Friday, January 30, 2009

Luck By Chance --- Movie Review


The second BIG film of both Farhan and 2009 , Luck By Chance , is out now and the film stars a lot of big names of bollywood in special appearances apart from Farhan and company . The film also has some good actors like Konkana Sen Sharma , Rishi Kapoor , Juhi Chawla , Saurabh Shukla and Dimple Kapadia . The film has been directed by the debutant director Zoya Akhtar . She has also decided to start with Direction and I hope she has no plans to shift to acting just like her brother has . As soon as the promos of the film were on air , expectations started to rise and people were expecting a good film in the beginning the of the year after the disappointing 2008 . CC2C has already dampened the spirits to an extent and I decided to watch this one for a change .

The film has been publicised as a Film on Film Industry and no film except OSO has worked which was based on Film Industry . Luck By Chance , according to me is more of a Love Story that has Bollywood as the set-up . The film's story is nothing but a little bit of Raju Ban Gaya Gentlemen and a little of Fashion and a little of some other films . Nothing so new about it that we don't know . People know about the compromises and sacrifices that one has to make to land up a career in the glamour world . When I saw the film's promos I was expecting to see the struggle of the lead character and quite opposite to it I got to see him getting too lucky too soon without much of a Hard work . It stresses more on his love and relationships angle rather than his journey towards stardom .

It is a slow film from the word go and on top of it, it is a full length feature film of close to three hours . The slow pace makes it pretty unbearable for an average cinema goer who expects some entertainment at a fine pace . The film is very much on the slower side and what could have been a good film of two hours has been made into a longer slower one . I am sad to say this but people started walking off without even watching the end of the film in the theater . The reason being the length and slow pace of the film . The story was also pretty much predictable and nothing in it to hold the audience for such a long span . The same was the case with Khoya Khoya Chand but it was expected from that film since it had a backdrop of the sixties . It was also a visually much more interesting film and had some really nice music .

The so many guest appearances also couldn't help film and were just like a small pills of excitement . The guest appearances barring that of SRK were all dull and felt quite out of the place . It almost felt like they were forced in to make the film a little popular . The people who did guest appearances in OSO would have been happy after watching the film and I am sure the same won't be the case with this film . I don't know , I felt like Zoya was pretty confused while making the film or maybe pretty much influenced under the Director brother and Writer father . The dialogues by Jaaved sir were also no good and the film in any case lacked the entertainment quotient . The film has a very Serious tone and lacks humour and maybe this is what will hit the film most apart from its length .

Zoya didn't use actors like that of Saurabh , Juhi and Rishi to their max . They had very small roles and that too were not that entertaining . Comparing this film to Jaane Tu which also had several such actors and Abbas in that film very well used all of his cast members . The script by Zoya herself was very weak and didn't had enough to hold the film . I don't want to be too harsh on the film but honestly speaking it was a boring film for most of its length .

The story revolves around Vikram Jaisingh and Sona Mishra who are both talented and hard working but it is because of their destiny that they land up in different places . Konkana goes the hard way and Farhan goes the smart way . The film revolves around the successes and failures of the lead couple and their love story . The story as I said earlier was very much predictable and had nothing that excited me . The script of the film also doesn't justify its name and has hardly underlined the luck factor that much .

The music was good but again not used to its maximum and in any case both Konkana and Farhan don't have that magnetic personalities to hold the songs on the screen . Though Farhan does a good job acting but as always he has very limited to offer and if script is not good he cannot take matters in his own hands . He is not a superstar material and he should not opt for acting as a full time job . He is a fabulous Director and I don't get it why doesn't he stick to that . Konkana is a good actress and she performs as expected . The only surprise was Isha Sharvani who looked quite glamorous and did her part well . She made her presence felt and was part of some entertaining scenes . Hrithik did his part well and his song has been well used for the publicity . Aamir's guest appearance was the worst of them all .

The technical aspects like cinematography and art direction were good . Zoya's script and Direction both were pretty average and were not exciting at all . She should wait for a stronger script for her next attempt . Overall , I was pretty disappointed with the film as I had a lot of expectations from both , the film and zoya . I hope it makes enough on the box office so that it doesn't lose much .

Film Rating : Two and Half Stars out of Five ; a slow and pretty much predictable film .

