A Strange Love Story Review {1.5/5} & Review Rating
EXPECTATIONS
There is zilch expectation from the music of A Strange Love Story. After all nothing is known about the film, it's cast, its genre or it's story and hence it is difficult to comprehend what would the music have in store here. Yes, given the film's title, one does know that eventually love songs would fill in the album. However, without being much sure about what is in the offing from this soundtrack by composers Santok Singh & Ripul-Dharmesh, one reluctantly plays on the album.
MUSIC
A Strange Love Story gets a good start for itself with 'Nede Nede' turning out to be a soulful track rendered by Sukhwinder Singh. Though the song could have been titled 'Sajda' due to the word appearing at multiple occasions, the makers have opted for 'Nede Nede' which does succeed in lending a unique appeal. A song that wouldn't have been a bad choice for a much bigger film as well, 'Nede Nede' is written by Amitabh Verma and arrives in a 'remix version' as well which again manages to leave an impact.
A fusion track comes next with Ripul and Momita coming together for 'More Piya'. There would be obvious comparisons with 'Mora Piya' [Raajneeti] and one has to admit that the latter had managed to leave much better impact. Having said that, this out and out musical piece which just has a couple of lines from Ripul-Dharmesh isn't a bad hear and does well for those hunting for some lounge music. In fact there is an 'alaap' in the interim which could have been grabbed by Emraan Hashmi if only an entire song would have been built around it.
There is an immediate shift in the proceedings though with a Sufi devotional track 'Hare Jhande Ke Shehzaade' following next. Written by Vikhar, this one sees Shahid Ali Khan & Ripul coming together. The track has a rustic touch to it sans any touch up being done to make it more suited for a film outing. Eventually it just manages to be a situational outing.
Three standalone musical pieces fill in remaining six minutes of the album as they arrive in a back to back manner. 'Love Theme' is the first to come and is easy on ears with melody at it's base while also bearing a similar start as 'Nede Nede'. As the title conveys, 'Beach Music' is the one made for the purpose of getting your feet tapping on a beach party. Though it doesn't break any new grounds, it won't find listeners running away from it as it plays. 'Billy Trance' is a better outing than the 'Beach Music' though and carries a sense of passion to it which makes for a good club outing. Expect it to appear during one of the crucial moments of the film.
OVERALL
One didn't have any expectation from A Strange Love Story and in that regard a song like 'Nede Nede' plus a few other musical pieces do end up being fairly okay. However since there has been near to nil promotion with absolutely no buzz or hype, the album doesn't stand much chance to do well at the stands.
OUR PICK(S)
Nede Nede
