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Tu mujhse and Mere Falak are extremely breezy and entertaining, thanks largely to KK’s spritely rendition and some pleasant backgrounds by Lalit. Kash ek din reminds me of Nadeem Shravan’s heydays and is sufficiently and predictably enjoyable. But the soundtrack comes to a crashing halt with Duniya ne, shamelessly ripped off from Sanjeev Darshan’s Deewana deewana from Rishhey (2002). Funny fact: Sanjeev Darshan ripped it off Amr Diab’s Albi Ikhtarak. With that settled, I’m not sure who I should attribute the first three tracks! Lalit Pandit carries on Jatin Lalit’s tradition of making very listenable tunes and pilfering others’ music.

Keywords: Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt, Tushar Jalota, Mrinalini Sharma

Jab tak aims to be a rousing anthem, but despite the impressive sounds Sukhwinder packs in the track, its middling at best, but the composer/ singer impresses with the serene Shabad Gurbani, rendered with the requisite austerity. Sneha Pant’s Barsan lagi has an interesting enough structure even as Harshdeep’s Is pal is the catchiest and swankiest of this soundtrack, with an appealing orchestration to boot, while guest composer, veteran Vanraj Bhatia’s More haji piya is barely passable. Sukhwinder Singh continues to search for his moorings as a composer and it’s strange that Rajkumar Santoshi found him adequate for his script!

Keywords: Ajay Devgan, Vidya Balan

The title song and Vethalaya’s remixes take a leaf from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s techno update for the original, Hindi Don’s remake. But both the tracks are surprisingly jarring with a nauseatingly overdone sound. Seval kodi too is strangely indifferent with a stock tune and stale rhythms, while the theme music is pretty assembly-line. Thankfully Yuvan’s innovation comes to the fore with Naan mattum and Sei - a set of experimental, but groovy tracks, complete with exotic interludes and orchestration. Given Vishnuvaradhan’s past success with Yuvan’s music (Arindhum ariyaamalum & Pattiyal), it’s surprising that a large part of Billa’s music is rather mediocre.

Keywords: Ajith, Nayantara, Yuvan, Namitha

Anand Raaj Anand crafts his n’th noisy mishmash in Hoth rasiley but redeems some brownie points singing and composing the dancy and rhythmic Uncha lamba and Tera sarafa, despite working on some extremely predictable material. Himesh and his truly nasal best in the utterly mundane Kola laka (!). He also manages to up the ante further with the shrieky and immensely annoying Insha allah. Sajid Wajid try their Partner sound - again, rather unsuccessfully in the insipid title track. Welcome’s OST is typical, pointless, mainstream noise from Bollywood – hardly serves any purpose and piggybacks solely on glitzy and starry picturization.

Keywords: Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Mallika Sherawat

Kuyil paadum cleverly apes Sting’s Englishman in Newyork within its structure, and is reminiscent of Roja’s Chinna chinna aasai while Thullum thullalil works due to its inventive, calypso-tinged package. Ragasiya kanna, despite shades of a familiar and pleasant raga, is pretty disjoint, much like Sembaruthi, another mishmash with pointlessly loud rhythms. Hariharan’s Aayiram kelvigal is glum and deviates into disparate Paki rock too, while Azhagiya penne, thankfully, brings the spunk back into the soundtrack with its groovy tune and orchestration combo, typical of Ranjit’s vibrant and eclectic experimentation. After surprisingly good work in Urchagam, Ranjit Barot disappoints in Kanna’s music!

Keywords: Prakashraj, Ranjeet Barot

What do you get when David Dhawan directs SJ Surya’s script for Vaali? You get Azhagiya Tamizh Magan. Vijay gets so side-tracked by a half-baked idea that uses ESP like vadumaanga, that you wonder why he even agreed to star in this dud! ESP and a double role holds fantastic opportunities, but not for a star like Vijay who needs to massage his stardom with more predictable sequences, film after film – something we’ve come to enjoy these days. There’s an absurdly fake outlook throughout the film that even for a make-believe prince like Vijay, ATM seems like an ambitious overkill.

Keywords: Vijay, Shreya, A R Rahman, Namitha

Think DDLJ 2.0! Jab we met gains immensely from Shahid and Kareena’s endearing and honest performances. There are the usual leaps of imagination - the shortcuts that work brilliantly for Shahid to turn his life around, but even those gel well within an earnest screenplay conjured superbly by the director. Pritam’s music and the choreography add phenomenal spunk to the proceedings while Kareena’s family - despite their limited screen time, are far more enjoyable than the average Chopra-styled extended khandan, particularly Dara Singh! Post his excellent debut, Imtiaz Ali learns his commercial lessons and gets the formula right, big time!

