The title song is monotonously bland, with lyrics that include cringe-worthy rhymes. Dhunki is worse, despite a valiant effort by Neha Bhasin in the vocals department, while Choomantar thankfully gets it right – hip, Brit pop sound, well sung by Benny Dayal and Aditi Singh Sharma. Isq risk is a neat song too – simplistic [...]

Ik junoon‘s enthusiasm is highly infectious, particularly the energy in the arrangements and delightful vocals. Alyssa Mendosa is in total control of the dreamy Khaabon ke parindey; its jazzy, restless orchestration is a sheer joy to absorb. Hrithik, Farhan and Abhay’s vocals gel beautifully with Maria Del Mar Fernandez in the gorgeously latino Senorita, while [...]

Shirish Kunder’s stagey title song is interestingly gimmicky – with Sonu Nigam’s impressive Dasavatharam-style multi-voice singing topping the list, while Sheila ki jawani is a zingy, rabble-rousing scorcher that is mainly Sunidhi’s show! The only thing differentiating the energetic, well-sung techno qawali Wallah re wallah from Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s repertoire is Shankar’s missing vocals…thankfully! Badey [...]

Rajneeti is one of the few movies that I recall getting almost all round positive reviews and that was one of the reasons why I chose to see it too. The film is racy and riveting for most parts and Prakash Jha does a good job in converting the Mahabharat thread into contemporary Indian politics [...]

Pritam’s Bheegi si is surprisingly South Indian, like a time-tested Vidyasagar track – frothy and catchy. Aadesh Shrivastava’s Mora piya is predictable and functionally decent, getting better solely due to the exposure. Kavitha Seth’s trance version however misuses her vocals. Shantanu Moitra delivers the soundtrack’s best – a thoroughly enjoyable, fabulously arranged item number, Ishq [...]

Rahat is getting typecast and it is clear from the maha-predictable forced-pleasantness of Rishte naate. Gale lag ja works marginally, only because of Javed Ali, but Paisa (by RDB), with its faux-coolness is pretty sad! The calypso genre explored by Pritam in Baamulaiza is mindless and scatterbrained, despite 3 vocalists, while the folk-fusion attempted in [...]

Main tera dhadkan is noise aggravation; Hard Kaur’s Follow me, even more so! The noise quotient carries through to Oh by God and Prem ki naiyya too – pointlessly loaded with predictable sounds. Atif’s solo Tu jaane na is oddly underwhelming – the bhajan-like ballad just doesn’t work, even in its other two ambitious versions! [...]

KK’s Hai junoon is perfect sing-along material in true Pritam tradition. And KK can never go wrong with such numbers. The same thing can be said about Mere sang, but it’s a bit too routine for showering as much praise. Mohit Chauhan’s Tune jo na kaha too is in a similar vein – reusing the [...]

Benny’s fabulous in the pensive melody, Tu meri dost; the contoured tune and nuanced orchestration works well. Beyond the instantly catchy facade, Shano is simplistically pop, while the lilting Tu muskura has wonderful vocals from Alka, and particularly Javed Ali. Mastam is at best a non-starter medley even as Zindagi, the Srinivas-solo, takes off from [...]

The title track is so obviously an attempt to relive the Partner success that you actually feel sad for this duo! Rab ka banda showcases some glitzy backgrounds for a tune that’s just lifeless, while the Daler-Sunidhi track, Karle Baby Dance Wance is silly willy. Wajid bangs your aural nerves with the appropriately titled Bang [...]