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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire --- Movie Review


The film that is probably the strongest contender for this year's Academy Award , Slumdog Millionaire , has finally released in India and now we get to know what is the hype all about . The fact that it is a great film is already proved and it has already got a nod of approval in the form of the Golden Globes . So in this review my stress would be more on the point that why do we , the people of India, need a film like Slumdog Millionaire . A film like SM is obviously not made for the sole cause of entertainment and most of the things that are depicted in the film are known to an average educated person in India . So then why do we need such a film ? The answer to that question , in my opinion, is because we who are fortunate enough and educated take these things for granted and are comfortably passive about it . We just ignore the so called truth of our society and live in our own world . And a film like SM reminds us that though we are part of the Developed sections of our nation , still there are some sections which are completely ignored and practically impossible to live in .

Slumdog Millionare is probably just like a normal film for people living outside our country but it is a Mirror for people of India . It reminds us of the problems and sections that we still need to work upon and sections that cannot be left ignored if we want to develop completely . We should not take for granted the life that we lead and care for the unprivileged people too is what the film talks of . Though it is basically a Masala story of a Boy's journey from Rags to Riches with a love angle but what lies in the underbelly of the film is more interesting . The film depicts the life of Slums in the truest possible manner and there is at no point any kind of exaggeration . This happens and we just don't know because we are comfortable in ignoring it . Even if we do know then nobody cares to even talk about it .

It addresses a range of problems that India faces like Communalism , Illiteracy and Population . And it is the poor people , the people who dwell in slums that get affected the most from the above mentioned problems and they are the ones that pay the maximum price . They have to get into things like prostitution , Beggary , Drugs , Stealing and also Killing just for the sake of survival . These are all the things that the lead characters of the film , Salim , Jamal and Latika get into to survive there way through the tough life of a slumdog .

I won't reveal much of the plot so that you can enjoy the film if you haven't seen it yet . The plot anyways revolves around all these problems with a backdrop of a quiz show , "Who wants to be a Millionare" or the KBC . The film stars some of the good actors of our country like Irrfan Khan , Saurabh Shukla , Mahesh Manjrekar , Anil Kapoor and the brilliant kid Tanay Chedda . I've mentioned these names before Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto because it is probably these guys who could relate maximum to the story and understand it at much better level than the two main leads . These guys have seen a part of this reality and are well aware of it . There couldn't have been better people than these that could have played the parts better . So Lavleen Tandon who is also the co-director does her job of Casting very well . Her casting plays a big role in the film and probably she deserves a much more praise than what she is getting . I mean Danny Boyle couldn't have possibly managed to cast such fine group of actors since he doesn't know most of them . Apart from these , the lead actors , Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto , also acted very well and it was very refreshing to see good actors on screen instead of Sons/Daughters of already established actors playing the part . Dev does a fabulous job and the innocence of his personality suited very much to the character of Jamal . Frieda's part was small but a well acted one . The entire cast on a whole was perfect one and everyone did their respective parts well .

The two things apart from Casting and Direction that played a huge role in the film were the Screenplay and the cinematography . Simon Beaufoy does a great job on the screenplay and has kept it as tight as possible . The cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle did a fine job capturing the Mumbai slums even though he is not an Indian . The fifth important thing was obviously the Music by the maestro himself , A.R. Rahman , who kept it pretty simple and right on the money . He added a lot to the thrilling portions of the film through his music and I must say Danny Boyle very wisely used his music . This is not though his best and still he is winning all the awards . Now that he is a well known name internationally I am sure the World will now see what a gem we had all these years . He for sure would get nominated and probably even win more Oscars in future . He does a good job with the tracks O Saaya , Jai Ho and Liquid Dance .

And last but certainly not the least , Danny Boyle , the captain of the ship , who carried the project on his shoulder . He has done what sadly no Indian producer or Director dared to do in past . Still , I wont take anything away from Directors like Anurag Kashyap , Rajkumar Gupta and several others like them who have earlier tried to show this in parts . But it is Danny Boyle who treated the subject with utmost sincerity and honesty . He has made a fine film and there is no doubt about it . Danny Boyle has made sure that though film talks about serious issues like poverty etc. still it has enough entertainment to increase the reach of his film . He has made a film something like Rang De Basanti of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra which had clear message wrapped in all the masala of an entertaining film . Calling it a masala film would not be right since it doesn't have all that stereotypical elements . But it is certainly entertaining emotional story filled with emotions that a typical masala film has like romance,revenge,sibling rivalry and love, a villainous character like that of Anil Kapoor and lots of Thrills and action sequences .

