Album: “Bhool Bhulaiyaa”; Music: Pritam; Singers: Neeraj Shridhar, K.K, Tulsi Kumar, Shaan, Shreya Ghosal, M.G. Sreekumar; Rating: **Director Priyadarshan’s forte is remakes. Take any of his past flicks like Hulchul, Garam Masala, Bhagam Bhag and the more recent Dhol and you will certainly observe that they are all comic remakes of Malayam movies. And for these kinds of projects, he has a tendency to attach strong music and if necessary and fitting, crazy music!
With a title like Bhool Bhulaiyaa (another remake) you expect another crazy flick and if there’s one composer you would want to back it, that man is Pritam for sure! And the signs are good too; he certainly achieved a good soundtrack for Priyadarshan’s recent Dhol and brings out all his big guns here i.e. his favorite singers such as K.K, Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal and Tulsi Kumar. The only worry would be the lyricist Sameer but even he can be inspirational when he wants to be (let’s be positive listeners!).

The first offering here is the title track Bhool Bhulaiyaa and it’s not a bad start to the soundtrack at all. It is peppy with a hip-hop nature and holds a mystical flavor to it which will no doubt help promote the movie but without on screen frills, you have to say it’s a little short on quality. Having said that, at least it’s fresh which is saying a lot for this soundtrack although I’m not too sure about the constant cries of ‘Hare Krishna Hare Ram’ which might not be to everyone’s taste! Singing by Neeraj Shridhar and the simple mix of English/Hindi lyrics by Sameer are fitting. In short the track portrays the zany theme of the movie perfectly!

The Remix by DJ Amyth is just alright but you feel the pace of the original is more suiting.

Sadly the next track, Labon Ko is a lacklustre love ballad from the off and has nothing new or interesting to offer! What’s worse is that the music is a straight port over from Pritam’s earlier soundtrack Darling (Hasaye Bhi Rulaye Bhi) albeit at a much slower pace. K.K suffers the most here as he is required to croon repeated verses such as ‘Bahon Mein Mere’ etc. Lyrics by Sameer are woeful. You have done well if you can get to the end of this track. A huge let down!

At least Labon Ko Remix by DJ Kiran, DJ G and Earl is more bearable than the original as it peps things up.

Thankfully K.K’s vocals are put to much better use in Sajda in which Pritam returns to the peppy dance theme. However in reality it’s still an uninspiring effort! I can see this one appealing to the youth for sure but everyone else can pass over this one. Lyrics are simple but ineffective. Run of the mill has never sounded better!

Sajda Remix by DJ Suketu is arguably as good as the original. Give it a try especially if you liked the original.

Let’s Rock Soniye continues the dance theme but is irksome for the horrible English verse ‘Let’s Rock Soniye’ which forms part of the main chorus, ouch! However lyrics aside, it has at least a few things going for it including some flowery dance music (resembles River Dance without the foot tapping!) and some credible singing by Shaan and Tulsi Kumar. It’s very apparent that this track supports a celebratory theme in the movie and is consequently more suited to the screen than on your iPod. Another let down!

The Remix tries its best to infuse something extra here but cannot eradicate that irritating verse!

Allah Haafiz is K.K’s third and final appearance in the soundtrack and one that he will want to forget very quickly because it’s the worst score of the lot! One feels for the singer who has been quiet since his mesmerising performance in ‘Life In A…Metro’ and this marks a disappointing return for him. All blame pointed at Pritam and Sameer here for their obvious lack of creativity. Stay clear of this dud!

Having given us a mixture of dance and love ballads, Pritam then switches themes to classical/semi classical as if to provide some variety to the soundtrack. Desperation is another way of describing things!

Firstly you get Sakhiya, a semi classical arrangement in the main part of the track whilst Pritam tries to give it a current flavour by infusing it with electronic beats amongst other arrangements. Suffice to say it’s a failure overall as you quickly lose interest with this one. Tulsi Kumar’s talents deserve better than this. Sameer’s lyrics on the other hand are painfully dull!

