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Director :
Music :
Lyrics :
Starring : |
Rajkumar Hirani
Shantanu Moitra
Swanand Kirkere
Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Boman Irani
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By Abid, Bollywood Trade News Network
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In his 'Ballad Of The East And West', Rudyard Kipling wrote- 'Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till earth and sky stand presently at God's great judgment seat.' However, it did happen rather recently and the impossible was achieved, not once but twice, interestingly in the Hindi film industry, and by the same team! Yes, the culmination of intellectually satisfying cinema and mass entertainment was achieved two times in the iconic films - MUNNABHAI MBBS and LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI. With two unifying factors; humanity and non violence (Ahimsa), Sanju's 'Jaadoo ki jhappi ' and 'Gandhigiri' bonded Indians, cutting across all divisive forces. And the same team, consisting of producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, director Rajkumar Hirani, composer Shantanu Moitra and lyricist Swanand Kirkere , the team who gave us cult movies like MUNNABHAI MBBS (music by Anu Malik) and LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI, and are back to bring us an all out entertainer, aimed mainly at the youth and in particular the campus crowd. And naturally when the lead actor is Mr. Perfectionist, Aamir Khan, things simply reach dizzying heights, as he is always associated with good quality films with chartbusting music. The music of both MUNNABHAI MBBS and LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI became quite popular, although the super success of the films played an important part in making the compositions popular with the audience.
In case of MUNNABHAI MBBS, it was an 'in form' Anu Malik, whose compositions fitted beautifully into the narrative. However, the audio of LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI by Shantanu Moitra did not get the same patronage and popularity as that of the first part. In fact there were a lot of 'inspirations' in two tracks 'Pal Pal' ('Theme For A Dream'- Cliff Richards) and 'Aane Chaar Aane' ('Chala Jaata Hoon' - SHABASH DADDY, 'Sare Ke Sare'- PARICHAY), and the best number, 'Bande Mein Tha Dum' was merely a tribute to the legendary patriotic song, 'Aao Bachchon'. So, without wasting any more time let us check out the music and see if the Moitra-Kirkere team can come up trumps in terms of the audio album this time around and give us beautiful original scores like in PARINEETA!
The album opens with 'Aal Izz Well', a song that has the capability of becoming a college anthem due to a lot of reasons - a) The first and most important one being it's totally 'bindaas', chilled out rhythm that rocks to the core. b) Secondly the most interesting part, the lyrics by the multi faceted Swanand Kirkere which just like the rhythm is something that the youth will simply freak out on as its full on humour and evokes laughter. Must add here that they are very apt and identifiable and at the same time they give that feeling of inspiration and hope without being preachy, a difficult task indeed, but achieved to perfection by Swanand , 'Confusion hi confusion hai, Solution kuch pata nahin, Solution jo mile toh saala question ka ab pata nahin.' c) Next is the excellent rendition by Sonu Nigam, undoubtedly the best singer that Bollywood has to offer and giving him solid support is Shaan and the lyricist Swanand himself, as they put in all emotions to chart out a number that will sooner or later become the favourite of the youth and the children as well. d) Last but not the least, the light music arrangement in the background where the fusion of Hindustani and western music has been brilliantly achieved.
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Thus we have an all out entertainer, which as we have predicted will surely become a campus anthem, such will be its popularity, especially since its picturized in a zany manner on Aamir Khan, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi.
The song also appears as a remix version 'Aal Izz Well Remix ' by Dj A-Myth/Darshan and it's a nicely done up track with a lot of variations in terms of background music and singing, more of English rap included.
