Golmaal 3 (2010)

Golmaal, Golmaal Returns and now Golmaal 3 – I wonder what is up with Bollywood’s obsession with sequels? But I am not complaining as long as it’s something worth watching and listening to. And considering how Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision has a repute of bringing out movies to remember, one can keep high hopes from Golmaal 3.

Bollywood’s first trilogy Golmaal 3 stars Ajay Devgan, Tusshaar Kapoor, Arshad Warsi and Kareena Kapoor. Its plot revolves around the lives of two bunches of siblings within a family and their hatred towards each other. The surprising thing is that even though this family lives together, eats together and prays together, they still can’t stand each other.  All we have been told yet is that this quirky family promises to deliver us some hilarious moments, ageless romance and a few heartwarming scenes. They say it is going to be a journey of excitement, madness and love. Oh and since it is Golmaal 3 they claim to have thrice the fun, thrice the magic, and thrice the laughter. Whether their claims turn out true or not, only time will tell but for now we have the music of Golmaal 3, which released recently.

K.K, Anouska Manchanda and Monali Thakur come together to do the music of Golmaal 3. The album opens with (as expected) ‘Golmaal’ and you get to hear ‘Golmaal Golmaal’ all over again. The feeling of déjà vu persists throughout the song and if you don’t really concentrate you might not feel you are listening to something new. The song sure is easy on the lips but what’s the point of making another version of the same Golmaal which has been heard way too many times already when you don’t add freshness to it?

The next track in the album, ‘Apna Har Din’ talks about how you should live each day like it’s your last and enjoy to the max. This track basically sums up the entire story of Anjaana Anjaani in five minutes. It also talks about how the world is selfish and you shouldn’t care about it and only live for your loved ones. Though the concept is nice, Pritam’s music is a major disappointment in this song and even Shaan and Anushka couldn’t save the song.

‘Ale’ sounds better than the earlier tracks in the album but still isn’t what you would call fantastic. Sung by Neeraj and Antara, ‘Ale’ seems like an attempt at a club song but it fails to give off that foot tapping, clubby vibe. It might still appeal to younger people since it’s made for them and highlights how a bunch of friends and have made their own path and live life according to their own terms but I doubt it will find a place in anyone’s favourite playlist this season.

Pritam has added two remakes in this album – ‘Yaad Aa Raha Hain’ and ‘Disco Dancer’. The lyrics of these are exactly the same as the original numbers except the beats have been experimented with to give that Pritam touch to them. While Bappi Lahiri sings ‘Disco Dancer’, it is Sudesh Bhosle who comes behind the mic for ‘Yaad Aa Raha Hain’. ‘Yaad Aa Raha Hain’ might not amuse you but Bappi Lahiri has proved that even at this age, he sure can sing!

The last track in the album, ‘Desi Kali’ is a (much needed) dance track and a pleasant or the only surprise in the Golmaal 3 album. It is high on rhythm, full of beats and easy on the lips, which is why this is one of those songs that you just ‘get’ upon hearing it once. Neeraj and Sunidhi Chauhan have done a great job with the vocals. Sunidhi’s vocals stand out as soon as the song starts and help make it more listenable.  This song has the potential to become popular among the masses and you might see some creative people dancing to the tunes of ‘Desi Kali’ in the upcoming shaadi season. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that ‘Desi Kali’ saves Golmaal 3′s album from being a complete failure.

The album also includes a remix version of ‘Desi Kali’, ‘Apna Har Din’ and ‘Golmaal’ but there’s nothing special about the remixes. The only difference is the increase in the tempos of the songs. The originals are better (if they could be called that) than the remixes any day.

To be honest, the music of Golmaal had a lot of promise, which it failed to meet. Now let’s wait and see if the movie itself meets the expectations of viewers or not – Hafsah Sarfraz

Tees Maar Khan (2010)

For all those who loved Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om, it is time to rejoice! Farah Khan is back with her world of cinema, which gives a new definition to a huge star cast, extravagant sets and costumes, larger than life fictional characters, extremely filmy stories and upbeat soundtracks. Farah’s latest offering, Tees Maar Khan is a thriller garnished with a Bollywood tadka, releasing on December 24. Considering how Farah never seems to disappoint, the year 2010 couldn’t have a better ending for Bollywood.