Danny and the whole team of the film have managed to create an entertaining cum awakening film that deserves every bit of success that it is receiving . Yes it shows the poverty of India and whats wrong in that ? If we very proudly boast about our growing economic status in the world and the "Feel Good Factor" , then we should also be ashamed of the other side of our nation . There is no doubt that poverty exists every where in the world and it is not only in India but why should we care about the rest of the world anyways . We have a responsibility towards our nation and its a little sad that a guy like Danny has to come and show it to the whole world including us .

Film Rating :
Four and Half out of Five Stars ; fantastic entertaining film which is a must watch for all the people of our country .

Monday, January 26, 2009

Star Screen Awards 2008 --- What a waste ?

Last night I saw the star screen awards on television and since these shows are almost completely scripted , debarring the verbal heated exchanges , I thought why not rate the awards too . I must say it was one of the most boring award shows I've ever seen . First , the jokes of Saajid and Farah were quite dull and didn't quite make me laugh my heart out . And most of the times they were just overdoing it . Saajid has got a hang of himself and he now thinks that he can say anything on stage and get away with it . Most of his acts were the same old ones comprising of the cross dressing and Gay jokes . He during that heated exchange with ashutosh said that he works for the public and nobody other than his public can Shut him up . Well , I am a part of the public and Saajid you better get some new acts or get back to directing . Don't try to act as a big superstar just beacuse you got a hit in a lousy film such as Heyy Babbyy . I would like to remind you that the film succeeded only because of the songs and Akki factor . He made some very boring acts like the one with the Bhikari . Nobody was finding it funny as far as I could make out from the star's expression . And what was that remark on Neeraj Pandey's clothes . He spoke like as if he was a born king . Giving him nice company was his sister who should never ever consider again to host any show even if its theme is "GirlPower" . She also cracked some "Thakele" jokes and made some remarks on Anurag Kashyap which again were not at all funny .

And what was Shreyas Talpade doing there , hanging around like an extra . Lets leave aside the hosting part and talk about the awards . The awards were also some of the most biased and Diplomatic set of awards I've ever seen . Just take a look at this , Asin gets an award and Anushka gets to perform so that she doesn't feel bad . Priyanka gets best actress award and Aishwarya gets most popular actress award so that she doesn't feel bad and Katrina was already performing so she won't feel bad either . They would have given a huge sum to Katrina . The debut actor award goes to Farhan since he is not a cousin of Aamir Khan . Tushar Kapoor gets an award for best comic performance afterall its "STAR" screen awards , else his sister would kill them .Then they gave best actor in a negative role to Akshay Khanna and not Ila Arun for Jodha Akbar , afterall Race was also a big hit and it had to be given at least one award . Best actor in supporting role goes to Arjun Rampal who would have performed for them free of cost , I suppose . Sonu Sood wouldn't have felt bad since he was hosting the Red Carpet show fro television and made some money instead . And icing on the cake was most popular actor award to Akshay Kumar , and believe it or not he was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in Singh is Kinng . He never took the award and passed it on to Aamir who I am sure would sell it to a Kabadi Waala . Its good that CC2C released after the awards happened else they wouldn't have probably even invited Akshay .

Seriously guys , what a waste . I wasted my three hours watching it on the television which I would never get back . Neither the awards were interesting nor the performances . Saajid kept on bragging about Recession and loss that Film Industry is facing . Well Saajid , it is beacuse of this diplomacy , hypocrisy and incompetency that the industry is losing . I mean why don't they just give an award to everyone on the Red Carpet itself including the hosts and the television crew too ?

I felt so bad looking at Shekhar Gupta , editor of Indian Express , who is one of the journalists that I hold in highest respect , sitting and wasting his precious time watching such crappy awards . He should rather disassociate himself from such awards .

The only positive was Katrina in that Red Hot dress and Kangana in that white saree .

And for the first time , Award Rating : "-5 stars out of Five" , I'll again say "What a Waste" .

