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Director :
Music :
Lyrics :
Starring : |
Vikram K.Kumar
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Neelesh Misra
R. Madhavan, Neetu Chandra, Sachin Khadekar, Murli Sharma and Poonam Dhillon.
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By Abid, Bollywood Trade News Network
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Director Vikram K. Kumar's supernatural thriller, 13B, is a Big Pictures Presentation and will be the next release for the banner after the critically acclaimed LUCK BY CHANCE. Incidentally, the music of 13B has been composed by the talented trio, Shankar- Ehsaan-Loy, who were also the composers for LUCK BY CHANCE. And they have with them the new age lyricist, Neelesh Misra, who has been ever so impressive in almost all his endeavours. After regaling us with some superb and classy compositions in LBC, SEL are back to rock us with their scores in 13B. So, let's get things rolling and check out what these extremely versatile but choosy composers have to offer us!
The album commences with a short track, ''Sab Khairiyat Hai''. The song may be a short one but it is very important to the total scenario of this suspense - thriller, as the whole film revolves around a TV program titled 'Sab Khairiyat Hai'. The song commences with some nice harmonica and arrangements that are a throwback to the melodious seventies. Shankar's soft vocals are pleasing to the ears and the lyrics by Neelesh Misra convey the feel good and joyous attitude of the people concerned. In fact, it's quite close to any daily soap theme song.
However, the remix by DJ Gulraj Singh surpasses the original and moreover it's the full length version of the original First of all, the slow pace of the song, which was not gelling with the lively arrangements in the original, is heightened. The harmonica is more lively, the singing full of zest and vigour. The background musical arrangements are top class and full marks to the percussionist. The bass and background chorus too makes this a remix par excellence!
CHECK OUT: BIG Pictures' 13B promises some brilliant performances
Music wizard A.R.Rahman's find, Kartik, is his own superlative self in ''Bade Se Shehar Mein'', a situational number that has a beautiful haunting effect and the song simply grows with each hearing. The melody, especially in the 'mukhda' follows a lovely smooth, straight path, without wavering and the 'antara' takes over the complexities (especially in singing), ending in a superb crescendo. The chorus is nice and once again the feel good factor is evident in the lyrics by Neelesh Misra, as the happy family which is looking forward to more happiness, is brought about through beautifully penned lyrics. Shankar's background voice over is a delight.
It's DJ Shane who has been assigned the task of remixing this beautiful number, and he does a good job. Even though the tempo is heightened, the singing remains soft and so do the arrangements, without adding too many unnecessary punches (as is the norm in most remixes), though one misses Shankar's background vocals here!
Lovely keyboards and nice synthesizer sounds commence ''Aasma Odh Kar'', a nice, but uniquely different love song. The melody once again seems to be inspired by the melodious seventies and the chorus is more in sync with a situational, philosophically inclined number rather than a love ballad. Shankar is delightful (his high pitch singing brilliant) as usual and the extremely talented but rarely heard Chithra is at her 'surily' self. She is made to sing more in the retro style. Lyrics by Neelesh once again deserve a mention as they are simple and effective, without being over dramatic.
The remixed version by DJ Gulraj Singh is better than the original. Intelligently, the fast tempo of the original has not been heightened further but the support of some superb background drumming et al along with keyboard sounds provide the desired punch which was missing in the original. The hip hop climax to the remix is wonderful.
The penultimate track is the interesting sounding, ''Oh Sexy Mama'', which is more in the line with a Pritam or a Vishal-Shekhar composition. One number that is totally youth oriented; a hip hop happening track that is extremely rhythmic and funky and will find patronage in this age. One thing is for sure this number is a surefire chartbuster, but for that it has to be promoted well. The lead singer, Baba Sehgal, more of a rapper, does well but one wished for a more versatile singer like Neeraj Shridhar who could have done better, imparting the song the chartbuster touch with his fine nuances. Anushka Manchanda is riding high on a spate of successes with Pritam and she goes through the song like a seasoned pro while Loy provides the background support well. The lyrics are interesting though quite crappy (intentionally), as per the demand of the situation.
DJ Shane once again is back for the remix and he goes all rock in a club dance mix sort of track that is quite well done.
CHECK OUT: Madhavan grooves for 'Sexy Mamma'
Last but not the least is the theme instrumental that one was really looking forward to. Since this movie is a thriller-cum-suspense with a dash of horror, the thrill elements are present in heavy dosage throughout the instrumental which makes one look forward to the film. The western symphony used is top class, the urgency, the edge of the seat thrill vibrant and the fear factor is brought about effectively through the musical orchestrations. The superb use of piano, keyboards and synthesizers as well as drums are of the highest order. In fact it will not be wrong to compare it to the haunting, chilling background music of the cult horror classic, THE OMEN. A brief instrumental version of 'Aasma Odh Kar'' finds place in the scheme of things. A brilliant finish to a nice album.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy needs to be commended for putting in their best effort in a relatively small film that does not boast of superstars. Almost all the songs are good and the remixed versions of ''Sab Khairiyat Hai’, ''Aasma Odh Kar'', and ''Oh Sexy Mama'' and of course, the Theme instrumental deserve special mention. The only hitch is that all the songs sound similar (except ''Oh Sexy Mama'') and there is not much variety in the album. The commercial viability of the album though will depend upon the promotion of the film as well as its box office outcome.
Rating - 3.5/5
More about 13B
- Videos
- Movie Stills
- Picture Gallery -On Location of 13B
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