Tees Maar Khan is a comic escapade, which stars Katrina Kaif as an aspiring actress and Akshay Kumar as a con man who steals, cons and cheats all with such boldness that even shame shies away from him! He and his gang, which includes Dollar, Soda and Burger have managed to keep the police, world over, on their toes. Then one fine day international antique smugglers, the Johri Brothers, assign Tees Maar Khan the most important con job of his life. The job involves robbing antiques worth Rs 500 crore from a heavily guarded moving train. To find out whether Khan along with his girlfriend, Anya (Katrina Kaif) and their gang succeed to pull off the greatest heist in history we will have to wait till December 24. Till then we have the soundtrack of Tees Maar Khaan, which has been composed by the superb team of Vishal Shekhar.

To begin with the album has five original tracks and an overabundance of remixes. There’s almost a remix for every track, which is slightly disappointing. Vishal Shekhar should be the last ones relying on remixes. The album has some high and low notes. Read on to hit the high notes and avoid the low ones.

The album opens with ‘Tees Maar Khan’, the title track. This is a very interesting number for many reasons. The fact that Sonu Nigam has given 54 different voices to this track is one of the reasons. It is Bollywood’s sardonic and melodic take on James Bond’s signature tune which is mixed with Bollywood tunes from the ‘70’s and ‘80’s and the lyrics revolve around the character sketch of Tees Maar Khan. Squeaky, electronically tuned with loads of comical sounds makes this one artistically hilarious. The end of this track has dhol beats in it. There is a remix version of ‘Tees Maar Khan’ in the album too. The remix is more bubbly and fast-paced. Both the original and remix have foot tapping tunes which makes you want to press the repeat button for sure.

Next up, in the album is the much talked about Katrina’s item number, ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’. They have advertised it to be the item song of the year and the kind that you haven’t heard before. Well, I will have to agree now that I have heard it a couple of times and seen the video too. The tune of this track seems to be a fusion of desi and urban vibes. Sunidhi Chauhan’s racy vocals stand out even with the energetic tunes. All that can be said just yet is that you will forget poor old “Munni” after listening/watching to ‘Sheila Ki Jiwani’. The remix which is more hip hop and highly pulsating with the sounds and the grooves, is just as good as the original but such songs make me wonder what is Bollywood’s obsession with item songs?

Farah Khan’s films are incomplete without classic Indian songs and that’s exactly what the next track in the album is. ‘Wallah Re Wallah’ sung by Shekhar, Shreya Ghosal, Kamal Khan, and Raja Hasan is a pure qawwali track. This is precisely the reason why it might not appeal to the masses but nevertheless the tune is energetic. Despite that ‘Wallah Re Wallah’ does not make a first impression. You might have to listen to it a couple of times before it grows on you. Even though I cannot understand why, this track has a remix too, which was completely unnecessary. The remix doesn’t impress either.

The album regains its strength with ‘Baday Dilwala’ after a disappointing track. This catchy number is a mixture of English and Hindi lyrics that stand out amidst the fast beat. ‘Baday Dilwala’ is sung mainly by Sukhwindar, who I might add, has done a tremendous job with the vocals making it sound nothing less than perfect. Shreya Ghoshal has also contributed her sweet voice to this track and even though she has a limited part, she has shown a unique side of hers. The lyrics are also very interesting mentioning the most unexpected things like gossip and Filmfare. Coming back to the tune, this is the kind of track that makes you want to get up and tap your feet. Needless to say, you will get to see lots of people dancing to ‘Baday Dilwala’ in the next shaadi season. The remix continues with the fast beat adding a few more energetic notes to the original one. Both are superbly done and trademark Farah Khan songs!

