Music: Ravindra Jain, Nikhil Kamath Lyrics: Ravindra Jain, Nikhil Kamath Music Label: Worldwide…  

<b>Music:</b> Ravindra Jain, Nikhil Kamath<BR> <b>Lyrics: </b> Ravindra Jain, Nikhil Kamath<BR> <b>Music Label: </b> Worldwide Records<BR><BR> <b>Expectations: </b> <BR><BR> From the perspective of music buffs today - expectations are very low, more so because Ravindra Jain is a melody-oriented composer, who does not pander to today's trends. <BR><BR> <b>Music: </b> <BR><BR> This fact is crystal-clear from the musical arrangements of the first two tracks, '<b><i>Kahin Hai Mera Pyar</i></b>' (Shaan) and '<b><i>Shaamil Ye</i></b>' (Suresh Wadkar-Ram Shankar), both melodies with the flavour of the '70s and '80s. The lyrics are simple but undistinguished; ditto the singing and the melody. The shorter version of the first, billed as '<b><i>Kahin Hai Mera Pyar - Theme</i></b>' (Shaan) seems to be just an add-on necessity. <BR><BR> The layered feel of the titled song with its soaring cadences that come back seemingly mid-way, makes it one of Shaan's most accomplished film renditions, though you could mistake it for a song from one of the Rajshri movies when Jain ruled in that banner decades ago. <BR><BR> Suresh Wadkar's timeless and finely-honed vocals anoint the old-world charm of the second track, and the sound is wholesome in its acoustic rather synthetic tenor. However, the <i>raag-daari</i> inherent in the song may prove to be a deterrent in its likeability. <BR><BR> The Sukhwinder Singh-Kavita Krishnamurthi Subramaniam duet '<b><i>Nach Baliye</i></b>' takes on a veneer of modern Punjabi folk, but ends up as a very retro song in its grammar and arrangements. Kavita excels, as always in her rare recent outings, but the track will appeal only to those who do not like any film song after the '80s ended! <BR><BR> Shaan and Shreya Ghoshal come together in the old-fashioned duet '<b><i>Tu Hase Toh</i></b>' where the lyrics go the quaint poetic way of yore ('<i>Tu hase toh lage jaise koi jharna behta hai / Jaanam jaanam phoolon ka mausam chehre pe tere rehta hai</i>). This is lingo that today's listeners will barely identify it, at least in a song. <BR><BR> Sunidhi Chauhan is saddled with '<b><i>Dilwale Dilwale</i></b>', a kind of semi-Oriental dance number in which she is skilled yet clearly uncomfortable. There are clear resemblances to several older R.D. Burman songs and their interludes (<i>Sholay, Caravan, Arjun</i>) throughout. Which were not really needed, we feel. <BR><BR> Kailash Kher is more than a bit out of his depth (literally) with the superficial '<b><i>Allah Tala</i></b>'. The oddball song treads more in the terrain of militant numbers that Kishore Kumar used to sing in the past - a genre that saw '<i>Abhimanyu' (Inquilab), 'Andheri Raaton Mein' (Shahenshah), 'Arey Dekho Yeh Kya Hai' (Bullet</i>) and '<i>Jaan Ki Baazi Lagaa De Tu</i>' (the 1973 <i>Keemat</i>). The arrangements in this song are a nondescript mélange of instruments that do not evoke any mood, let alone what the song sets out to achieve. <BR><BR> Nikhil Kamath comes in for the 1 minute-long (!) 'theme song', '<b><i>Searching For His Love</i></b>' (sung by Siddharth Hazarika) and in two versions of a contemporary Sufi-hued number '<b><i>Hai Junoon</i></b>' and '<b><i>Hui Junoon -1</i></b>' sung respectively by Altamash Faridi and Tori Dattaroy. Written by Vimal Kashyap, it has words that are an aggregate of past Sufi songs with absolutely nothing original by way of either thought or phraseology. <BR><BR> Finally, two theme commentaries, '<b><i>Adam & Eve</i></b>' in Hindi and English (with the writers not billed) are recited by Om Puri and Nikhil Kamath. Not being songs, they get too heavy, and at more than five minutes duration, monotonous and boring. The English version (with Hindi interpolations!) also sounds fake, and is ungrammatical in parts and unintentionally funny at places ('<i>The reason of the world's formation is knowledge of love / And we are the offspring of that love</i>') and good diction is also wanting. <BR><BR> <b>Overall: </b> <BR><BR> April seems to be a music-rich month in quantity, with many film albums having 10 or more tracks inclusive of all versions! But quality-wise, the songs here are far from lovable. <BR><BR> <b>Our Pick: </b><BR><BR> <i> 'Kahin Hai Mera Pyaar', 'Shaamil Ye'</i>