Everything just works seamlessly in Tumhi ho bandhu – Kavita Seth’s vocals, Neeraj Shridhar’s super enthu hook and Pritam high-energy music… everything! Shalmali Kholgade, fresh from her Pareshaan high, rocks Daru desi, along with Benny Dayal – a spirited, groovy song in true Pritam style. Yaariyaan‘s rock version, with Mohan ‘Agnee’ Kannan and Shilpa Rao, [...]

Make some noise for the Desi Boyz sees Pritam employ every trick in his book to create reasonably listenable and relentless Punglish noise. Subha hone na de, with its nursery rhymishly addictive hook, is pedestrian techno pop, while Jhak maar ke whips up a catchy mix that is a bit too reminiscent of Action Replayy’s [...]

Prasoon’s lyrics faintly touch SEL’s Achha lagta hai, from Kuch Naa Kaho, in Achha lagta hai(!), but changes tone into a playful, colloquial, immensely addictive banter. What works significantly in favor of Mauka is the ‘Other Mahadevan’ factor; the ‘chanace’ given to Raman Mahadevan adds wonderfully fresh appeal to this high-energy track. Pt. Channulal Mishra [...]

Dum maaro dum’s remix works appropriately by not redoing it as-is and cleverly incorporating choice elements from the original in a funky mix; kudos to Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale, credited for additional Dum Maaro Dum riff! Ash King, Sunidhi and Mohit profess love in Spanish across 3 versions of Te amo; passable and predictable [...]

Yeh des hai has a strong Rahman whiff and works quite well! Nain tere whips up a decent Bong feel, but is a bit too simplistic, while Sohail gets it right in Sapne saloney, a strikingly pensive melody with wonderful vocals. The anthemic title song and Vande Mataram by Cine Singers Association Chorus Group are [...]

Adhoore and Ajab lehar are trademark Vishal Shekhar; if the former is catchy and beautifully uptempo, the latter’s orchestration makes all the difference! Prasoon Joshi makes his impact wonderfully in Dhoop ke makaan, while Shekhar and Sunidhi are in scintillating form with their vocals. Monica ‘Shaa’ir’ Dogra competes proficiently with Vishal’s already impeccable singing in [...]

Anandh takes up rock and Indian’ness in equal measure with seasoned ease for the title song; Ronit’s lead vocals and the backing chorus are extremely effective. Mohit Chauhan’s Man lafanga is stuff of Vishal Bharadwaj’ish allure – breezy, guitary and delightful. With its folk-rock sound, Dhatad tatad is highly infectious, but it is Nain parindey [...]

Oh Girl you’re mine is an unfortunate opener to the soundtrack since it’s the least interesting song with a terribly lame pattern and predictable sounds. Then, the soundtrack delivers all the fun! Papa jag jayega makes brilliant use of Neeraj Sridhar’s vocals and that ultra-catchy hook, while the Dhanno-remix of Laawaris’ memorable classic adds neat [...]

Hey ya’s frothy tune and Clinton’s breezy vocals perfectly complement each other, while Uff teri adaa is the soundtrack’s ebullient highlight, with a trippy techno sound that envelops the very-trio’ish folk roots and Alyssa Mendonsa’s tantalizing vocals! K.K goes through the motions in the serenely country’ish Jaane ye kya hua, while Kaisi hai ye udaasi‘s [...]

We’ve come a long way indeed. It started with ‘Yeh shaadi nahi ho sakti’, often uttered by the male lover who took a bit too long to announce his love. Women became empowered, a few years later – and uttered the long, shrilly, ‘Naheeee’, at the shaadi ka mandap, just seconds before the mangal sutra [...]