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| Director :
| Anu Menon
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| Music :
| Ali Zafar
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| Lyrics :
| Ali Zafar
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| Starring :
| Ali Zafar and Aditi Rao Hydari
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February 17, 2012 12:00:00 AM IST
updated February 21, 2012 02:59:21 PM IST
By Satyajit, Glamsham Editorial
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Love knows no boundaries...and Bollywood has a long history of justifying this in every age of filmmaking. LONDON PARIS NEW YORK, a slick looking 'rom-com', promising some exotic location from 'hot n happening' places of the world, is the next popcorn flick to allure urbane viewers. Ali Zafar, a renowned pop-sensation in Pakistani pop world (Albums - HUQA PAANI, JHOOM and MASTY) and promising entrant in Bollywood (TERE BIN LADEN and MERE BROTHER KI DULHAN), makes his debut as a composer.
Barring the exception of hip-shaking 'Madhubala' (MERE BROTHER KI DULHAN), Ali's stint in Bollywood has been more of an actor than of a musician/singer; it will be really interesting to see how he dons his multiple roles (singer, lyricist, composer & not to forget actor!) in this album. Looking for an engrossing romantic journey... will music be a sporting act in making things vibrant on big screen? Let's check out its musical merits...
CHECK OUT: Ali Zafar to portray grey shades in LONDON PARIS NEW YORK!
Panoramic musical view of three phenomenal cities of the world is the major outing of the album that culminates well into an absorbing westernized pop-musical celebration in peppy sounding title track 'London Paris New York'. Ali Zafar's mercurially high Indi-pop bingo at the vocals gives it a true pop-album feel with strong support of contemporary sounding Sunidhi Chauhan, giving it an enormous support in making this a pep-friendly 'yuppie' track. It sounds more like an enthralling 90's Hollywood background score rom-com track, where lovers are presumed to be finding their way out in midst of glitzy cosmopolitan city surroundings. As a soloist, lyricist and composer, Ali Zafar manages a pleasant offering (if not spectacular) in delivering out a thematically inclined love-track that deserves a milieu of lavish opulence, slick camera angle views and above all well-versed descriptive screenwriting.
Genres intermingle to create an act of vivaciousness and thrill as now Ali Zafar experiments with archetypical 60's pop music in impressive sounding 'Voh Dekhney Mein'. Zafar's yodeling act has Kishoreda's touches with a couple of chirpy one-liners to its credits. It has modest mix and match of piano drills, guitar strums and violin notes with a feel of Hollywood's 60's classic musical appeal. Catchiness in rhythmical patterns with feel of bygone era is the biggest assets that should be the winning factor in making this an engrossing musical piece for the film. Once again, the experience of Ali Zafar in composing 'fusion' based numbers works but still this offering cannot be defined as one of the finest to arrive in this genre of music. 'Voh Dekhney Mein (Female Acoustic)' is a brief feminine version and brings on the sedate sounding Aditi Rao Hydari, the leading lady of the flick to the limelight. It's slow and overdramatic and can be presumed to be witty background score in this fun-loving rom-com.
After delivering loads of 'masti' and madness in enthralling 'Madhubala' (MERE BROTHER KI DULHAN), Ali Zafar gears up for another pompous dancing treat in average sounding 'Ting Rang'. This time Ali's composition sounds like mix and match of Salim-Suleiman and Pritam's hit 'bhangra' numbers, but the outcome is strictly average. Slipshod lyrics, ordinary sounding vocals and routine arrangements disappoint completely and the soundtrack turns out to be a big disappointment.
Upbeat moods of mushy melodic grooves returns back with a glimmer of hope and optimism in lively sounding 'Thehree si Zindagi'. The soundtrack brings back the characteristically Hollywood-ish 'rom-com' cheery feel in those chanting 'who-ho-ho' chorals, amalgamated well with well orchestrated westernized musical feel. Ali Zafar sounds more promising in 'boyish' tones this time but Aditya Rao gets a major chunk in the singing department this time. Aditi's uncharacteristically demure voice proves more experimental than desirable in the present context, and the soundtrack turns to be an above-average affair.
CHECK OUT: Aditi Rao Hydari- What you do with your partner is not bold!
Cool party ambience is the next musical mood that takes the album to a different listening zone in feverishly loud 'Oo Lala'. Sanam Marvi and Hadiqa Kiani, two latest Pakistani musical export and prominent figures in Sufi-stylized singing make their relatively modish presence in this peppy sounding number. It has Biddu's stylish 'Disco Deewane' 80's feel, when Nazia Hassan became a nationwide craze. On the contrary, this composition switches gears frequently from disco to Sufi and then to hip-hop and finally returns to Sufi-disco feel with almost minimal impact. Ali Zafar tries too hard to add quality in outstretched 'alaaps', but all-together it's a passable affair. Sanam and Hadiqa's vocal prowess is not tapped to perfection this time as the song is too dominated with gadgetry voices, rhythms and sounds.
'Aaja', the final soundtrack of the album brings some soul and substance to the album. Like the 80's immensely liked Amitabh track, 'Inteha ho gayi Intezar ki' (SHARAABI), it brings out the depressed intoxicating state of lover but later turns out to be an immensely vociferous Sufi hard rock number. The lyrics are reminiscent and inspirational from 'Bandya Ho' (KHUDA KE LIYE) and glorify the Sufism of Bulle Shah in simple wordings. Ali Zafar's indifferent sounding voice has resonating effect with loads of aggressively punched electronic synth-beats, overall an appealing background score, similar to 'Allah ho' (KHUDA KE LIYE), that should be an encouraging factor in the gripping moments of the film.
LONDON PARIS NEW YORK does not paint a rosy romantic picture in its musical outing and ends up as another mediocre sounding multiplex-friendly album. Ali Zafar's efforts in donning multiple roles prove to be an average affair. There are impressive mushy moments of romanticism in tracks like 'Voh Dekhney Mein', 'Thehree si Zindagi' and the title track, but none of the tracks promise to be a big chartbuster. On an experimental note the album too fails as none of the singer (including Ali Zafar himself), makes any big influence. Overall a mediocre musical album that won't be surviving long in the audio markets.
Rating - 2.5/5
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