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Reviewed by:  Gianysh Toolsee

Rating:  5/10

Impressive as it may sound, a line-up of singers of such caliber in one single soundtrack is hard to be believed. Jatin-Lalit, Shamir Tandon and Tauseef Akhtar share the music directors’ credit. However, the soundtrack belongs to the talented Tauseef Akhtar, who has been in Bollywood for quite some years now. As an arranger and programmer, Tauseef Akhtar is also a singer who has rendered his own compositions such as ‘If You Wanna Love Me’ in Aisa Kyon Hota Hain with Cheryl Balwani. Together they formed Soul Fusion and ‘Humein Jeene Do – Let Us Live’ is one of their fabulous work, which was released for the Mumbai 7/11 victims. Son of Akhtar Azad, he worked as an assistant music director and programmer for Nadeem-Shravan and even featured in their projects as a singer in Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai and Yeh Dil.

The soundtrack opens with an explosively Shridharish song, backed by the extremely raunchy vocals of Suzanne D’Mello. Samandar is straightforward; it’s about the beach! Neeraj Shridhar transforms the rather easy-going track with his excellent vocals – a unique skill he possesses where he can instantly make a track click with the audience. The music has everything going for its favor with a blend of new-wave arrangements, jazz and rock influences and also some tropical inspirations in regards to the ‘beach’ factor. Suzanne D’Mello is crucial in the opening bars, creating the exact mood for the rest of the track and elevates the chartbusting material by delivering a short, crisp and sensual performance. Tauseef Akhtar impresses with the orchestration, relying on two simultaneous choruses and zingy sounds.

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Reviewed by: Gianysh Toolsee

Rating: 7.5/10

Raghav Sachar’s guitar playing is as sharp as ever, the combined flute notes can be heard in the most unpredictable manner, the synthesizers are throwing off sparks of electrifying vibes all over the dance floor and the fun does not stop at this level. On a more upper level, tracks that capture a mixture of genres are further remixed at their musical best. Beautifying the music with playing a range of instruments in the background definitely adds more features to a soundtrack – this is exactly what Raghav Sachar delivers in One Two Three.

Occasional experiments are usually the spice of life – can it be for music? Essaying a female voice, with panache please, can be daring. Does he succeed? Yes. The female vocals in the diversely colorful One Two Three are from Sachar! The openings by the singer are punchy and create the desired impact. Final touches in the recording studio eliminate any macho resemblance in the voice, creating a quasi-female appealing and quite hilarious vocals. Pairing up with him is the now rarely-heard Kunal Ganjawala who sings the opening lines in his conventional style, while Sachar provides the remaining male vocals’ portions. Killing two birds with one stone has never been so easier!

 http://www.planetbollywood.com/displayReview.php?id=110907105529

Reviewed by: Lidia Ostepeev
Reviewer’s Rating: 7.5 / 10

Farah Khan’s second film is not as cohesive as her directorial debut – ‘Main Hoon Na’ even though it’s still a warm and flamboyant homage to the films of her youth. ‘Om Shanti Om’ doesn’t take itself seriously; there are no hidden meanings – only a clear purpose – to entertain. Without doubt, there is much to enjoy but taken as a whole, one crucial element is missing and that’s romance.

The story built around the theme of reincarnation is about the lives of two men – Om Makhija – a charming junior artiste of the 70s and Om Kapoor – an arrogant present day superstar (both played by Shah Rukh Khan). Om Makhija’s filmi escapades are delightful and reminiscent of the Hollywood classic “Singing In The Rain” (1952). The over-the-top red carpet display on premiere night, spoofs of hammy acting styles, the difference in status of the actor-lovers, the prominence of billboards as the focus of adulation and a love song (Main Agar Kahoon) set in an old-time film studio – all point to Farah Khan paying homage to at least one Hollywood film even though she naughtily identifies her villain (Arjun Rampal) with Hollywood. There is acknowledgement from the outset that Subhash Ghai’s Karz (1980) and Mushir Riaz’s Mehbooba (1976) are also being channelled for their reincarnation themes.

Alright this review is coming quite late! First it was stuck in my hard disk for some time and secondly, I completed it after watching the movie.
Reviewed by: Gianysh Toolsee
Reviewer’s Rating: 7.5 / 10

http://www.planetbollywood.com/displayReview.php?id=083107040216

Hate intensity in music? Looking for a thrilling, catchy and strangely unusual music - then the soundtrack of ‘Heyy Babyy’ perhaps illustrates some of these characteristics. If Sajid Khan is synonymous with hardcore humor, expect Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy to follow suit and adopt the same style. Sameer seems quite hesitant to join in the bandwagon but one feels that he also makes a big jump in new territories of non-suffocating but all extremely funky music.

