Dostana --- Music Review

Its been a long time since last film of Dharma Production has released and music from them is always great , no matter how the movie is . Their last film , KANK , though didn't do well but still its music is one thing that shows one quality of Dharma Productions that they have a great taste and knowledge of music and even if the movie is below expectations sometimes , music is always at par . So they are back with Dostana which will hit the theatres soon . This time though its Karan's assistant Tarun Mansukhani in the director's chair . If we consider that Karan didn't interfere in the Direction then as a producer he at least would have definitely sat in Music seatings for the film . The music this time though has been given by Vishal Shekhar instead of SEL and Lyrics are by Anvita Dutt Guptan and Kumar . The film as we all know by now is based on story of three friends with hopefully some pleasant twist .

Lets talk of the music now . The album consists of Six Original tracks and no Remixes(Thank God!!) . The first song on the album "Jaane Kyun" though is not the title track but very well puts up the entire theme of the film . The song very well portrays the feeling of friendship and has a very nice tune attached to it . The song has been sung by Vishal Dadlani himself and has lyrics by Anvita . Anvita does a good job and has put up a nice blend of Hindi and English Lyrics . Vishal also does a nice job in singing and the duo have also composed it quite well . The tune basically is pretty much western and so is the entire feel of the song . No Indian tunes or pieces in it . Vishal has also sung it in a different fashion . Overall , the song is a nice blend of music and lyrics and backed by good singing . This song would get most popular from the entire album and hence is my Pick of the album .

The second track on the album is "Desi Girl" which is a trademark Vishal-Shekhar track which has Desi-Videsi Cocktail . I am personally not a fan of such tracks and we already got a taste of such tracks in Tashan and Bachna Ae Hasino soundtracks . Such tracks are not meant to be listened , you can just dance on them without listening them . Still , the tune is not one of those that can make anyone and everyone sway to it . The lyrics by Kumaar are an average affair and quite commercial .Shankar and Sunidhi do their usual in Singing dept. I don't know how this song will feature in Miami where the whole film is set-up . I hope they don't have a situation where every Firangi is doing a Bhangra with our leads .

Next comes a Punjabi Track (one of the Four Pillars of a Bollywood Soundtrack) , "Maa Da Ladla " . This Punjabi track has some modern Bass Beats of a Disco and no Dhol in it . A modern Punjabi track with average piece of Lyrics . The lyrics in-fact have nothing to offer and neither they are that catchy . But you never know , if "Bhootni Ke" of Singh is Kinngh can work so can "Ma Da Ladla" of Dostana . Saleem who sings the song has a nice Punjabi voice and sings it well . Overall , a track that I would prefer to listen in the movie itself . Nice pacy tune for dance lovers .

The fourth song on the soundtrack is "Shut Up and Bounce " . If you have seen the first trailer of the movie then you would probably remember the groovy music it had . Well , that was from this song . I must say that when I heard the music in the trailer I was pleasantly surprised but I was quite disappointed when I heard the song on the CD . The whole music is really good but the lyrics have nothing good to offer . I can say that a very good tune probably wasted due to improper lyrics by Anvita . One more thing to notice is that apart from the piece that was in the trailer the whole song has very average music and some basic beats only . In any case , the song is good only to an extent and probably would be liked by people at large due to the bass in it . Another disco track and has some nice singing by Sunidhi Chauhan . Overall , the track is good but could have been much better .

The next track on the album " Khabar Nahin " is a little on the slower side and also on the romantic side . The song has very nice guitaring through out by Sanjay Divecha but apart from his guitaring the tune is pretty much basic and nothing so great about it . The lyrics by Anvita are good and Vishal again does a good job singing . He has been very well supported by Shreya and Amanat Ali . The song in all is a nice one and has some nice guitaring in it . The guitar lovers would like the guitaring in it .

The last rack on the album is again a slow soulful track "Kuch Kam" . It stars off with very less music on Piano and then later slowly some basic music beats are put in it . This one again is a Romantic track which gives a hint that the movie would start off with all the fun and masti and would finally end on a Romantic Note . This song has been composed well by Vishal-Shekhar and they have kept it pretty basic . Shaan sings quite well as usual and his fans would love this track .