‘Happy Ending’, the next track in the album, is another trademark of Farah Khan’s cinema. This track is made for showing end credits and brings together some of the major contestants from various music talent hunt shows including Abhijeet Sawant, Harshat Saxena, Debojit Saha and Prajakta Shukre at the vocals. If I had to pick out the low notes of this album, ‘Happy Ending’ would be one of them. Though it doesn’t put you off from the track but it doesn’t instantly get you addicted either. The tunes in the introduction sound like acknowledging everyone, wishing everybody success in their future endeavors as the curtains fall to show ‘THE END’. And this is probably exactly what this track will be about in the movie.

The album promises cheerfulness in every track but since it has only five original tracks, it leaves the listener wishing for more. Nevertheless, ‘Tees Maar Khan’ – the title track, ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ and ‘Baday Dilwala’ are the highlights of this album! – Hafsah Sarfraz

Avraga by Kazak

Who is Kazak, the band? Their debut album was released by Fire Records as part of a two-record deal a few months back, but coming across their album Avraga was still a surprise. During times when publicity either makes or breaks music acts, it is simply surprising to note that Kazak didn’t register on any radars, in Pakistan at least. In Canada, where the band hails from, they seem to have a solid fan following. Well, they have a fan following. 316 people, at the time of print, like their Facebook page.

At first listen, the album goes down easy. It is old-school rock, nothing fancy. But that is a fact that works against the band as well; their music becomes something that you can leave on, on the radio and forget all about. It is music that fades into the background without really making an impact. In fact the only bit of interesting trivia to be had from Avraga is that the band has two songs called ‘Yakeen’ on the album. The rest, as they say is history – but not eye-popping, page-turning history.

There is also a rap track on the album, ‘Damn’ with Mark Spitz. It is slightly more furious than the rest of the songs on the album. ‘Damn’ is the kind of song that might have become really popular in 2003 – back in the day when Limp Bizkit was still popular with the really young kids. However one has to wonder what a track like ‘Damn’ is doing on an album that is so predominantly rock. One might argue that the band is trying to show off their versatility but the song seems a tad out of place in the entire set.

‘Damn’ is still a better choice to place in the selection made available on the album, than the very last track on Avraga, ‘Get On’. The song begins with a sample from the Bollywood oldie ‘Hamein Tumse Pyar Kitna’ and then segues into one of those hip hoppy, pop tracks that Raghav and the Bombay Rockers are so popular for making. ‘Get On’ is kind of like imagining Mizraab suddenly breaking into any of Omer Inayat’s songs. Which is also kind of a stretch of an example, as Kazak does not rock as hard as Mizraab. Did I just say ‘rock as hard’? I guess listening to Kazak’s music and reading their interview/profile simultaneously can do that to a person.

The band’s philosophy can be understood in the words of Fayed, guitarist for Kazak. “When writing a song, we think of Kazak and how the song will reflect back on us, as well as the message we’re trying to send out to our fans, Kazak creates songs filled with the emotions, feelings, and reactions that the South Asian community is too afraid to admit or talk about.” Although exactly what those emotions are, we cannot really comprehend through listening to Avraga – the songs on the album are a hotch potch of angst, love, lust, and the occasional confusing tune thrown in for good measure.

Case in point, ‘TeLIEvision’, the lyrics of which belie the title of the song – “Kaisa hai yeh pyar/ Samjhana/ Tu hai wo saza/ Jis ke hum ghulam.” What the word television, or taken with the band’s emphasis on the ‘lie’ bit in the title, has to do with the song, one cannot fathom. Musically the song is cut and dried rock, although the drums on this track, as well as others sound a bit generic, as if a prototype of the kind of drums to be played on the album were developed and then used generously throughout the tracklist. However, Fayed and the band are made confident that they are reaching out to their target audience, as they “get e-mails from fans who say that a song we’ve written reflects exactly how they feel, and they’re happy to know they are not the only ones who feel or think this way.”

The first track on the album, ‘Yaad – Remember’, is a song about recovering from heartache, only it is a story told in a very rock ‘n’ roll way. The song begins with a bit of poetry being recited and then breaks into drums and guitars, promising a solid rock ride. What lets this song down is the vocals. Fezz’s vocals are just very slightly off-key, but just enough to put the whole song off-kilter.

