New to Milliblog? If you like what you read here, may I suggest subscribing to Milliblog's RSS feed or e-mail alerts?. Thanks for visiting!

The music of Vivah is like a 70s time capsule - dated? Yes. Pleasant? Sort of! While Mujhe haq hai & Do anjaane have that quaint charm, O jiji & Jai gauri are ingratiating. Milan abhi is ho-hum. Hamari shaadi has an annoying Chopra-camp sound sans chutzpah & Kal jisne has a sad Nadeem Shravan hangover. As with most Rajshri films, it’s perhaps best to ‘watch’ the songs before we judge them, since they have a knack of getting the best out of the music within the flow of the movie. Ravindra Jain is back, but definitely not for good.

Keywords: Shahid Kapoor, Amrita Rao, Rajshris, Ravindra Jain

Kancha penne and Yedho idhu are impressive - the former with a fresh tune that flows beautifully while the latter is a mellow track with neat arrangements. Paul re-uses his Telugu debut ‘Allari’ track in Kingini mingini, a catchy, rhyme-like playful tune. Oru kodi’s unconventionally attractive sound may now be traced to Sri Lanka. Vaada vaangada and Aajaare are racy tracks with brisk orchestration to suit the songs’ mood, while Welcome to ECR is a hep, exhilarating theme tune. Composer Paul Jacob’s Tamil debut carries a refreshing sound even as it is a bit too offbeat for comfort, at times.

Keywords: Srikanth, Bhavana, Paul Jacob, Bodhi Records, Paul J
Note: The source of ‘Oru kodi’ has been traced to a Sinhalese track, ‘Ran kurahan mala’ by Bhathiya & Sunthush. For more info, check my other site, itwofs!

The screenplay and jaded situations are as juvenile as Jyotika’s actions in the story. The film is surprisingly boring to a large extent, thanks to the wafer thin plot dragged on endlessly and the predictable, long drawn scenes. Surya does shine in the scene when he sees Bhumika after 6 years, while the leading ladies go through the routine faithfully. The songs are completely wasted in terms of unimaginative picturisation, with New York Nagaram taking the cake. For all the hype, the leading pair’s real life affair is a far more compelling and mature story than this self-indulgent, childish farce.

Keywords: Sillunu oru kaadhal, jillunu oru kaadhal, Surya, Jyotika, Bhumika, A R Rahman

Veyyilodu and Ooraan thottathula bear very common, done-to-death sounds, arrangements and predictable interludes, even as the base tunes make up for the overall monotony. Kaadhal neruppin’s synth sound sounds like it could have been composed by any new recent composer, though the package is rhythmic & catchy. Uruguthey is well sung and the underplayed, Indian orchestrations add charm. Chethavadam and Iraivanai are short and a too mod for the film’s theme. The soundtrack carries a predominant, annoying pseudo-rural sound, introduced by Rahman. Debutant GV Prakash needs to work on creating his identity, since this soundtrack sounds like yet another Rahman-wannabe.

Keywords: Bharath, Bhavana, Shankar, Vasantha Balan, Shriya Reddy, Pasupathy, G V Prakash, A R Rahman

Yatra is sure an unconventional album. Should be…with music by Khayyam and Goutam Ghose, who does music for most of his movies! Out of the 4 tracks by Khayyam, only Talat Aziz’s Saaz-e-dil, with a true-blue ghazal feel, impresses. The other three are painfully out of sorts. Goutam Ghose runs riot with 8 re-composed tracks. While the remix of Kabhi aar is embarrassing, Shuvra Guha’s bandish Dareja dareja, the thumri More akhiyan and Keya Acharya’s Panchhi pinjre se are decent. After the anomaly cited below this review, strange that I get another, so soon! Yatra’s soundtrack requires one key virtue…patience!

Keywords: Goutam Ghose, Khayyam, Rekha, Nana Patekar

But for marginal techno annoyances, the nouveau title song is reasonably faith-inducing. Bigdi bana do is better with a pensive tune, while the last of Anu Malik composed tunes, Suno suno is jaded & more out of his rainy day bank of tunes. The original composer C Arjun’s tunes in the earlier title song (although rearranged) and Yahaan wahaan sound like the 70s, opened via a time capsule! Among the other bhajans, Hari Om Sharan’s Taro taro stands out. The soundtrack is mighty adequate for a religious movie. Just that a film of this kind sounds like a complete anomaly!

Keywords: Jai Santoshi maa, remake, Percept

Humko maloom follows a tested, feel-good Anu Malik tune & Gulzar’s words really make a difference! The pseudo-qawali sounds quite good in the catchy Jaane ke while Sonu weaves his magic vocals in the mellow Ajnabi shehar with Gulzar’s stunning verses and scintillating arrangements by the composer. Udh Jaana and Kubool kar le (despite the wajood track re-use) carry glitzy sounds well complimented by an assortment of interesting voices. Sau dard is the only bland note with yawn-inducing monotony. Jaan-e-man goes beyond the recent techno-rhythmic invasion (Pritam/ Himesh-ishtyle) and works well as the quintessential Bollywood soundtrack! Welcome back, Anu Malik!

Keywords: Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta

Imaan ka asar - Dor (Salim Sulaiman, Hindi)
Absolutely scintillating duet with Sunidhi and Shreya. This one grows on you like no other recent track. Salim Sulaiman rock the scene with this buoyant, cheerful song!

Tere bin - Bas Ek Pal (Mithoon, Hindi)
Atis Aslam. That says it all. That one voice carries this otherwise average track to dizzying heights.

New York Nagaram - Jillunu Oru Kaadhal (A R Rahman, Tamil)
Almost Sting-like. Rahman wisely chooses to sing this himself. The orchestration uncovers itself in beautiful layers adding to the charm of the track.

Doston - Iqraar By Chance (Sandesh Shandilya, Hindi)
Completely underrated. Kunal Ganjawala has a ball singing this song on friendship. This a very catchy and interestingly-tuned ditty.

Dheemi dheemi - Shiva (Ilayaraja, Hindi)
The tune & arrangement is vintage Ilayaraja. So is the mild Irish/ celtic sound in the interludes. Lilting and lovely, this one!

So jaaoon main - Woh Lamhe (Roop Kumar Rathod, Hindi)
He may have done just one track in this soundtrack but that one really stands tall as a original in front of the chartbusting/ lifted ‘Kya mujhe’.

Aaj ki raat - Don (Shakar Ehsaan Loy, Hindi)
The retro Bappi’ish arrangements and Alisha’s vocals make a huge impact in this track, that is clearly the highlight of this hyped soundtrack!

Gautam seems to be severely saddled with Kaakka Kaakka’s baggage, besides the ones on Kamal’s chin and below his eyes! The film gets its mooring towards the climax and that gay suggestion is a neat little touch. The biggest issue of course are the villains - their motive ridicules the film’s premise and they simply redo Kaakka Kaakka’s Jeevan. The next irritant is the utterly discordant background score by Harris. But yes, there are flashes of genuine intelligence and maturity in the interaction between Kamal and Jyotika. Perhaps Gautam can build on that and get out of the cop mode.

Keywords: Kamal Hassan, Jyotika, Prakash Raj, Gautam Menon