Keywords: Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan

Velaayee plays as fluently as one of Raja’s best folk’ish tracks carrying poignant pathos while Vellaaviyil effortlessly traverses a breezy village romance with a gorgeously lilting tune. Yaar yaaro agonises over life with a maudlin tune but Engalukkum is typical Raja all the way - the orchestration in particular, even if the core tune is not that effective. Srinivas goes solo in Margazhiyil, a bare melody that gains by his effortless rendition. Beyond all this, what you remember is some brilliant lines by Vairamuthu – in Velaayee, Vellaaviyil and Margazhiyil. Its appropriately effective in conveying the feelings of all things rustic.

Keywords: Thangar Bachan, Amitach Bachchan!, Sathyaraj, Archana, Ombathu Ruuba Nottu, Onbathu Roobai Nottu

Unnarugil varugayil is instantly catchy with neat rhythms and a haunting tune, while Kalloori theme carries the trademark Joshua Sridhar theme sound - very pleasant and fantastic chorus pieces. Haricharan impresses big time in Sariya idhu thavara, another beautiful melody with marked Rahman influences in the orchestration. June july sounds straight out of Harris Jeyaraj’s repertoire and despite the predictable arrangements, is a competent and likeable track. Vandanam ayya is an annoying villuppaattu-style eulogy for college students – largely situational and fragmented. Kalloori is entirely in line with what one expects from Balaji Shaktivel’s sensibilities routed via Joshua Sridhar’s music sense.

Keywords: Shankar, Balaji Shaktivel, Joshua Sridhar, Tamanna, Akhil

Hum jo chalne lage - Jab we met (Pritam, Hindi)
This was one of the songs that did not impress me initially in this soundtrack. But, I loved this track in the film and completely loved the line, ‘Manzil se behtar lagne lage hai yeh raaste‘, which perhaps explains the film as well! Shaan is in fabulous form in the song that is loaded with the usual Pritam-styled orchestration that we’ve come to love!

Labon ko - Bhool bhulaiyya (Pritam, Hindi)
One amazing melody. Pritam at the top of his melodic form. KK is simply delightful in this track’s rendition.

Para para - Tamil M.A (Yuvan Shankar Raja, Tamil)
Yuvan displays musical traits very unique to his dad in this incredible track. The entire tune structure flows so smoothly that it feels like a tightly knit piece and makes for compelling repeated listens. The lyrics too add considerable charm.

Kash laga - No smoking (Vishal Bharadwaj, Hindi)
With lyrics like Kash laga, its difficult to ascertain if this song is meant seriously! But the three singers - composer Vishal Bharadwaj, Daler Mehndi and Sukhwinder blend in the sufi-tinged tune so well, that the result becomes one heck of an addictive track. There are generous Rahman’ish touches too, notably in the interludes.

Is pal - Aaja nachle (Salim Sulaiman, Hindi)
A rather predictable tune, particularly the antaras - but its the simplicity and familiarity that makes this track endearing. Sonu and Shreya breathe life into this beautifully, like only they can. The composers include small innovations like that extra piece of sound that accompanies whenever Is pal is sung - interesting addition, that!

Kelaayo - Azhagiya Tamizh Magan (A R Rahman, Tamil)
Almost resembling the free flowing structure of Rahman’s own Mellisaye from Mr Romeo, this is one heck of a song - involving a delightful retro bit in shades of darbari kaanada and that continuous techno rhythm!

Alaigalin osaigal - Rameshwaram (Niru, Tamil)
Composer Niru redeems himself after a dismal film and pop debut. The lyrics, explaining the pangs of a refugee from Sri Lanka are written with a ray of hope and the simple, pleasant tune lends itself amazingly well here. Its a tough call between this one and Naan tharai nila, from the same film, but this one wins for its serene, breezy tune.

Khoye khoye chand - Khoya Khoya Chand (Shantanu Moitra, Hindi)
Two lyricists - Swanand Kirkire and Ajay Jhingran knock the daylights out of established singers in this joyous celebration of a jazz and qawali combination. The lyrics by Swanand himself is yet another highlight - he seems to reserve such stuff for composers like Shantanu Moitra!

Malarudhu malarudhu - Manjal veyyil (Bharadwaj, Tamil)
Bharadwaj makes it again - a fast paced melody mildly reminiscent (at least to me) of an archaic SA Rajkumar track from Manasukkul Mathappoo (O ponmaanguyil). I’m really not sure why I’m reminded of this forgotten, but lovely track - there’s nothing similar tune-wise, its perhaps the energy in both the songs, while being perfectly well laid out melodies in essence. Malarudhu is slightly more artificial in comparison - the way its sung, but nonetheless a neat song by the composer.

Teri talaash hai - Ramanasia (Raman Mahadevan, Indipop)
The reprise actually sets the mood since it examines the tune threadbare and lets us soak in it. The actual track is superbly composed and sung by Raman Mahadevan and the orchestration matches the track brilliantly. There’s a hint of Leslie Lewis as well - the better tunes of the indipop expert, that is!