Music Review:Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

The wait is over,Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy(S.E.L) are back with a bang with the music of Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara. When a movie has Farhan Akhtar named to it,S.E.L is a must,be it Dil Chahta hai,Lakshya,Don,Rock On. S.E.L hardly disappoints.For this movie they have composed a total of 9 tracks,including 7 massive originals and 2 remixes.Keeping in mind the theme of the movie,all the songs are young and fresh and will for sure be chartbusters in the coming days.

If you think that the title song of Rock On was the best,comes Dil Dhadakne Do crooned by Shankar Mahadevan,Suraj Jagan,Joi Barua.Its fresh,energetic,motivational(in parts) and starts with some perfect rock beats.It matches perfectly with the title of the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara and will click at the first go,however the song has a feel of Rock On attached to it due to its care-free lyrics but it will top the charts neverthless in the coming days.

Next is Ik Junoon (Paint it Red),a Fast-Pacy HingLish dance number, which is making roars at present due to the tomato holi being played in the song,is sung by 5 singers,Shankar Mahadevan,Vishal dadlani,Ehsaaan Noorani,Alyssa Mendonsa,Gulraj Singh.Its a trademark S.E.L tune which will take some time to settle in,and once it does,you will get addicted to it and will be hard to keep away.Brilliant work again.

After 2 brilliant tracks,comes a slow ordinary composition,Khaabon Ke Parindey which has Alyssa Mendonsa and Mohit Chauhan behind the mike.A song close to 4 minutes will make you impatient for the first 3 minutes as there is no Mohit chauhan in the 1st 3 minutes,he is heard only in the last 1 minute,that made me a bit disappointed,not that the song is bad,but more of Mohit could have make it even better.An average track which will find little space in between such fantastic charbusters.

Next track,Senorita, will leave you SpellBound.Its a salsa number in S.E.L style for which Farhan Akhar,Hrithik Roshan,Abhay deol has lend their voice with ample support from spanish singer Maria Del Mar Fernandez.All the 3 actors will make you fall in love with the song with their innocence and naughtiness.Hrithik and Farhan have already sung in Kites and Rock On but the surprise element comes in form of Abhay Deol,he is fantastic in the few lines he has been given.The song is a pure gem and Kuddoos to S.E.L for composing such a masterpiece.I am dyng ro see the the picturisation of the song where all the 3 actors will be seen doing salsa.A glimpse of the song has alreay been seen in the trailor.Marvelleous.

Variety is the U.S.P of a S.E.L album,thats what Der Lagi Lekin provides.A song close to 6 minutes for which Shankar Mahadevan comes behind the mike.Its a bit philophical from the lyrics point and looks a track straight out of his previous venture,Taare Zameen Par.The song is high on lyrics and will require multiple hearings to grow on you.All in all a good track.

Loy Mendonsa,Dominique Cerejo,Clinton Cerejo are the names you read for the next track Sooraj Ki Baahon Mein,and with the fusion of these 3 singers one expects a Techno,Soft-rock song and thats what this song is all about.A decent hear which will be popular once the video is released.

The last original composition,To Zinda ho Tum, is nothing but a narration of few lines by Farhan Akhtar(mere 50 seconds,rest 50 seconds is instrumental)I was not happy as it ended too soon making me wanting for more.The way it started,I was expecting another Tum Ho Toh(Rock On) from the Farhan Akhtar and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy combination.

A remix of each Ik Junoon(Paint it red) and Senorita gives a perfect ending to the album.Both the remixes are good and provides something different from the originals.

Zinagi na Milegi Dubara is a treat for music lovers,best of 2011 till date.Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy made some fabulous tunes that will be remembered for a long time.Again Hats off to them for portraying pure music where munni,sheila,shaalu ke thumke,jalebi bai and many more exists.

A must hear album,guys don't dare to miss this one!!