Friday, January 16, 2009

Delhi 6 --- Music Review


The new year has begun and the person for whom the year has brought a lot in its beginning only is A.R. Rahman . Riding high on his Golden Globe Success his new album , Delhi 6 , is all set to win hearts of the people all over again . As a true Rahman fan I am very happy on his golden globe success and I am sure he is all set for an academy award and following that would be even more success and who knows Speilberg who now has a contract with the Ambani's Big Pictures would opt to work with him instead of his all time favourite John Williams for a change . I am not in any ways comparing the two legends , John is John and Rahman is Rahman .

Off late , I was a little disappointed with Rahman's recent work i.e. Ghajini and Yuvvraaj . Though they got popular but were not complete albums in my view and I was beginning to believe that maybe Rahman is losing his touch a bit due to the overwork that he has done last year with 5 albums releasing in a year and 1 film score that won him the Golden Globe . But thank God , He is back with this album and beginning the year literally on a high Note .

Delhi 6 has been Directed by the Rang De Basanti fame Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and the lyrics on this one are also by the lyricist Prasoon Joshi . Prasoon didn't do a good job in Ghajini apart from few songs . Talking of this album , I would like to make it pretty much clear that it is more of a "film" soundtrack and would look fabulous in the film along with the story . When I rated Yuvvraj a little less people argued with me saying that it is very different and deserves to be rated higher . For me Different is not always necessarily a Good Different . Why I say so ? Because on the contrary Delhi 6 it is not only different but also great being different .

This soundtrack is very unusual in the sense that it has been entirely made keeping the film in mind and hasn't paid any attention to commercial success . And usually when this is done the album not only succeeds but also becomes a very integral part of the film . Listening to the songs from the album I could almost imagine the film in my mind and though I first listened to the songs at 1 o clock in night so I wont say that the songs made my day , I would rather say the Songs made my night . One thing I promise to you guys the film is going to be very different as it is the case with Rakeysh's film and maybe this time also you would walk back home with a nice entertaining lesson like you might have in Rang De Basanti .

Enough about the film , lets talk about the songs . The soundtrack opens with the song that is catching popularity like fire , Masakalli . The song who don't know is based on the white Kabutar (Dove sounds so boring) that you see in the promos . Masakalli is the name of Kabutar and after more than a decade we have a song on Kabutar , last one being Kabutar Ja Ja in Maine Pyaar Kiya . The song has been sung by Mohit Chauhan of Jab We Met fame who is definately a find and he has to go a long way . The music and lyrics are great but it is the style of singing that stands out . What fun did Mohit have while singing the song and the fun kinda comes on to the listener . The song is a real treat and has Rahman in his Genius impeccable style . Prasoon also does a great job and I am sure it won't have been an easy task writing a song on a Kabootar . Overall , its a great teamwork on this one and the track that would win hearts every where . Sonam is also looking like a 'dove' only in the song in her white Punjabi dress . And like me lot of guys would have already fallen in love with her . She better get ready to handle a huge fan following once the film releases .

Next comes "Arziyan" by Jaaved Ali and Kailash Kher . This one is a devotional track of the league of "Khwaja Mere Khwaja" and is a really nice composition . The lyrics and music both are really good on this one and Prasoon and Rahman together have done a great job . This time the vocals are by Jaaved Ali and Kailash Kher and they do a great job together . "Allah Ka Banda"-Kailash Kher does a great job along with Jaaved Ali . This song is the perfect one for portraying the Jaama Masjid on-screen . A long one but certainly among the best on the album .

The title track "Delhi 6" is more of a RAP song by Blaaze, Benny Dayal, Vivinenne, Tanvi and Claire . Together they do a great job and give it a very different feel . This one sounds a little like "Cypress Hill" songs and would sound really good in the film . For a change we have song based on "Delhi" and not on Mumbai . Strangely there have been so many great artists in Bollywood that are from Delhi still very few have tried to capture the city in the film . People have also got a little bored with Mumbai so this film would be a nice welcoming change and I being neither a mumbaikar or delhiwaala can get a taste of the cities in films only . The song talks about the city and its people .