If you have noticed , I've repeatedly used word "Basic" in the entire review . I don't know , the tunes and lyrics made me use that word . I found the entire album pretty much basic stuff and nothing extraordinary was there in the entire album . Only the first song "Jaane Kyun" is a winner all throughout . The two slow songs in the end are good but not extra-ordinary . The other songs are good for parties etc. I was expecting a lot since it is an album from a Dharma Productions film . Well , those of you who don't know , there is a special appearance of Shilpa Shetty in some song probably . I couldn't figure out which song it would be . But one thing I couldn't understand , what is Abhishek , the flabby , doing in between all these hot people (Piggy,John and Shilpa) ? No offence Abhishek , I like your acting but dude try to look like your contemporaries . Even your seniors (Shilpa) look much younger than you.

Overall , its a nice album and can be listened to . Jaane Kyun and Khabar Nahi are the pick from the entire album . Good part is that the album won't damage the film and would give it some boost only .

Album Rating : Three out of Five , Jaane Kyun being the best and all songs being good.

Dostana --- Teaser Trailer Review

The next film of Dharma Productions after their infamous KANK will hit the cinemas in November this year . The first teaser promo of the film is out now and from the looks of it another blockbuster is on the cards . This time though Karan has just produced this baby of Tarun Mansukhani . Since this one comes from Dharma Productions the Budget has to be quite high and the movie would also be a full blown commercial one . The teaser gives a taste of whats in store this November . For the ones who don't know the film starrs Abishek , John and Piggy Chops (Priyanka Chopra) .

The film is set in Miami (Florida) so a change of location from Dharma's favourite New York . The film looks as cool as the spirit of the city and would be targeting the Youth at large . Karan has already said that this Dostana has no resemblance with the 1980 hit of same name which was produced by his dad . The only resemblance is that this is also a story of three friends , two guys and a girl .

Well , the teaser starts off with the usual - "From The Makers of " and then the list of films by Dharma Productions over the past few years with the Music of Kal Ho Na Ho in the background . Strangely "Kaal" was missing from the list , maybe because it was not a pure Dharma Productions film . Well , after the slow soulful music of Kal Ho Na Ho suddenly starts a groovy youthful score and the mood of the trailer changes from depressing tone to a lively one . Then we get to see introductory shots of all the three main leads with everyone looking hot apart from AB Baby . With Priyanka in super hot and sexy swim suit and John flashing his six packs they set the screen on fire backed by the terrific background score . Karan would have for sure flown to Miami to see Piggy in a Bikiny .

After this comes the only Dialogue in Trailer where John says that he and Abhishek are a Gay couple which is a lie . The whole story starts with this lie and how this lies gets stretched into truth and the life after the lie . After the dialogue there is a whole sequence of scenes from the film where Abhishek and John do some homosexual acts and tickle our funny bone with their expressions . The Trailer ends with a three framed scene showing all the lead in their avatar . The chemistry among the three leads looks great on screen and a lot depends on that for the success of the film .

The teaser trailer is great in every sense and much much better than Abhishek and Priyanka's October release - Drona . Piggy is super hot and Abhishek might once more face a Media lashing on his looks and fitness compared to other stars . This one creates a lot of interest amongst the audience and people won't be able wait for three more months before the film releases . I am not sure how many of you remember this but Teaser trailer of Kal Ho Na Ho was a treat to watch . In my list of best trailers it ranks quite high because of the fabulous music it had and the rapid moving scenes that were quite in sync with the Music and the famous Heart Beat music of that film . That one had scenes which were not in the film and SRK had delivered some fine lines in that one . This teaser is not as good as that one but still it is a great one and it will for sure create a big element of interest about the film.

Interestingly there are lot of big releases before this one and the Teaser has hit the theatres quite early . I don't know what is the publicity plan of Dharma but I hope it is a good one . It should not be like that the teaser has been released and then its after one and half month or so that people get another dose of the film . The teaser has been attached with Bachna Ae Hasino (another dud by Yashraj) so look out for the trailer in the film or check it out here only :

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" .