One Two Three Review {2.5/5} & Review Rating
Year 2008 is turning out to be one of the defining years for producer Kumar Mangat. His Sunday has already been released while U Me Aur Hum, for which he is the Executive Producer, is all set to arrive in April. In the meanwhile, his One Two Three is now gearing up for a March release. This is not all as Summer 2008 would also see him arriving with Money Hai To Honey Hai and Haal-E-Dil. He would be visible towards year end as well as he would sign off with Toonpur Ka Superhero. Phew!
Coming back to One Two Three, the film is a comedy of errors directed by debutant Ashwani Dhir who is the man behind famous TV sitcom 'Office Office' (starring Pankaj Kapoor). With One Two Three, Ashwani takes a multi starrer route and also ropes in lyricist Aditya Dhar and promising composer Raghav Sachar who recently sung and composed a groovy 'Manzar' [Sunday] and had impressed around a year and a half back with his tunes in YRF's Kabul Express. The young man is known for his funky sound, as apparent from his non-film albums as well, and one hopes something similar for One Two Three too which promises to be a fun film.
Trademark Raghav Sachar flute kick-starts the title song 'One Two Three'. While Earl ED does the rap and reggae in the background, Kunal Ganjawala holds center stage and grooves for this entertaining track. A promotional track featuring the entire cast which takes just a single listening to get on to your lips, 'One Two Three' has female rendition it's highlight. Reason? The singer here is none other than Raghav himself who brings on the 50's style of singing and does quite a good imitation of singers from the yesteryears.
A foot tapping number, which is visually attractive too, 'One Two Three' comes in two more versions - 'Club Mix' and 'Ballad'. With the same bunch of singers around, the 'Club Mix' picks on pace when compared to the original version and gets set to race on a fast track. From a groovy platform, the song finds itself to be positioned on a dance floor. Does it work? Yes, it does. However, by this time one does realize that the beginning of 'antara' of both 'One Two Three' and 'Manzar' [Sunday] have a similar feel!
The far slower 'ballad' version of 'One Two Three' is just about ok as it gets into a philosophical mood about the goodies in life being priceless. The items in question? Heart, tears, stars and the stuff alike! In fact one wonders if the song would even make a place in the film which otherwise has an out and out fun entertainer feel. Raghav Sachar is the sole singer for this Munna Dhiman written song and this time around he does sing in a male voice!
A quintessential Bollywood dance floor/party song set in a Western mode with a hint of Indian melody comes next. Howsoever clichéd the song's title 'Rock Mahi' may seem, the fact is that it goes with the trend of music, which has very much been in the running for last few years now. It's a fact that tunes like these have worked and 'Rock Mahi' is not an exception. Sung by Raghav Sachar and Sunidhi Chauhan, 'Rock Mahi' is yet another foot-tapping track. Will it make it to the awards category? No, it won't. But the least it would do is keep the cool mood of One Two Three alive.
The feel continues to remain consistent, though this time around Raghav Sachar gets a combination of mush and seduction together in 'Gup Chup'. Singing his third song in a row with Mahalakshmi Iyer in tow, Raghav tries to get the feel of pop in Bollywood scheme of things. Surprisingly, after a decent beginning, the song somehow seems to loose grip in the latter portions. The proceedings slow down a little and one looks forward to what the 'remix version' has to offer.
Upcoming Shilpa Rao replaces Mahalakshmi Iyer in the remix version and yet again, both rendition as well as the final composition sound good in the beginning portions of the song. One can attribute it to the early rhythm being far catchier than the melody route that Raghav takes in the latter stages of the tune.
One Two Three returns again though in a new dimension altogether. Titled 'Amalgamation', the song has the original song staying throughout the 8-minute duration though with 'bhangra' and 'qawalli' elements added on which have nothing to do with the original song. These portions are set in a funny mode with maximum laughs reserved for the part where a comment comes around watching 'Baywatch' in the moments of 'bebasi'! A track that has Munna Dhiman providing added lyrics and Kaptan Laadi, Kshitij Tarey, Kailash Kher, and Aditya Dhar joining Kunal and Raghav, this 'Amalgamation' version is mainly for the situation in the film's narrative.
The number, which follows, is a Sunidhi Chauhan solo 'I Wanna Guy'. A number which starts off as a love ballad only to turn into a full on pop track within a matter of seconds, 'I Wanna Guy' has a lot depending on it's choreography. An average sounding track, which has the potential to reach a certain level if aided by an eye catchy picturisation, 'I Wanna Guy', is about a girl looking for a guy who can get her all the things in the world that includes both materialistic and non-materialistic.
'Lakshmi Narayan' could be termed as the theme song of the album since it is about three prime protagonists of the film - Sunil Shetty, Paresh Rawal and Tusshar Kapoor - each of whom is called Lakshmi Narayan. This is the very track which is currently playing along with the 120 seconds promo of the movie. Sung by character actor Ninad Kamat who occasionally dabbles into singing, 'Lakshmi Narayan' is mainly an amalgamation of a dozen odd funny dialogues from the film. All of this is interspersed into a stream of funky 'gangsta rap' tune which goes with the theme of the film.
Raghav Sachar's music of One Two Three is an above average fare though one had far more expectations from the composer/singer who always has something new to offer. While the title song is an instant winner, 'Rock Mahi' and 'I Wanna Guy' too have potential to attract eyeballs. Overall, a soundtrack that would hold good mainly during the time when the film is playing on screens but won't have much shelf life beyond that.