Then comes "Rehna Tu" which is a nice song that has a western feel to it . It has been sung in the style of an English song by Rahman himself . This track is very different and Rahman has dealt with it in a very nice manner . But I felt that the track was a little weak in some parts in between and it felt a little inspired from Rahman's own work in past . Still , it is very much a different track and the lyrics are also good by Prasoon . The track would work in the film and probably among the listeners too . This one is a nice long soft romantic track which has really nice music towards the end .

"Hey Kaala Bandar" which comes next is a little commercial in nature . This one has some weird English and Hindi lyrics mixed together that remind us of the "Paathshala" from Rang De Basanti . Paathshala was a huge hit and it did have much more entertaining lyrics than this one . This one has nice music but the lyrics are not as catchy and entertaining as they were in "Masti Ki Pathshala" . Though it is not as good as that one but it is certainly better than "Shano Shano" of Yuvvraj . But I felt it had some of the shades of the music from Yuvvraj in some parts . If you also felt the same then please leave a comment .Under the whacky lyrics lies a social comment that you would have to decipher .

Next comes a very very different track "Dil Gira Daftan" by Ash King . This song has some really nice music and Rahman has done a great job . The music on this one could very well be used in the background score . I would love to have the original track of the song without the Vocals . The vocals on this one are by Ash King and he does a fine job and has been backed up really well by Chinmayee . The lyrics are great and quite different . Prasoon Joshi does a good job on this one also . He has very nicely used the word "Daffatan" and for urdu impaired people like me it is an Urdu word for "Suddenly" . Rahman is again in his truest element and does a great job again . Musicwise it is one of Rahman's best in recent past .

After these , the soundtrack takes a turn towards completely Indian Tracks , the first being "Genda Phool" which is a folk track but Rahman has given it an all new dimension with his music . His new age music matches well with the folk track and makes it much more entertaining . Its a folk track with some authentic folk lyrics and is not a Bollywood version of folk song . Rekha Bharadwaj does a great job on this one and she has that Desi Indian voice that makes the song sound great . Remember Rekha or not , she sung that song "Namak isk ka " in Omkara . She has been given nice company in chorus by Shraddha and Sujata .

Then comes a completely classical rendition in the form of "Bhor Bhayi" . The song is entirely a classical rendition and quite refreshing , taking us back to our roots . This is what Indian classical music is all about and if you like classical music then only this song is for you . For a music lover like me anything classical like this is always a treat . And among the female singers in the industry who is better than Shreya for classical songs . A very pleasing song and would again look fabulous in the film . The track begins with Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan singing in his impeccable style and later Shreya joins him .Based on a morning Raag, Gujri Todi , music wise a really nice Indian classical rendition with the use of Tabla and Harmonium .

Last song on the album is an Aarti - "Tumre Bhavan Mein" which is a nice devotional track . Such tracks are a rarity in a bollywood soundtrack and after the "Mann Mohana" of Jodha Akbar this is another devotional track in the same league . Its nice to see Rekha Bharadwaj on a soundtrack other than his Husband's and she has been given great company by Kishori Gowariker and Shraddha Pandit . Together they sing it in a nice folksy way and don't sing it like professional singers giving it a more authentic feel .

The soundtrack ends with a small couplet ,Noor, which has been given vocals by the baritone king Amitabh Bachchan himself and he like always makes sure that when he speaks you better listen to it . The couplet or nazm is a really nice one and probably carries the central message of the film of communal harmony so listen to it carefully .

Overall , its a great soundtrack and has many different genres of music in it . Ten completely original songs with no remixes is one more pleasant thing in the album . Rahman starts the year with a bang and is back in his true element . Rakeysh also needs to be applauded for this album since he brought out the best from both Rahman and Prasoon . It has everything from an Arti to a Sufiana track and from a nazm to a RAP track . It has completely Indian classical "Bhor Bhayi" on one hand and it also has a "Kaala Kaala Bandar" on the other . "Genda Phool " gives it a folk touch whereas "Dil Gira Daffatan" gives it a western feel . And the icing on the cake is "Masakalli" which does not belong to any genre and is still a brilliant track .This soundtrack , unlike the past few ones of Rahman would Grow on you even more after repeated listenings . And as SRK said at the golden globes , I would also say "Way to go Rahman" and I would like to add to it "Way to go Prasoon and Way to go Rakeysh " .

