Bachna Ae Hasino --- Music Review

The next movie from Yashraj after the disastrous movie Tashan,Bachna Ae Hasino, is all set for release and the Music is out now . The rushes of the film are getting positive feedback and it is visible that Yashraj have again spend a good sum of money for this one . But one thing that Yashraj always forget is to put some efforts on script . The director of this one is Siddharth Anand who gave films like Salaam Namaste and Ta Ra Rum Pum , both of which did quite well at the box office and were also appreciated by the critics . Interestingly music of both these films also got more popular as compared to other films from Yashraj . So we can atleast expect and hope for a nice film if not an exceptional one . This film is also very important for Ranbeer since very few saw him acting in Saawariya . This one would be seen by all and then he would be rated by people at large , as an actor .

The first track on the album is a romantic Track "Khuda Jaane" which is a nice track and quite melodious . The song is sung by KK who has a speciality in singing love ballads , his last one being "Ankhon mein Teri" from OSO . The song is at a higher pitch and we get to hear a different KK from that in OSO . He has the company of Shilpa Rao who also sings quite well . Shilpa got popular from the song in Salaam-e-Ishq - Saiyan Chod Ke na ja . This one has been sung in completely different style by her . She sounds quite soulful in this one . Overall the song has a nice blend of both good lyrics and Melody . The lyrics are by Anvita Dutt who does a decent job .

The next track on the album is Lucky Boy by Sunidhi and Hard Kaur . This one is from the league of Tashan , melody less and lyrics that are so so . Commercial track and might look good in the movie . These type of songs look good in the movie but not meant for Listening purpose only . The tune and lyrics aren't that catchy and overall the song is meant for listening once only . Hard Kaur is a regulation these days and she does her job well as usual . Sunidhi is good but nothing unique . Just regulation stuff .

The third track on the album is Ahista Ahista by Lucky Ali and Shreya Ghoshal . When was the last time that Lucky Ali had sung a song ? And he chooses to come back with this song which is so not at all Lucky Ali style . He usually sings slow and soulful songs with great lyrics . But this track is just a regular track with excessive use of Bass which gives it more of a Club feel . Both Shreya and Lucky are known to sing Great Tracks only but out of the blue they sing this so normal track . Vishal-Shekhar have done almost nothing for this track apart from the starting music piece. This song could have been composed by any DJ in this way . The lyrics are good but get wasted due to lack of melody . The song might work in the movie .

Then comes Jogi Mahi by Sukhwinder, Shekhar Ravjiani and Himani Kapoor . The song has a quite old tune of Dhol and it is suppose to be a Punjabi track . Punjabi Tracks are usually fun filled but this one has a different feel to it . It has been tried to incorporate a sad song into a commercial tune . The attempt has failed to a large extent and the blend has not worked . The song again is like a commercial type of track of the 90's . There is no newness to it and neither the lyrics are that good . The song would definitely slow down the pace of the movie and it would remind you of the movies of 90's . I don't know why Yashraj is doing this Hybrid thing of Mixing the Old with the new . There movies now look like the typical commercial movies that people saw for quite long in the 80's and 90's . They have no new story at all . Though this film has three heroines and one hero which gives it a look of a modern film yet it might end up like a typical commercial movie .

Coming back to Music , the next track is Small Town Girl , one more hybrid track with pathetic lyrics . This one is sung by Shankar Mahadevan who himself is music director and this one sounds a little similar to Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom Title Track and is of the same league . Yet Jhoom Barabar Jhoom had catchy lyrics and tune and this one has none . Those who like just plain noise with no rhythm and lyrics might like this track . One more useless track of Tashan genre with no meaning and feel to it .

Then comes another REMIX version of version of Khuda Jaane which has been done in a nice way and is a faster and has more club feel to it . The original itself is such a good track that even this one rocks . The track has been remixed in a nice way by Abhijit Nalani and has a newness to it . It is not a typical remix and it would definitely work . Abhijit has put some effects which have added some more beauty to the track .

Then comes the title track which is just a remixed version of the older song with some extra lyrics . The Rap in it by Vishal is quite good and he deserves credit for it . Apart from that the entire rhythm and Lyrics are from original which are already a big hit . This song belongs to R.D. Burman and Majrooh Sultanpuri completely so Vishal-Shekhar don't get any credit for this one .