Rewind-Band called Nine by Neelesh Misra-Music Review

RATING: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

I wouldn't have listened to the album had it not been the creative promotional strategy by neelesh misra on 92.7 big fm.Everyday a new story is told through the voice of neelesh misra(named Yaadon Ka Idiot Box which is being aired Mon to Fri from 9 to 10 P.M).His voice and simple(yet creative) writing catched my attention instantly,his style of writing is similar to that of gulzar,using common daily routine words and converting them into a song(lyrics by neelesh-I Am In Love[once upon a time in mumbai],Maine dil se kaha dhoond lana khushi[Rog],few songs in Jism).Amartya rahut(debut) is the music composer and ofcourse neelesh misra has written the songs,lets see what he has to offer in today's era where pop albums are on the verge of extinction.

The album surpisingly has 19 tracks,out of which 10 are narrations in the voice of neelesh misra about his love story(fiction).The whole album is a concept,it will not work in isolation,by that I mean that each and every song is related to the story(narration),the placement of every song in the album is situational,its more like a movie where there are situations which can only be filled by some brilliant music.The album(1 & 1/2 hours) works as a whole.To start with, the 1st track,(rather a story), says-Chhote Shehar Ka Banda Hu main,REWIND,thats what my brain did when I heard this,its about the childhood,pocketmoney,etc.Brilliant start.

Shilpa Rao joins in for the next one yaadon ke idiot box me,already the title(yaadon ke idiot box me) is famous through his show and  the song takes u back in the carefree days of childhood[mujhko phir aam khane hai aangan ke,mujhko sona hai naani ke daman pe].Fantastic lyrics and brilliantly sung,a song that one wants to hear again and again.A perfect 10 on 10.

The narration tanha logo ke shehar me describes the loneliness,the changes that have taken place in the previous 2 decades,loved it when he described that how now-a-days mothers(maa) have started texting(sms) through mobile and asks-"how are u beta?"

Maazi(past) is a perfect number for Suraj jagan,it starts slowly but after a minute the rock beats takes on and suraj takes the song on a new level with his high pitched voice.Good number.

Oye yaad hai canteen ki mej kitna hilti thi,mujhe roj lagta tha kahin uske duppate pe chai na gir jaye,adrak ki chai use bhi pasand thi,mujhe bhi,meri kavitaayen use bhi pasand thi,mujhe bhi.Need I say more about this narration.

Suraj jagan comes back with the male version of yaadon ka idiot box,a completely different one from the one by shefali,the music and lyrics are entirely different,a more of a fun number.A Must listen.

Tumhari aankhen baatein bahut karti hai-pyar ka monsoon,this narration is the best one,it has all the things,love,suspense,twists(listen to it n then u will know what i mean).Wonderful.

Roobaru-Neelesh misra made his debut in this track as a playback singer with shipa rao as the female voice,his voice is brilliant be it as a stroyteller or a playback singer,this song I had heard months back on Big FM in his show,however the songs needs multiple hearings to grow on you a lounge number),its more of a soft number which needs some attention to build the required ambience.A perfect song to be placed in the middle of an album like this.

Hamare jhagde Expiry date ke sath aate the-Its the narration after love marriage and the jhagda's and the mannana's.Loved his way of using the word "ULLU"(will not spoil the moment by telling the whole concept).

The next songs Shayad(suraj jagan) is a brilliant composition and the placement of the song and lyrics makes it even more impactful(after hamare jhagde).Next comes mai koi mohabbat ka,neelesh misra uses words like neembu ka achar,adrak ki chai,he shows that how a narration should be ended so that it stays for a longer period of time in the mind of listeners.

Aangan(suraj jagan),tells the story of aangan with which many childhood memories are realted,again brilliant lyrics which forces us to rewind back our memories to the days when we used to play in the aangan.The narration continues with aakhir shaadi ka,one thing which I loved in his narrations is the background effect in every narration,it gives a real feeling.Then comes an average track naina tore(shilpa rao),one can skip this number ,neither the lyrics nor the music has something special to offer(not that its a bad song but compared to other compositions,this one is passable).

