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Director :
Music :
Lyrics :
Starring : |
Anubhav Sinha
Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani
Vishal Dadlani, Niranjan Iyengar, Kumaar, Panchhi Jalonvi, Anvita Dutt Guptan, Anubhav Sinha
Shahrukh Khan, Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor, Armaan Verma, Sanjay Dutt (Special appearance), Priyanka Chopra (Special appearance), Satish Shah, Dalip Tahil, Shahana Goswami, Suresh Menon, Tom Wu and Rajinikanth (Special appearance)
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By Satyajit, Glamsham Editorial
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RANDOM ACCESS: VERSION ONE (RA.ONE) loaded...! Super-hero is back again in the living space of Bollywood's dream world and so do the magic of sci-fi thriller in this year's most awaited thriller titled RA.ONE. After the amazing success of Rakesh Roshan's super-hit super-hero flick KRRISH (2006), this Shahrukh Khan techno-friendly magnum opus is the second in this league with a dazzling international cinematic look. Anubhav Sinha, the techno-whiz directorial talent who has stylish thrillers like DUS and CASH to his credits, apart from the melodious hit TUM BIN, directs this super-hero action extravaganza. Vishal-Shekhar, a reliable composer duo and also a favorite with both SRK and Anubhav Sinha, are the musical minds behind the show. It's already a showstopper in the arena with Senegalese American singer, Akon, leading it from the front with a host of talented singers and musicians supporting it. Fuelled heavily with 15 soundtracks, this one promises big entertainment for its D-DAY. Can the music of RA.ONE will be THE ONE musical album that we all are waiting for? Let's land into the comic-book fiction world of RA.ONE and find its musical facts...
"Smack that"...Bollywood ishtyle! Akon's magnanimous persona and unique style of singing makes the first major ballistic concoction with Bollywood's masti-bhara-sangeet via the hugely promoted "Chammak Challo". Belligerently funky to the core, it has snazzy Akon's nasal buzzing singing out crazy Hindi one-liners with aggressively punched arrangements. Vishal-Shekhar's versatility, varying with genres and instrumental beats, regales and mixes many moods and tempos in Akon's voice that finally interacts with Hamsika Iyer's sultry vocals. Besides infectious catchy signature tuneful beats and Akon's peppy singing, its Hamsika's enthused singing that allures and adds to the grandiose of the situation. Pompously choreographed and superhyped in the promos, V-S give it a ubiquitously frolicsome feel and pitch out as much as four remix versions for this hip-shaking dancing bonanza. "Chammak Challo (Punjabi Mix)" mixes Akon's full-spirited voice with the ethnical bhangra tuneful zest in synchronized drumming patterns with added disco-beat fillers and makes this even spicier. A thrilling listening feast for all Punjabi music lovers.
Akon's supremacy rules again and expectations soar higher as one plugs to the next version titled "Chammak Challo (club mix)". It's a contemporary Bollywood's DJ style "club remix" version that is fuelled high with beat-juggles and DJ spins and scratches placed intermittently in the track to create commotion on floors. "Chammak Challo (international mix)" is vivacious, playful and comes in Akon's solo singing version and sounds almost similar to the original version. "Chammak Challo (remix)" is a typical jiving-thriving dancing feasting number, a version that has crazy "turntablism" mixed well with tuneful beats of the original version. V-S deliver out one of the biggest anthems of this year and to complement well it prospers in all its versions, overall a paisa-vasool show that should work on big screen. Chartbuster!!!
That's what we call Inspiration! Legendary Ben E King's immortal melody "Stand by Me" had almost 400 versions to his credit, which primarily includes ones by John Lennon, Jimmi Hendrix and Elton John. This time SRK gets it legally with similar inspirational lyrics (written Jerry Lieber, Mike Stoller and Ben E King) as back-up lyrics and produces out a gem of mellifluous listening delight in "Dildara (stand by me)". V-S experiments it brilliantly with Gospel music (a Christian country music genre) and influences well with fine balance of trance, R& B and soul for its soulful impact with extra dosages of Sufi rock in its latter stages. Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, a magical voice behind "Mitwa" (KABHI ALVIDA NA KEHNA) and "Tere Naina" (MY NAME IS KHAN) and also SRK favorite for solo tracks, delivers out fabulously in his classically refined vocals. The well nurtured and rendered impressive alaaps in the middle interludes from prolific back-up vocals of Clinton Cerejo, Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravijani are added delights that add to the listening charm. It's all-together a unique soulful listening experience as genres are mixed well in proportion to deliver out another super- hit from the album. Shafqat's well etched voice promises another big hit and so do Kumaar's Urdu's one-word for 'beloved' (Mehrama, Rehbara, Rehnuma) that gives it a poetic finesse. Overall a delightful romantic experience and a flourishing success for the entire musical team. Melodious!!!