The next track, ‘Tu- You’ is in the same vein as ‘Yaad’, and sometime in the middle of the song, Fezz breaks into an English bit, which mystifies one as much as the protagonist in the song is mystified by the eyes of the “foxy lady” whom he wants as a lover. To be fair, this is not a bad song, as aren’t any of the songs on Avraga. They are all songs it is clear a lot of hard work went into.

Kazak doesn’t seem to be a band just trying to hastily pull together an album to get their 15 minutes of fame. They have apparently been working the local music scene in Toronto with their “zing of South Asian” music – but it just seems arrangement-wise, they are walking a few steps behind the Pakistani music industry. Take for instance Ali Azmat’s Klashinfolk. A purely rock album, it is far more sophisticated than what Kazak has offered us. What Kazak sounds like is a jacked up version of Awaz circa ’93, or a super-weak sounding version of Junoon from their Talaash days. Which is ironic as minor digging reveals that Aamir Hassan, the executive producer on Avraga has worked with Awaz, as well as Junoon on Inquilaab.

Overall, Avraga is an average sounding album, but it holds promise of better things that the band can do with their skills.

Kazak can be followed on www.kazak.ca, or their fanpage on Facebook – Amina Baig

We Are Family (2010)

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (SEL) have had a busy 2010; they’ve composed the soundtrack for My Name is Khan, Karthik Calling Karthik R (or Uff Teri Ada, its sole claim to fame), Housefull and most recently, Tere Bin Laden.

Unfortunately, We Are Family doesn’t add much to their repertoire. It’s telltale and tired Karan Johar with not a hint of originality. I could be listening to MNIK or Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.

The album opens with Aankhoon Mai Neendain, and can you say déjà-vu? Parts of it feel like I’m listening to Sajda slash Tere Naina — MNIK or Mitwa — KANK. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shreya Ghoshal do their best with the conventional/saccharine track. And the lyrics, Aankhoon mein neendain, neendoon mein sapnay, sapnoon mein… clichés. You’ve heard these expressions of love before… in text messages from stalkers!

Remember Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley? Oh yes, SEL go the Pretty Woman (KHNH) route, paying tribute to the cultural icon and King of Rock & Roll with Dil Khol Kay Let’s Rock. Only trouble is, two minutes into the track and you want to scream sacrilege.

Vishal Dadlani and Shankar Mahadevan attempt to weave magic with Reham O Karam, and largely succeed — an unplugged rendition by Shankar swiftly transitions to rock-operatic heights courtesy a memorable chorus, impressive guitar solos and, of course, Vishal Dadlani.

The Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal duet, Hamesha & Forever moves at an ambling pace and has a chorus that might mesmerise the diehard romantic, but for the rest it’s just another one of those inevitable ballads that tread the lullaby territory. The piano prelude is perhaps the best thing about this 4:52 (snooze-fest) serenade.

Though Shreya Ghoshal impresses with her powerful vocals, there’s really nothing to write home about Sun Le Dua Ye Asmaan, except perhaps the flute arrangement. The mellow almost-theme song might create more impact with accompanying visuals; given its heartrending nature, it’s bound to feature at a critical moment in the film.

The last song off the album is the We Are Family Theme, where the composers throw every instrument out there at us: piano, flute, violin — unabashedly attempting to tug at our heartstrings and almost succeeding. It’s only the second redeeming song, and it’s an instrumental for crying out loud.

There are four bonus tracks in the album, from Karan Johar’s previous works MNIK, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and Kal Ho Na Ho. What’s ironic is that either the film-makers were furiously trying to compensate for the average WAF(er-thin) soundtrack, or they were just completely ignorant: the bonus tracks are eons better than anything the film has to offer.

‘Can two mothers make a home?’ asks the tagline of We Are Family. While that question remains unanswered, at least we’ve discovered that three music-directors can’t come up with a half-decent soundtrack. The album should come with a warning: For lovers of Bollywood’s ultimate Romeo & Juliet coupling, Raj and Simran only – Osman Khalid Butt