Challa is every bit Rahman as far as the free-flowing, slow-burning tune is concerned, despite the Punjabi, and the phonetic similarity of the key word to Rabbi’s Bulla; Keba Jeremiah’s guitars work almost like the 2nd voice in the song! Saans, the possible mouth-to-mouth resuscitation anthem, sees Rahman performing the challenging task of straddling his [...]

NW1W. The entire soundtrack seems to be milking the earlier Don title song and falls completely flat. Keywords: Don, Shah Rukh Khan

Chammak challo is Vishal Shekhar’s own Jai ho, with Akon; instantly catchy, with a musical package that incorporates Tamil verses by Hamsika Iyer, even as it seems to offer a subtle nod to Choli ke peeche, at places! Criminal cleverly morphs Akon’s predominantly western sound with the Indian sound helmed by Vishal. Dildara is another [...]

Aashish Rego and Shree D’s title song is cinema-school-love template all the way. Antenna is standard Pritam material – the kind he makes Neeraj Shridhar sing usually…Benny Dayal does the honors here; foot-tapping and catchy. School ke din, Better not mess with me and Undi the condi form the perfect regurgitated, messy triumvirate – exactly [...]

Aasma girl Vasuda Sharma’s composing debut is not bad at all. In fact, she manages the lighter, fluffy stuff well, like in the catchy and pop’ish title song and Socha na tha, that oddly seems to promise a take-off, but, interestingly, never does! In Batiyan, she uses her vocals aptly for that lilting, albeit simplistic [...]

Sajda is exceptionally lilting; the combination of Rahat, Shankar and Richa Sharma works brilliantly. Tere naina follows a by-now-familiar, trio-template tune, but still makes for beautiful listening – Shafqat’s singing and a remarkable chorus. Rashid Khan’s pious Allah hi rahem is barely functional while Suraj Jagan and Shankar Mahadevan recreate the Rock On magic in [...]

Despite the strong Chopra-feel, Aaja aaja has a pleasant lilt to it, while Akela dil and Magar meri jaan‘s fancy rhythms and vocals fall completely flat. Tu jo jaan le is Sonu’s show all the way; he actually gets his melodic Kannada high in Hindi here. Shreya’s Rang diya dil is pushing the nostalgia too [...]

Marjaani is a thumping, high-energy item song, but Love mera hit hit is Pritam pushing his luck – age-old hooks and stock rhythm. Neeraj is much better in the relatively slower You get me rockin, but for the auditory diarrhea in music; a similar problem in the rambling Ae Aa O too. Raahat Fateh Ali [...]

Aegan is the perfect example of an entire crew pandering brazenly to a star, like many other star crews from Tamil Nadu. So, you have a soundtrack which forgets to mention the lyricist anywhere in the CD sleeve and starts with an uninspiring inspirational track, Odum varayil and a disheveled Hey salaa. Chale jaise hawayein [...]

With a Middle Eastern tinge, Alai paayudhey pointlessly lays its cards right at the outset – the manic kuthu rhythm that the composer adores. Chellame has Udit eating Tamil for a three course meal in a bland tune while Kaadhal Kannadiyil merely rehashes Ek din aap from the film’s original, Yes Boss. Raqeeb’s Tamil qawali, [...]