtrack of any film has to be according to the mood of the film and should show us the character of the story and film itself . This soundtrack definitely manages to do that . The Pacy Thriller nature of the film can be felt even in this soundtrack which makes it quite interesting . Pritam got his first taste of success in Sanjay Gadhvi's first film Dhoom and then on he has given back to back hits , most of them being lifted from here or there . Keeping the loyalties he has given music to this film also and the lyrics are by Mayur Puri .

The opening track of the OST , "Mit Jaaye" though is not the Title Track but can be called so because it very well sets the mood for the entire soundtrack upfront and even gives you a hint of the film . During the entire song you can imagine Sanjay Dutt chasing Imran to get his daughter . What I mean is that this song has the thriller element in it and is also very pacy . The song also expresses the feelings of the lead character of the film played by Imran . The video on this song is already on air and is creating some buzz . Interestingly the best track on the album is not by Pritam and Mayur , instead it has been written and composed by Sandeep and Sanjeev Vyas and has been very well sung by Sandeep Vyas . The two brothers have single handedly carried the entire song on their shoulders and have come out with flying colours . This song is definitely going to get Popular among the masses . A great job by the vyas brothers . Sandeep is a good singer and has long way to go . They are also great composers . I've become a fan of this track and my personal favourite on this soundtrack .

The next track on the album is a Hip Hop song called "Hey Ya!" by Suzie Q. who recently gave a hit song Jee Karda in Singh is Kinng . This track sounds like and introduction song for Minissha Lamba , the rich daughter . The song is decent and goes about well according to its nature . I just hope that story keeps moving while this song is being played during the movie . That way this song would look good in the film otherwise it might hinder the pace of the film . If properly placed this song would look good in the film with a hot video on Minissha . Suzie sings well and has done her job quite well . The song doesn't deviate from its character and remains Hip Hop through out .

The third song on the soundtrack is a slow song "Mausam" by Shreya Ghoshal . This song is a little different and Shreya has sung it quite well , as usual . It is not something extraordinary but still it has enough music and lyrics to keep it going . This song would be shot beautifully and the video would do the rest of the job . It is a typical track yet it can be heard once . The music is good and the singing is also accordingly . Overall , a different one as compared to other songs on the album yet quite ordinary in general sense .

Next comes a very commercial track called "Haan Ji" by Adnan Sami . Adnan is one of those singers that can even make a very ordinary song sound sound good . This song is a very unusual song and has some very unusual lyrics . The lyrics are more like a conversation and less of poetry .The music is good on this one but it is the singing style of Adnan that stands out . He is a talented singer but sings quite less no. of songs . Overall , the song is a very average commercial track that might work because of its singing . In my opinion this track might damage the film and hinder the pace of the story .

The last original track on the album is "Meri Ek Ada Shola" by Sunidhi Chauhan . This song has very old sounding lyrics and even Pritam has gone about it in a very old style . Pritam has also put in some Shakira like music in this song . This song suggests that when it would be played in the film the story would keep moving . The song has been sung in her typical style by Sunidhi and Sukhwinder has given her good company . Overall , this song is more of a commercial track and would mean more in the film .

Next comes the remix of Hey Ya which is been done by Imran and Vikram . Imran and Vikram do a fair job and they have put in usual remix beats . This one is almost like the original and is as good as the original . The last track on the album being the remix of Mit Jaaye which has been done by Hyacinth D'souza . This one is called the Rock Version and not a remix on the album cover . Whereas this can be called Rock Remix because I don't think they have re-recorded the song for this one . Hyacinth has done a fair job and just put in drums and guitar with the original one . This one might appeal to die hard rock music lovers but I still prefer the original one .

Overall , the album is fairly good and can be listened once . The songs won't look bad on screen and won't cause much damage to the film . Not all of them are potential hits but Mit Jaaye is a big time winner . In all , the album is neither too good nor too bad so you can give it a try .

Album Rating : Two and Half out of Five ; Average album with Mit Jaaye being the best .

This poll has been on since my post Kidnap Vs. Drona , do vote on it :

Saas Bahu aur Sensex --- Music Review

The first official film to be distributed by Warner Bros. India , Saas Bahu aur Sensex , is all set to release and the music of the film is out now . The film itself has no major stars in it so no hype is surrounding the film . The only big name that surrounds the film is that of Warner Bros. The Soundtrack of the album also features some not so known names and overall is a completely new type of album .

The first song on the soundtrack is "Abhi Abhi Jo Tu Aayi Hai" which is composed by Randolph Correa and has been sung by Jaaved Ali . Remember Jaaved Ali who sang the superhit song "Ek Din Teri Bahon Mein" from Naqaab . He is back with this quite unique sounding song . The music and tone of this song is quite western and a little inspired from English songs that are featured in various Hollywood Movies in background . This song because of its different music and voice of Jaaved Ali sounds quite fresh and new . The lyrics by Raqeeb Alam are also good and have been used in a good way by the music composer . The Music composer has given it a very new and different feel and even though the lyrics are quite romantic sorts , he has put in a lot sound effects in the song which are present in usually faster tracks .

The next song on the soundtrack is the title track "Whats up India" and is a wannabe rap song . The track has been sung by Blaaze , the guy who sung the Bunty and Babli rap song . Personally I feel that Blaaze sings rap songs quite well but he doesn't write them quite well . This song having the lyrics and music both by him lacks that finish and is completely avoidable . Most probably it would be used in background and may be it might look good in the background .

The third song on the soundtrack is "Mujh Mein Nigaah Daal De" which again is composed by Randolph Correa and hence has a feel that is completely western . The music sounds like a bad mixture of music from various artists from the west . The song has been sung by Monica and her voice has been distorted by the music director completely so I don't know how does she sing . She might have sounded better without the distortion .It is a fast track and has a hip hop disco kinda feeling to it . The whole song again might be used in background .Overall the song is average in its music and singing . The lyrics are also average and have nothing to offer .

The next track on the album is a Punjabi track "Mithri Mithri" . Maybe one Punjabi track is made mandatory by the music companies . This one is a usual Punjabi track with dhol beats . The track has lyrics by Raqeeb Alam and Shona Urvashi and music is by Bipin Panchal . All three of them have done nothing new and out of the way . A very basic and old sounding Punjabi track .The track is also not full on Dance track so in general will not get any audience .

The next track is an English version of Nigaah Daal De which has been sung again by Monica . She sounds better in English and her accent suits more for English songs . The original itself wasn't that good how would this one sound good .This song is a wannabe Britney Spears track and goes nowhere .

The last track is again a remix of Whats up India and sounds only a little better than the original . The remix also has very less to offer and would be probably used in the ending credits of the film .

Overall apart from the first track 'Abhi Abhi' nothing is worth a listen and the album on whole can be avoided . They should have never released the album in the first place . The should have put it on the net to download for free . Then probably it might have drawn some attention and hype for the film .
Music Rating : One Star out of Five ; This is what Bad Music is all about , only one song is worth listening .