Album Rating : Four and Half out of Five Stars ; for the variety offered . Great start to 2009 .
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Blog by Saurabh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
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Friday, January 9, 2009

What's Your Rashi --- Teaser Poster review




Ashutosh Gowariker's next project , What's Your Rashee , is under production right now but the poster is out now and usually I don't write about the posters until and unless something strikes me about it . What struck me here was the lack of creativity . The poster is nothing but a sunsign chart with nothing related to film apart from the name of the cast and producers .It looks more like a colourful Dart Board . I expected a little more creativity on Ashutosh's part who has made films like Lagaan , Swades and Jodhaa Akbar . I remember distinctively the way the poster and trailer of Jodha Akbar was launched and this contrasting behaviour shows that may be he is not that excited about this film . I can understand that the film doesn't have a Hrithik,Aamir or SRK but then he could have put a little more effort in it .

The film stars the disastrous couple of 2008 , Priyanka-Harman , and I just hope their Rashi's are in perfect positions while the film releases . The poster does lack creativity but I hope the film doesn't . Ashutosh please make sure that at least the teaser trailer is good . I remember very well the buzz that Jodha Akbar's poster created on the web and I hope you take these small things a little seriously else any rashee won't be able to save the film ...And by any chance if you read this post then I'd like to tell you that Lagaan should have won the Oscar ..screw the Academy , the film is a masterpiece in itself . I loved all your films even the 3.5 hrs long Jodha Akbar . The West can never understand films like Omkara and Lagaan which are purely Indian ..

Image courtesy : MovieTalkies.com

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Billu Barber -- Music Review

The long awaited film of Priyadarshan and SRK that starrs Irrfan Khan in the lead , Billu Barber , is finally ready for release and the music of the film is out now . The film has been produced by SRK's Red Chillies Productions and that means this project means more to SRK than anyone else . This film is again a remake of a south film which has been already made twice in Malayalam and Telugu . The Telugu version called Kuselan recently released having Rajnikant playing the part which SRK is playing . The film still failed at the box office and its failure raised some concerns for SRK and hence this film also got delayed . The original Malayalam version , Katha Parayumpol and the telegu version both have been written by Sreenivasan . Billu Barber was first supposed to release before RNBDJ but got delayed and now it is releasing in February . The film also stars Lara Dutta and several other Priyadarshan's usual like Om Puri and Rajpal Yadav etc.

Well ,Talking of soundtrack , it consists of Fifteen Tracks in total out of which Seven are original and eight being remixes . The remixes again outnumber the originals on the soundtrack but good thing is that some of those have been sung by different singers so sound a little different . This time it is Pritam who has done the job and lyrics are by various artists . The soundtrack is for its majority a commercial one and when it comes to commercial music there is no one better than Pritam for the job .

The first track on the soundtrack is , Marjaani , which is already on-air and generating the hype for the film . The song as you all now has Kareena in it along with SRK and has some usual fun and frolic . The lyrics on this one are by Gulzaar and are as expected good enough to make this song a hit . The lyrics and music together give it a popular feel and the song would work for sure among the listeners . Sukhwinder and Sunidhi do a good job as usual and Sukhwinder is one more reason why this song could get popular .

Next comes , Love mera Hit Hit , sung by Neeraj Shridhar and Tulsi Kumar . The lyrics on this one are by Ashish Pandit and Mayur Puri who do a good job and made the lyrics pretty catchy . Pritam also does a good job and gives it a commercial tune which makes the song even more catchy and makes it a potential hit . This one starrs Deepika Padukone and SRK , shaking legs together . Neeraj sings it in his usual style with Tulsi giving him good support .

The third and the final track which again has a guest appearance of Priyanka Chopra in it , You Get Me Rockin and Reelin , is a a little on the slower and sensual side . The song has Priyanka and SRK getting cosy and trying to set the screen on fire . If you don't know then let me tell you that all these three songs are a part of a film which is shown to be shot in Billu's village . Since these songs are shown a part of a film in the film itself the Director has made an effort to keep the songs as commercial as possible because SRK is shown as a commercial superstar in the film . Still , this song is pretty melodious and doesn't sound like usual commercial songs . Neeraj does a fine job singing this one and makes sure that it sounds different . The lyrics on this one are by Sayyed Quadri who does a good job .