With a title like ‘Heyy Babby’, don’t become sophisticated in tastes, genres and choruses! And never forget that it’s Sajid Khan first baby, which is backed by Sajid Nadiadwala – so expect a good delivery in safe hands.

http://www.planetbollywood.com/displayReview.php?id=080407023740

Reviewed by: Gianysh Toolsee
Reviewer’s Rating: 6.5 / 10

The name may not be familiar like the A-List music directors who churn out hits after hits but many will jump once they remember his songs, which have been touching hearts since a decade now. Are emotions evoked when one again listens to the sensual ‘Tu Mile Dil Khile’ (Criminal), the pensive ‘Gali Mein Chand’ (Zakhm), the semi-classical ‘Kabhi Shaam Dhale’ (Sur), the ever-green ‘Awaarapan Banjarapan’ (Jism), the calm ‘Tere Is Jahan Mein’ (Rog) and the folksy ‘Laaga Re Jal Laaga’ (Paheli)? Definitely YES!

He is known as M.M Kreem in Bollywood and uses M.M Keeravani and Maragathamani for his Telegu and Tamil projects respectively. Still, M.M Kreem does not look for publicity stunts and concentrates only on his work. Melodies created by Kreem contain a certain feel - which creates a strong bond between the listener and his music.

A familiar with the Bhatts’ production, M.M Kreem does give a special touch for them and cater to their musical needs, sometimes, with perfection. On her side, Pooja Bhatt engages in her third directional venture after Paap (2004) and Holiday (2006). Music wise, one can’t deny the director’s special ear for an experimental, soulful and fresh music. In fact, it is ‘Paap’ which opened the big doors for Pakistani artists to Bollywood and the rest followed. In ‘Holiday’, Pooja Bhatt gave the chance to Ranjit Barot (a well known programmer and arranger) to prove himself as a music director. (His first assignment as a music director was Raakh (1989) starring Aamir Khan). Pooja Bhatt has chosen a pool of lyricists for ‘Dhokha’ and one can again feel the Pakistani musical influences she brought to Bollywood.

Firstly, chill out! This is a writer’s point of view from theage.com.au, who analyzes blog comments on the website. ‘The Age’  is a popular newspaper in Australia and professional writers share a blog on the website. Secondly, he is writing with the media on his side. Still, it makes a good reading with some interesting thoughts. Your comments?

http://blogs.theage.com.au/media/archives/2007/06/comment_is_twee.html

Posted by James Farmer
June 6, 2007 9:43 AM

Comment is twee

I have no idea what this guy is up to. One thing is sure: doing this won’t provide him with more assignments or recognition.

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Subhash K Jha

Aadesh Srivastav is set to become Bollywood’s most hated man. He’s going to launch a company to protect the rights of American singers and stop plagiarism in its tracks.

http://www.planetbollywood.com/displayReview.php?id=061107064712

Reviewed by: Gianysh Toolsee
Reviewer’s Rating: 7.5 / 10

The hype factor is too much! Is this the way movies and music are going to be promoted? Each biggie carries so much hype that in the end, it’s all about mediocrity. Case in points are endless. Not to forget that the hype is even larger if the project stars A-List superstars. It is a sad state of affairs to notice that hype has rendered so many mediocre, untalented and uncreative people in Bollywood, rich, famous and popular today. Who really cares when there is an audience ready to pay for it?
Even if this soundtrack comes from one of the leading production houses in India, it will be analyzed minus the hype created. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (SEL) are firstly lucky enough to be composing continuously for Yash Raj Films and most of their last projects starred Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. Leading actresses are also roped in to co-star in these big budget movies. And when Yash Raj Music is using all the latest gimmicks to market the CD, consider half of the job done for the music directors.

But wait! The other half of the job is also made easy because of the success formula found by Yash Raj Films. In fact, Yash Raj Films always depends on a specific success formula before Dhoom (2004). For each specific genre of movie produced post-Dhoom, the same methodology is used again. Get this straight: ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ will work because it relies on the success formula of ‘Bunty Aur Babli’! Yes Gulzar, Mahalaxmi Iyer and Alisha Chinai are here too! What an amazing coincidence?

Gypsy style of music is the base of Jhoom and it is ‘indianized’ by a stunning rendition of Shankar Mahadevan, the ‘dhol’ beat and classical alaaps. SEL also add a strong rock flavor in the background and a plethora of new sounds to package the track. Shankar Mahadevan emphasizes much on the words of ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ throughout the track. What is worth noting in the energetic number, which is rhythmically catchy, is the gypsy music. Kudos for the fusion of the gypsy-meets-indian, blended with the vocals of Shankar Mahadevan. Still, the track is not electrifying as it should have been. The lack of real punch missing might be compensated by its choreography on screen.

It definitely shows the good rapport the music company shares with the composer.

http://www.tamilstar.com/news/publish/article_3178.shtml

HMV Saregama India has announced A.R.Rahman as its new brand ambassador for the first time in its 106- year-old history. The Managing Director of the company Subroto Chattopadhyay announced this to the press today.

HMV Saregama India, the music company, is set to go the whole hog with a fresh band talent hunt show titled as ‘Hoo la la la’ (a popular humming bit from A.R.Rahman ) on Sun TV soon. This show will be telecast in 13 episodes, and A.R.Rahman will be participating as the jury in the show for the first time, amidst his busy schedule.

The contestants will be selected from all the regions of Tamil Nadu. The same programme will be telecast in Gemini TV also and for this show, they have planned to select the participants separately from Andhra Pradesh. The participants can compose tunes for a fresh song written by the popular poets. For the Tamil show, Vaali has written the song and titled it as ‘Nambikkai’.