Generally one sees a trend that offbeat films with unique titles have ' zara hatke ' music - examples ' Rules – Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula', 'Monsoon Wedding', 'The Perfect Husband ' etc. One expects the same from ' Brides Wanted ' that stars Anuj Sawhney ( Nayee Padosan, Naina ) in the lead role with Waheeda Rehman and Girish Karnad forming the supporting cast. A bilingual feel-good comedy about an NRI searching for a bride, ' Brides Wanted ' is director Girish Acharya's debut venture that has music by Ranjit Barot.

While one expected a soothing track to begin the album, it starts on a rather unexpected note with a peppy fusion track ' Payal Ki Chham Chham ' that is a ' shaadi-byaah ' track with good foot tapping rhythm. Lyrics by Dev Kohli are a mix of Hindi and Punjabi that are different from the routine. Sung well by Zubeen Garg, special mention should also be made for the male and female chorus that get the celebrations mood running. A soothing melodious track does come up next as ' Yeh Kya Ho Gaya ' by ever-romantic Shaan who does succeed in making you go all lovey-dovey. Arrangements are quite and smooth that makes you 'hear' the song more closely. Mehboob lyrics are simple but quite effective. A number to be gifted to your beloved, it should be on the publicity promos pretty soon! Shaan gets to sing such a short'n'sweet romantic melody solo after quite a few weeks.

Rap'n'reggae forms the basis for Kunal Ganjawala's ' Socho Zara Socho Tum ' that has a jazzy feel to it. Second song in succession that is easy to ears, it is again youthful and is about the importance of finding your better half. English version of the same track (written by Ravi Khote and Ranjit Barot) appears as ' Wakeup ' with again Kunal Ganjawala at the helm. Ranjit Barot's music is quite likeable by this time and one starts expecting a good time pass album for the youth from hereon.

Caralisa Monteiro, whose 2 tracks from ' Dus ' recently got noticed, has another English number to her credit as ' Ran Away '. A 'pucca' MTVish brand of song written by Ranjit Barot, it is quite a perfect rendition by Caralisa who could make waves on English pop music circuits from hereon given the right breaks. The song though is situational and one waits to watch it on the screen.

Nandini Srikar, another talented singer who partnered Caralisa on one of the tracks of 'Dus', writes and sings ' Chalte Chalte '. A soft Indi-pop track, it has an undercurrent sad emotion running throughout its duration. Lyrics are more of poetry rather than going the conventional Bollywood way while Nandini's singing and Ranjit Barot's music arrangements make ' Chalte Chalte ' yet another track that deserves a repeat listening. Same music is the base for the English track ' I Have Come Alive ' by yet another talented singer Dominique Cerejo. Flawless again (like all the other singers in the album), she has a perfect accent for an English song and delivers goods.

Upcoming singer Suraj Jagan sings another song belonging to the Indi-pop genre ' Zindagi ' written by Mehboob. Yet another song about 'life', it is faster than ' Chalte Chalte ' and is a quick food for thought! The track that should be picked up by the age group of 15-30 years, it is a step forward for Bollywood as it is genuinely 'different'. Ranjit Barot is all by himself in the concluding track of the album ' Paradise ' that is an English version of ' Zindagi ' and is sung, written and composed by him. Yes, it has an appeal primarily for the urban audience but at least it breaks away from something tried and tested.

If you have been looking out for some pleasant sounding, likeable, non-Bollywood'ish', different soundtrack, 'Brides Wanted' is for you. As expected earlier at the beginning of the album, 'Brides Wanted' does have a genuinely 'hatke' music that may not be seen sky-rocketing the music charts from day one. But amongst the niche audience, it should garner good word of mouth especially amongst the youth brigade. An album for an urban audience, it strikes the right chord. Now what is required is some publicity around the album that should get both the movie and the music some visibility so that it doesn't go the same way as 'The Perfect Husband' went in 2004.

Rating: ***

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