After this comes a very very commercial track , Ae Aa O , which would look good in the film only and would make more sense in the film . The song would probably be featured when SRK first comes to the village and it would be somewhat of a introductory song . The lyrics on this one are by Neeraj Sridhar and it has been sung by KK ,Rana Mazumder & Suraj . The song in all is more film oriented and doesn't make much sense apart from it . KK surprisingly has been offered such an average track which anyone could have done .

The fifth track , Jaoon Kahan , is completely different from the previous four and is a sad song which has been written by Sayeed Quadri who does a great job on this one . The song features Irrfan Khan who as we all know is a brilliant actor so he might make you feel really sad through his acting . The lyrics are really good on this and reminds of "Jag Soona Soona Lage" from Om Shanti Om . Like that one this has been also sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan who again does a great job . Pritam has also done a good job and given it a nice and simple tune . The song is a complete package of good lyrics , music and singing . Such songs gain popularity much more after the film releases and I am sure with the release of the film this one also would get much more popular .

Next comes a very different and Desi track , Billu Bhayankar . This one has some very interesting piece of lyrics written by Gulzaar Sir himself and he again proves his expertise in the "Thainth Desi" language after songs like Kajrare and Bidi Jalayle . This one though is not a item song like the previous two but that doesn't mean that it lacks any fun . This one is a fun track from the word go and would be real treat on screen , I am pretty sure about that . The track talks about Billu Hajam the central character . This track would definately remind you of Khaike Pan Banaras Waala which had a similar feel . Pritam has done full justice to the song and given it a very pure desi tune to it . The biggest role in such songs as you know is of the singer and his/her accent . And on that front Ajay Jhingaran , Raghuveer and Kalpana do a commendable job .

Next comes probably the most melodious and lyrically rich song , Khudaya Khair . This one has been written by Gulzaar Sir . This song and the third track on the album , You get me rocking , have somewhat same lyrics and I don't know which one is the original one . Still , this one is much more melodious and some extra lyrics in this one that are there add much more to its beauty . If that one had a little western feel to it , this one has none . Pritam has done his best on this as compared to the other songs on the album . The female parts that have been sung by Akriti and Monali sound really good . Soham does a good job singing the male parts but for me Neeraj would have suited much more . This is the song that was there in the first trailer of the film and I am sure this one would be featured on Lara Dutta (my favourite) who is looking really beautiful in the promos . I am happy that she got the best track on the album .

Then starts the series of Remixes and first one is the Video Edit of Rockin n Reelin . I didn't find this one any different from the original one in terms of music . This one though has Dominc Cezaro siniging some female parts . If you remember Dominic made her debut in Rock On with " Yeh Tumhari Meri Baatein ". She does her part well . Rest all is the same .

Then come remix versions of "Love Mera Hit Hit" and "Marjaani" which have been remixed by DJ Amyth and Kilogram K&G respectively . Both the remix versions have usual fast pace tempo and some extra english lyrics . Nothing great about them as such and good for clubs and discs . The remix version of Mar Jaani has been sung by KK and Akriti Kakkar so KK fans won't get disappointed .

Next comes a reprise edition of "Khudaya Khair" which has Abhijeet giving vocals and rest all is the same . The song doesn't suit him that much as much it did to Neeraj and Soham . This one being a reprise edition is a little slow . If this was not enough there is one more remix of "You Get Me rockin n reeling" which again is a basic remix with higher tempo and usual DJing .

Then there is a remix of Ae Aa O , I don't know why . The original track itself was a little weak so this one doesn't make any difference . One more Marjaani by DJ Sunil and Spinz who remix the original track and do a good job . This is the pick among the remixes . Then there is a remix of Love Mera Hit Hit which is better than the previous remix of the same song .

In all , its a nice soundtrack with a mix of commercial tracks and good tracks like Khudaya and Jaoon Kahan . It also has very different tracks like Billu Bhayankar . The only thing that was a put off was the long list of unnecessary remixes that made me change my mind for rating the album . I was going to give it a four stars but the irritating remixes which are just too many made me change my rating . In all , the soundtrack has increased my curiosity for the film and I am now even more eagerly waiting for the film . The film in my opinion would be a nice film that would be liked by all .

Album Rating : Three and Half Stars out of Five ; Great soundtrack with a nice mix of different songs .

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