After one more narration,shayda main rishto ke liye,comes the best track of the album,unka khayal crooned by neelesh misra and shilpa rao,it takes you back to the jagjit singh era(the song is similar to baat niklegi to door talak jaegi by jagjit singh).The song is a perfect unplugged version played on keyboard,it will make you speechless once you hear it with your eyes closed.The lyrics are creative and gives the same feeling as jagjit singh ghazals used to give years back.After many years I have heard such a brilliant composition,it proves that we have much more to offer apart from sheila ki jawanai and munni badnaam,Keep up the good work neelesh,you have made the music industry proud with such writings.

There is a last track sung by shilpa rao(not mentioning the narration before it)dil raffu,good fast pacy track again with some innovative lyrics,i mean who write lines like dill raffu jake karwana hai,dil ka darji koi to mile.A perfect ending to a brilliant album.

Then Neelesh misra comes with his last narration ending his love story with aapke jaisa hi hun main.The last 20 seconds of the narration are kept in silence,just few sounds of cars moving and nothing else.To sum up,I will just say that I am blown away by his writing skills,neelesh misra is the future of indian poetry after gulzaar,just wonder why he has not written more songs for bollywood(a mere 5 or 6 till now).The album is not for everyone,its not the one which will be played in cars and clubs,its for the people who love pure music,go for it if u want to spare one and half hours of your life on this masterpiece.

PYAAR KA PUNCHNAMA-Music Review

RATING: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ 


Clinton Cerejo,Hitesh Sonik,Luv Ranjan,Ad Boys-These were the names which surpised me when I saw them below the label-Music director.Clinton Cerejo has last composed the title track of Jawani Diwani(in 2006),Hitesh Sonik recently composed for Stanley ka dabba-2011 and Lahore-2010,and the other two names are totally new,so lets see what they have to offer in these six tracks.

The first promo had the song Ishq Na Kariyo Kakke sung by Mika,right from the start it entered the Pritam zone and is the best track of the album(will come back to it later).

So,the first track says Life Sahi Hai(K.K, Vishal Dadlani, Benny Dayal, Sidd Coutto[dnt know where he came from]);a brilliant start keeping in mind the theme of movie,song describes the carefree youth today,it will grow once the video is released(however it goes on a bit similar track as dum laga dum laga of Dil Dosti e.t.c).The song looses grip in between for some time when vishal enters with his english vocals but after that it gets back on the track and the lyrics makes it even more interesting[chichoristaan ke hum chaudhari hai].Brilliant start to the album.

Koi aa raha Paas hai,its an ordinary track and has nothing refreshing to offer.Its original version(its more of an unplugged version) sung by suraj jagan doesn't attracts even after multiple hearings,then there is a Reprise version sung by Sonu nigam,its better than the original one but still it lacks the refreshing touch.Average track after such a brilliant start.

Then comes KUTTA(Mika) ,its funny,situational,spanky,catchy.Its a brave effort to write such lyrics(listen ghade ke poot----) in  today's era where male dominated movies and songs are made.The song will get attention due to its catchy lyrics,and I think   the song should be played at different times in the movie as a background score rather than just wasting it on one situation.

Chak Galassi(Monali, Sunzanne D'mello) a perfect dance number which will strike instantly and will make rounds at the clubs in the coming days,the song tries hard to recreate the magic of 4 Baj gaye(FALTU) but fails,not completely,it works in parts.A good dance number all in all which has another version sung by Ad Boys in place of Monali,however the original is far better than this one.

Baanware(Clinton Cerejo),this song needs some time to grow,nothing special apart from the singer and the rock feeling added to it,its more of a vishal bhardwaaj genre composition,will add variety to the album.Good effort.

Now come Ishq Na kariyo Kakke,from the word go its a Pritam's zone,the lyrics,the music,the singer,everything.The song is already a hit.Not only the song is high on beats but the lyrics also gel perfectly with the theme of the song,a lot now depends upon the timing of the song in the movie,the song will grow more and more once the movie releases.A sure shot chartbuster.

To sum up,the music has got so much attention just because the way the movie is being promoted,a lot now-a-days depends upon this.The promo's were enough to creating curiosity despite the movie being a guiness record in the debut category,all the 6 lead actors/actress are newcomers with the music director and lyricist joining the list.