Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Anu Malik
Sameer, Aatish Kapadia
Amitabh Bachhan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra
By Ronak Kotecha
One facet common amongst the cast and crew of the movie “Waqt – the race against time” is that all their preceding movies have done really well. While Amitabh Bacchhan is still busy accepting accolades for “Black”, Akshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra are also riding high on the success of “Aitraaz”. As for the director Vipul Amrutlal Shah, his onscreen adaptation of a much-hit Gujarati play “Andhalo Pato” – “Aankhen” sent the cash registers ringing at the box-office almost effortlessly.
Anu Malik, who has had a fabulous year with all the Murder and Indian Idol hysteria, gets back to work with “Waqt”, while along with Sameer, the popular tele writer/director Aatish Kapadia (of “Khichdi” fame) continues his association with Vipul Shah, as a lyricist though.
“Subah Hogee” is a bona fide Anu Malik composition that strikes your melodious chord almost instantaneously. What with Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik being at their harmonious bests. Sameer’s lyrics though are highly inspired from yesteryear’s famous track “Din Mahine Saal Guzarte Jaayenge” from Rajesh Khanna – Shabana Azmi starrer “Avtaar”. Even the tune comes very close to this track – Anu Malik after all!
Filmed on Amitabh, so needless to say, rendered by Sudesh Bhosle along with Sonu Nigam (for Akshay) Sunidhi Chauhan (for Priyanka) and Mahalxmi (for Shefali) – “Miraksam” is the party track that epitomizes the affable relationships among the family of characters in the movie. The song is average and nothing beyond that and what makes it more common and boring, is Sudesh Bhosle and Amitabh’s combination that has been utilized beyond tolerable limits. While Anu Malik should start thinking of some variation in voice for Mr.Bachhan, Sameer should start considering the idea of inserting sub-titles for most of the tracks he writes nowadays e.g. Gela Gela, Tala Tum and now Miraksam.
Kailah Kher takes on complete charge and most of the space on the tape as well with “Toot Gaya”. A glowering track filled with agony and emotional undertones is well rendered by Kher, but the never-ending length of the track seems to impede its repeat value. Lyrically, the track is loaded with significant and understandable lingo, while the not-so-rich tunefulness of the track does not take it too far.
Placed on both the sides of the tape, the instrumental “Tandav Music” does have the rigor and energy to make you do some Tandav, but thankfully, ends before one gets too emotional or rather practical about it.
Sonu Nigam and his muse – Sunidhi Chauhan band together once again for a youthful romantic duet – “Chhup Jaa Chhup Jaa”. With minimum complications and beautiful flute pieces, the track sounds like a timeless classic, especially due to Sunidhi’s extra bit in rendering a sensuously rich naughtiness in her performance.
Every festival has been worth a situation or a song in our Bollywood and Holi happens to be one of the most celebrated ones in the tinsel town (off screen as well). Pristine white attires, colorful seams of air and splattering waters create a plush setup for a perfect Holi at the affluent Bollywood homes. "Do Me a Favor, Lets Play Holi” is more of a fun song with Hindi-English lexis and Anu Malik/Sunidhi Chauhan’s special nasal singing makes the track extremely spry and perky with Sameer’s comical lyrics to add to all the madness. Listen to the track and go crazy over at least two things. A. Anu’s pronunciation for Holi, Boli and all that ends with Li. B. Sunidhi’s extremely made-up yet cute nasal singing.
The album concludes at an exceptionally youthful note with “Apne Jahanke”. Some vivacious English vocabulary makes way for Sonu Nigam and Adnan Sami’s total pop act. Aatish Kapadia’s lyrics aptly fit into the track that races into the senses of the listeners. An elegant track with superb orchestration that promises a long run at the most happening night outs.
When it comes to commercial music, Anu Malik is one of the better music directors, who knows the music pulse of the Indian audiences and delivers just what is needed, in at least 80% of his music. “Waqt”, too is a product of Anu’s extremely congenial sense of music and melody such that Waqt seems to be racing more toward its audiences than against the time.