Chandni Chowk to China --- Music Review

One of the four pillars of Indian Film Industry , Akshay Kumar (others being SRK,Hrithik and Aamir) , is all set for his next release , Chandni Chowk to China or in short CC2C . This would be probably the first full fledged Warner Bros. produced pic in India and they might be expecting a different fate than Sony Pictures debut flick Saawariya . But Akshay these days is like a guarantee card attached to a product and his films at least provide a guarantee of recovering the cost . The film is a third attempt for the Kal Ho Na Ho fame Nikhil Advani who would be a little skeptical after his last film Salaam-e-Ishq which didn't do that well on the box office and was a weak film in itself . This one though is not a multistarrer like the previous two . The music for this one has been given by more than one music directors and features the likes of SEL , Bappi Da and Kailasa .

The album in whole has Eight tracks out of which Five are original , two remixes and one being an adapted version of an older song . The first track on the soundtrack is S.I.D.H.U. or in other words Sidhu . This track has been composed by the team of Kailash Kher , Naresh and Paresh together who are known as Kailasa . Their album Teri Diwani got quite popular and this would probably be their first attempt in Film music . The song has been sung by Kailash Kher and it mainly focuses on the lead character , Sidhu (Akshay) , and the characteristics of his character . The tune of this song is very basic Indian one and has a lot of use of percussion instruments . The music on this one reminds us of the track Billo Rani from Goal . This track starts in almost similar fashion as that one . And since it has the very basic desi tune in it , it is bound to get popular and even the lyrics are catchy enough to make it popular . I am sure Navjot Singh Sidhu would love this track and laugh in his Sidhuistic Style after listening to this one . Overall , the track is a nice and safe first attempt by the group Kailasa and has all the ingredients to get successful . The lyrics are also by Kailash Kher so it turns out that he has all the talents from writing to singing . Good piece of writing considering he is not a full fledged writer .

The next song on the album is the Title track "Chandni Chowk To China" that we heard in the teaser promos to an extent . This one has been composed by another well set trio in the industry , Shankar Ehsaan and Loy . SEL had given a blockbuster album with Nikhil in Salaam-e-Ishq . This time though they get only two songs on the album . This track has been sung by Shankar , Anushka Manchanda and Neeraj Sridhar . This is a typical SEL track with Shankar yelling at the top of his voice , don't mind shankar I am just kidding . It is just that he mostly sings High pitched songs so they all sound similar . It also has some Chinese Folk Music inputs which sound good . The track though on a whole is a little weak to be a title track . The Lyrics on this one by Rajat Aroraa are very average and they don't provide anything to the song . Both the lyrics and tune are pretty commercial . The song though is good enough to not harm the film . It might look good if filmed properly . The only refreshing thing in this song is the voice of Anushka Manchanda . She sings well and she is a good alternative for overused Sundhi Chauhan's voice .

The third track on the album is an adapted version of Mumbai se Aaya Mera dost(Aap Ki Khatir-1977 ) titled as India Se aaya Mera dost . This one has been composed by our very own Bappi Da who is back after Taxi No. 9211 with this track . Since Taxi No. 9211 was also produced by Rohan Sippy like this one , Bappi gets a bonus for the hit soundtrack that he produced for that film . This track makes me wonder why doesn't he work more even though he gave a hit soundtrack in form of Taxi No. 9211 . This one is a fabulous track and probably my pick on the album and Bappi Da proves the saying that Its not Age but it is Mileage that counts . The track starts off with some weird Chinese lyrics and tune . The additional lyrics by Rajat this time are much better and add to the beauty of the song . The tune itself of the original song is so good that it makes one sway to it . But Bappi da has also added a lot to the original tune and given it a very modern make over . The use of Chinese music in this one makes much more sense than what was used in the title track . This one also sounds like those spanish Football World Cup theme songs that are good for cheering etc . Apart from composing the song Bappi Da has also sung the song in his typical style making it much more entertaining . Overall , it is a fun song from the word go .

The fourth song on the soundtrack is a soft romantic number "Tere Naina" by SEL . This one is nice song and like one of those lounge versions which have minimal use of music and stress in more on Lyrics and singing . It has a nice modern feel to it and even Shreya sings in accordance with that feel . The lyrics by Rajat Aroraa on this one are the best in the entire album and even the singing by both the singers is great . Backed up by good on-screen chemistry between Akshay and Deepika this song might turn out to be a Romantic treat . Shreya is a master in such songs and she sings in a soulful manner . Overall , the best original track on the album and is a winner all the way . This one reminded me of the track "Dil Mera Ek Taara" from 16 December which is one of my all time favourites .

The next on the soundtrack is "Chak Lein De" by Kailash , Paresh and Naresh . This track is also a modern track with a nice use of Punjabi Lyrics . It starts off with seriously cool music something that you usually hear in soundtracks of films like The Matrix . I liked the lyrics to an extent but I think that this track would have got much more popular if the lyrics would have been a little better because the music on this one is top notch . It feels a little inspired from west but still is quite good and would look even better if its music is used in background score for the film . The song has some good use of flute in between and overall has a nice pace attached to it . Kailash as usual sings it quite well and this song has all the compositions of a good track that might grow over with repeated listening .

The last original track is a RAP song CC2C sung by Akshay Kumar and has music by Bohemia , the London based Punjabi Rapper . I don't know if this song would be featured in the film or not but at least it would be featured in the end credits . This one is an average RAP attempt and though Akshay is not one of the best singers yet he manages to sing it in an average way . The akshay fans would love it since it has the story of Akshay Kumar in short . The music and Lyrics by Bohemia are good enough to hold the song . The singing is the weak point and lyrics are also so so . Akshay glorifies himself a little bit in the song and nobody would mind that since he is riding quite high on the success wave . Overall , it is an average attempt at the RAP music genre by Akshay Kumar and Bohemia .

Then at last come two remixes from DJ Amyth of the title track and Chak Lein De . The remixes are as usual with increased tempo and having the usual DJ bass effects in them . The remix of Chak Lein De is better one and little different than the original song .

Overall , its a nice Commercial soundtrack that would definitely do quite well on the charts and it would certainly help the movie and won't hinder the pace of the film in any way . The soundtrack has some good songs and others are average tracks that any commercial soundtrack has . You can try it once .

Album Rating : Three out of Five Stars ; Tere Naina and India se aaya mera dost being the best .