Fear Review {1.5/5} & Review Rating
Was Aap Kaa Surroor Himesh Reshammiya's last music album for a while? Not really! Some of his old work is still waiting to be heard by his fans and Fear is one of them. A Vikram Bhatt film starring newcomers Ameet M. Gaurr, Alisha and Aaditya, Fear is a Ramesh Sippy production with lyrics by Sameer which has been ready for quite a while. Though there have been talks about the film directly being premiered on internet, one waits to see the day when the film arrives on the big screen.
Vikram Bhatt's last horror outing was Raaz, the music of which continues to sell even today. This is why one has good hopes from Fear as well. Also when Bhatt makes a statement like 'If The Music Of Raaz Haunted You For Years...Fear Will Haunt You For Centuries', one's attention is immediately brought towards this Reshammiya score. Sadly, it turns out that the claim was far fetched with zero semblance of truth in it!
When Himesh Reshammiya is roped in as a composer, be rest assured that the man would come behind the mike for at least one song. That's exactly the case in Fear as HR croons a solo 'Tanha Tanha'. To his credit, he does bring in good variation by singing the song alternatively at high and low pitch. Guitar being a constant companion keeps up with the smooth flow of the song which has a lounge feel to it, especially when Himesh gets into low pitch.
Later Amit Das holds the baton for remixing 'Tanha Tanha' and imparts a good club feel to the proceedings. This one deserves to have a music video created around it as the remix has a completely different feel to it when compared to the original.
Himesh may have been on one of his bad moods when he composed 'Dil Dhadkata Hai'. The song is utterly tuneless and one doesn't realise till the very end if the song was meant to invoke passion or hatred. Kunal Ganjawala goes around doing the same thing that he has been doing for years but one can't blame him for that as it is the tune which fails him here.
A boring number to the core, it doesn't warrant a second hearing in spite of the fact that it is fast paced and is pepped with western arrangements. Add to it some strange 'ishq-ishq' sound in the background and you know that the word 'horror' was taken a little too seriously in Fear.
To prolong the woes, the song is repeated with Kunal's wife Gayetri Iyer coming behind the mike for yet another solo version of 'Dil Dhadkata Hai'. Sorry, not happening! And if the attempt was to recreate the 'Shanti Shanti' from Raaz, it doesn't quite turn out that way!
Aah, how much we have been missing this 'jodi' now. Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik, once a formidable pair and now hardly making an appearance, pair up again for 'Dil Ki Daron Deewar Pe'. Now that's the Himesh Reshammiya we have known till Aashiq Banaya Aapne happened! A song composed in the 70s style, it moves a wee bit slower than what one would have expected from a romantic track.
In fact the initial euphoria of hearing a song with Udit-Alka combo dies once the song is 2 minute through since there is nothing exceptional that comes out of 'Dil Ki..'. In fact after a while, it turns out to be nothing more than a drag and one seriously starts suspecting Vikram Bhatt's claim of 'Fear' being a timeless score.
It is Nadeem-Shravan revisited with 'Tu Hai Ishq' which follows the same route that the composer duo followed throughout the 90s. Even though the song doesn't quite fit into the scheme of things in current times, 'Tu Hai Ishq' would still work for those who wish to relive the nostalgia of the years gone by. A love song crooned by Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik, it has a foot tapping feel to it and succeeds in taking you all the way to the 90s.
'Mystique Karma' guest compose the title song Fear. Crooned by Sunidhi Chauhan, it does have a haunting feel to it but still falls short of making an impact that was expected from a theme track like this. In fact, usually effective Sunidhi is not really in her elements here even as she tries to bring in a chill feel through her vocals. The song is high on electronic arrangements but it is an overtly slow pace which harms it's prospects of creating the desired impact.
Vikram Bhatt has mentioned that 'Fear would haunt for centuries'! Not true really, as the album would hardly make an impact for even a few weeks to come, let alone months.