Next up is the only romantic track of the album, 'Zoobi Doobi', and taking us through this groovy number are the singers best adept at rendering love ballads- Shreya Ghoshal and Sonu Nigam. A jazz style composition, more on the lines of the rocking fifties, and therefore the orchestra too has been set keeping in mind the retro style of the song, as can be heard by the use of lots of bead sounds, saxophone, trumpet and drums. Even the singing by Sonu and Shreya, their voice modulations ring in that evergreen era where Shammi Kapoor's romantic songs ruled the roost. Shantanu showed us his hold over retro music with 'Kaisi Paheli Zindagani' (PARINEETA) and once again he has brilliantly handled the song. Swanand's lyrics add that charm that was required to make it into a classy love song. 'Jaisa filmon mein hota hai, Ho raha hai hoo bahoo' . The only dampener - it has unmistakable traces from Aamir Khan's very own 'Mr. Lova Lova' (ISHQ) and Abhishek Bachchan's 'Bure Bure/ Bore Bore' (BLUFFMASTER).
'Zoobi Doobi Remix' is by Dj A-Myth/Darshan who does well to keep the track light and the fun element alive by just adding heightened rhythm and pace.
Shantanu's Bengal connections come to the fore with 'Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh', a composition that takes us back to the S. D. Burman days, with a distinct Rabindra Sangeet touch to its soulful melody. A classy number that will initially appeal to a select few but it does have the required charisma to grow after a few hearings. An entirely situational song that flows with the narrative of the movie and sung to perfection by the pride of Hindi film music industry, Shaan, whose youthful fresh vocals match those of the lead protagonists who play college going students, with the composer himself providing good support. The backup vocals are enchanting and so is the tune which may be slow but its certainly not boring. Once again Swanand's lyrics are like an embellished jewel that adorns a crown. The beautiful poetic way in which the comparison is made, it brings to life the characters of the film, especially the lead protagonist, Aamir Khan who is compared to 'Behti hawa, Udti patang, Sulagti dhoop mein chhaon ke jaisa, Registan mein gaon ke jaisa, Baadal awara etc', some really nice similes, which shows Swanand's hold over the medium.
Sharman Joshi's voice greets us in the next number, 'Give Me Some Sunshine' with some profound thoughts as he says, 'Saari umar hum mar mar ke jee liye, Ek pal to ab humein jeene do' and as the true blue rocker Suraj Jagan takes over, the song adopts a soft rock like texture with some lovely guitar strummings in the background. However the highlight of the track is the chorus which is sung more in a nursery rhyme manner, 'Give me some sunshine, Give me some rain, Give me another chance, I wanna grow up once again.' Swanand's lyrics are once again classy and the manner in which he has highlighted the plight of the students who are deprived of leading their life to the fullest in this world of cut throat competition is simply superb. While 'We don't need no education' ('Another Brick in the Wall'- Pink Floyd) will always remain the anthem of the aggressive youth fed up with pressures of academics, this song too has the potential to strike it right into the hearts of the target audience. A situational song, but will be identifiable by all, be it the youth, children or even the old. A superb fusion of lovely organ sounds, hand claps and guitar strums bring the composition to a close.
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The mood once again gets somber as the album comes to close with 'Jaane Nahin Denge Tujhe', another entirely situational track about friends sticking to each other through thick and thin and giving emotional support to a friend in crisis. The number at first appears to be a slow serious number but it's misleading and as the high pitched 'antara' unfolds one is simply bamboozled by Sonu's amazing rendition, as he effortlessly stretches his vocals to the limit, making it an audio treat. The sheer determination of not letting go of a dear friend is conveyed so effectively through both, excellent singing and wonderful music arrangements and the lyrics that the listener is coerced into believing it. The excellent alternate soft and high pitched tune is well supported by the superb orchestra in the background, almost similar to the climax of a western classical symphony.
Summing up the album, it's another classy outing by the team with outstanding compositions in the form of 'Aal Izz Well' and 'Zoobi Doobi'. The popularity of the rest of the numbers will once again depend upon the quotient of success of the film. What must be added here is that one expected a lot from the album, especially because it has Aamir Khan as the lead actor, but it is certainly a touch disappointing (taking nothing away from the hard work done by all involved), if we keep in mind and compare the outstanding scores in Aamir Khan campus/youth based movies like DIL CHAHTA HAI and RANG DE BASANTI, which were not only classy but also appealed to the city segments of the mass.
Rating - 3.5/5
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