Akon's tangible "n" cult singing that has made listeners euphoric worldwide makes its strong impacts in frivolously 'boogie-woogie' dancing feast titled "Criminal". Unlike its scandalous credit name ("Criminal"), it comes more like a "girl wooing" dancing number where musical "masti" and madness are mixed hot-headedly and are delivered potentially in midst of enthused singing. It has trademark Akon's hip-hop cum electronica feel in its funky arrangements, followed with Vishal Dadlani's spirited vocals supported well and giving it a perfect 'fusion' musical offering outlook. Shruti Pathak's somber singing adds feminine shades where loads of infectious rhythmical patterns, drumming and trance musical gives it a true international feel. Kumaar and Vishal Dadlani's racy lyrical setting deserve an appreciation as it transits energetically between English and Hindi wording and fits well in the outrageously loud instrumental movements of the track. "Criminal (club mix)" sticks to the principals of contemporary 'cub-remix' where funky disco-beat fillers are pulverized well with DJ claps and beat-juggles to deliver out another entertaining item for the party animals. Entertaining!!!
Soul-healing touches of Gospel music re-enters and collage well with the finesse of Indian classical singing and music in beautifully composed "Bhare Naina". It conceives out into a melodramatic viraah (song of separation) soundtrack that not only serenades out quality but also evokes pathos. After delivering out a gem of solo singing performance in "Piya Kesariyo" (HUM TUM SHABANA), talented Nandini Shrikar delivers out another outstanding singing performance that has flair of classical singing, matching well to the class of singers like Rekha Bharadwaj, Richa Sharma and Shilpa Rao. V-S are immensely malleable in emotions and generously versatile in arrangements; composition is excellent, that has finest of both western and Indian classical musical variants, matching well to the distressing situation of the flick. Panchhi Jalonvi's (one of Anubhav's favourite!) lyrics have poignancy of expressions, working promisingly in accentuating out pain and sufferings in most modest way. For all the classy listeners, this one is really a big attribute from the album; one of the finest attempts in fusion segment this year and will surely elate V-S stature in the industry. Classical!!!
V-S's musical endeavors that enlightened campus-capers in tracks like "Jaane Kyon" (DOSTANA) sparkle again with bagful of energy in "Right by your side". It's a typical Hollywood-ish college theme track that has boyish singing charms of Siddarth Coutto with spirited feel of living life to fullest in its contents. Anvita Dutt's energetically driven wordings are catered to add zestful energy of peppiness in the album. The song comes out as impressive situational number that should be sufficient enough to give 'feel-good' boost in the light moments of the flick. Go for it!!!
After 'goody-goody' musical charms of lovable melodies and 'yuppie' friendly tracks, here works the dark-age of villainous antics and gives first impression of enthralling 'super-hero' entertainer in "Raftaarein". This time V-S pay ode to great R.D Burman as they impersonate his deep-throated loud baritones and composing style in delivering out this nerve-racking thrilling number. Vishal and Shekhar modulate their voice in grumbling tones and intimidates out a typical 70's Bollywood's action potboiler feel number. To be precise, the number brings memories of Panchamda's zesty numbers like "Duniya Mein" (APNA DESH -1972) and "Dhanno Ki Aankhon Mein" (KITAAB -1977) as it catches his uproarious voice and style of multihued sound composing. This high-spirited but dark number is presumed to be a pivotal factor in the narration of the flick and should be a mind-boggling cinematic feast in the compelling moments of the flick.
Darkness looms large as the mood turns dark to darker this time with added thrilling moments of 'run and chase' getting energized with loads of funky beats and rhythms in "Jiya Mora Ghabraye (the chase)". The song belongs to the typical Anubhav Sinha stylized action thriller feel where there are loads of speeding westernized orchestrations at the helm of affairs with full support of enthused uproarious voices. It bears a comic-book outlook of 'hero-confronting-villain' with heavy loads of trance, pop and rock music in its rollicking arrangements. V-S composed this in a format of fusion music where elements of Indian classical music are well embroiled in a rush of peppy thrilling beats. Sukhwinder Singh's animatedly deep-throated voice along with roaring back-up vocals of Vishal Dadlani leads it from the front and pulses up senses. Overall a well composed background score with quality supports from all performers.
No super-hero flick can be completed without the support of effective theme or background score and there is set of them to entertain in this audio packaging, the first to hit the bull's eye is "Comes The Light-theme". It carries out the divine feel as well as comforting and compelling melodic ambience in those well crafted philharmonic orchestral displays
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"I'm on (theme)" carries off the similar intimidating spells of moments with signature tuneful impacts of "Raftaarein" and gives sufficient musical moments for nail-biting finishing in the film.
Finally, there is the soulful and thematically sublime "Song of the end (theme)" that is melancholic as well as melodramatic in its sentimental orchestral displays. This last instrumental version evokes pathos and tries to create nostalgia for RA.ONE in the closing stages of this action-packed super-hero saga. Touching!!!
RA.ONE lives up to its mammoth expectations, generous hype and larger-than-life grandeur and deserves a thumbs-up for the overall quality display it delivers in its entire audio packaging. Vishal-Shekhar materialize this golden opportunity of collaborating with international talents and compose out one of the biggest album of this year. Commercially affable and highly entertaining in its contents, the album promises big chartbusting hits in tracks like "Chammak Challo", "Criminal", "Dildara (stand by me)" and "Bhare Naina", while the rest of them work perfectly with the theme, spirit and feel of the flick. RA.ONE can be presumed to be among one of top grossers at the musical stands this year and will be enjoying a big and healthy shelf life in the months to come. To all readers...Happy Listening!!!
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