In all , the album is just a regular soundtrack that would just come and go and won't leave its mark . Apart from Khuda Jaane there is no original track that is worth listening twice or more . Vishal-Shekhar have a very limited talent and they are getting repetitive . They should take a break and Yashraj should look for some new talent to bring to their Production house .

Album Rating : One and Half out of Five stars ; one for Khuda Jaane and Half for not including unnecessary Remix tracks on the album .

Half Way Through ...

Well we are half way through 2008 and the first half was a little dissappointing in terms of fim content this year . The same was the case in last year when only three films Guru , Life in a Metro and Namaste London faired well both on the box office and audience expectations . One surprise hit was Bheja Fry . There were some great dissappointments in the first half of last year in form of salaam-e-ishq , eklavya , Nishabd and Ta Ra Rum Pum . Then there were also some of the most pathetic films like Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom , Shaka-laka boom boom , Just Married and Good Boy Bad Boy etc. But last year some great movies released in first half that didn't do fair at the box office yet deserved much more than they got like Black Friday , Parzania , Namesake and Ek Chaalis ki last Local .

This year it has been even worse where not only did movies failed on the box office but also lacked creative content . The only two movies which were rich in creative content and a good script were Aamir and Khuda Ke Liye amongst which the latter came from other side of the border . So in all only one film i.e. Aamir was a good film in all aspects of Film making yet it was a disaster at the box office . The team that gave Bheja Fry last year gave Mithya this year which was an excellent attempt at off-beat cinema considering it didin't have the usual happy ending that we always have . Even the Direction and Style was very european . This film did average as it is the case with such films . Jodha Akbar which released in the begining was a very brave attempt by the Director Ashutosh Govariker which did well at the box office but didn't get that much appreciation from the audience . The other two films(Race and Sarkar Raj) that did well at the box office were mere commercial films and the quality of cinema was not up to the mark . I don't know how did films like Jannat and Race did well at the box-office . Small budget films like Woodstock Villa , My name is Anthony... and Superstar were a disaster . Not even the small budget films but even the Big Budget films like Tashan and Krazzy 4 were like rotten eggs .

The Biggest rotten egg came from the biggest production house of country , Yashraj , in form of Tashan . At least Yashraj have some consistency , they had given the rotten egg last year in form of JBJ and this year they have gone ahead and given even more smelly and pathetic one in form of Tashan . I thought only Emran Hashmi did bad films but now even stars like Kareena,Akshay,Anil and Saif are doing so . Bad streak for poor Abhishek and RGV continues , with even Sarkar Raj not doing well on both box office and neither on people's expectations .

The films were a disaster in the first half of the year but one thing that did really well was the Blogging which was an instant hit and provided much more entertainment than the films . The blog has all the elements of a typical commercial film but with real emotions of Jealousy , Revenge and Stupidity . The Blog fever is catching on big time in Bollywood with Aamir,Big B,Salman,RGV and many more using the next big medium to reach their fans .

The biggest hit in terms of Entertainment came from the Cricket Fields in form the Indian Premiere League or the IPL . The biggest show in India , with a lethal combo of Cricket and heavyweight people like the SRK and Ambani's etc and a whopping budjet of around 4000 crores . Set Max rightly called it the "Manoranjan Ka Baap" . For 45 days every producer feared to release any film . Some used it for Promotion of their films (Tashan) and TV Shows (Dus Ka Dum) but neither did well . You see , promotion and hype can guarantee you a good opening but nothing can save the project if it doesn't have a good script or say no script in case of Yashraj .

The second half looks more promising this year with films like Love Story 2050 , Jaane Tu , Singh is Kinng, Kismat Konnection , Bachna Ae hasino , Dostana , Ghajni and Drona . There are also some small budget films like Rock On , Ugly and Pagli , Ashayein , Fashion and Maan Gaye Mughal-e-azam which may attract the multiplex audience .

The second half last year gave excellent films like Chak De India , Manorama Six Feet Under , Johnny Gaddar and Taare Zameen Par . Well , lot of money and expectations are at stake in the second half of this year and lets hope the second half would be much more interesting and entertaining and most important "Paisa Vasool" .