Ironically and arguably the best track of this entire soundtrack is the ultra classical based Mere Dholna which features all the arrangements you would expect from a ‘mujra’ based song including the dhol, tabla and ghungroo. To give Pritam some credit, his arrangements stand out crisply for once. As expected Shreya Ghoshal performs admirably with her delivery ably supported by M.G Sreekumar and although the track provides a welcome relief to the listener, you feel it is too little too late. It also drags towards the end (at 6.30mins - it is too long!).

Overall Bhool Bhulaiyaa is a massive disappointment especially when you consider the amount of talent on show. Some of the industry’s leading singers are here, yet rarely you feel like you are enjoying their performance. That’s mainly down to the bland musical arrangements (from supposedly one of the leading composers) which are far too average and familiar for the seasoned listener. In fact when so many remixes sound better than the original, you know something is wrong! The biggest culprit however is Sameer who needs a major rethink of his writing style that has become ultra repetitive and stale. Simplicity is good but only with originality.

Pritam delivered with Dhol but fails here and it is evident that he (clearly with a lot of work on his plate) is struggling to keep his music fresh. He is fast eclipsing the Himesh of Bollywood (as far as quantity is concerned) and needs to get his act sorted preferably by concentrating his efforts as opposed to diluting them! ‘Life In A…Metro’ seems a distant memory, so will the real Pritam please stand up?

Album: “Mummy ji”; Music: Aadesh Srivastava; Rating: *Aadesh Srivastava has for long been at the helm of delivering some great music, be it Baabul, Dev or even Chalte Chalte. But then he has also been responsible for duds like Saawan- The love Season and Husn amongst a host of others. After composing the score for Rehguzar, he is now returning with the music for Mummyji, a film which also marks the debut of Pammi Somal as director. Pitifully there’s not one, but eight various reasons not to buy this album.

Too many singers and a whole sack of ‘dhinchak’ spoils whatever one manages to comprehend of the first track - Awaaz Do. The song has Shaan, Richa Sharma, Akruti and Hema Chandra straining their vocal chords, the word straining, simply because the ’song’ is all but two lines repeated umpteen times. The song is simply long, cyclic and annoying beyond a point.    

Hariharan, a man blessed with one of the best voices ever, is heard crooning Hum Tum Akele Reh Gaye. While the singer does a splendid job at rendering the track, a special mention must be given to Sameer for penning the poetic lyrics. The music is gentle and allows the vocalist to ace his job. This slow paced, almost ghazal like track is melodious and is certainly worth a repeat, provided you enjoy poetic numbers.

Skip…skip…skip…. One can’t say it enough. I wanna Rock like Mummyji is tacky, ridiculous and the lyrics will have you in splits. The song is thoroughly repetitive. The word Rock from the line ‘I wanna Rock like Mummyji’ has been replaced with Walk, be heard, dance, talk and a few other words which the lyricist managed to hunt in his book of rhymes. Richa Sharma and the Rap singers Arya and Neha Bhasin failed to make the song any more pleasant. This song is as bad as it can get.

Even Punjabi sensation, Gurdaas Maan’s voice does not manage to save a supposed fun song Jashna Di Raat Hai. In spite of having a Punjabi tadka to it, in totality it seems restrained. What could have been an all out, loud and great number is but a ho-hum track, giving no reason to buy this album. The song’s graph line is a constant bar running from go to finish.

Kudiya Pataka sung by the composer Aadesh himself along with Neha Bhasin sounds forced. This fast paced number is one of the included tracks in the album so that people may have something to cheer about and dance. Unfortunately this one’s too a let down, neither the singers nor the lyricist with his magical pen have managed to create a groovy number. The half baked ‘Hinglish’ sentences don’t pump the adrenalin either. Simply hop skip and jump over the track.   

Sonu Nigam and Shweta Pandit take turns in belting Mujhko tu pyaar karade, each with their own version. While Pandit renders the track straight sans any snazzy hems, Sonu makes up for it with his turn. The key thing to note here is that both the tracks are just middle-of-the-road types, nothing unique. The beats are droning, but if compared, then Pandit’s version is far better thanks to her voice. It’s a listen to one and skip the next here (provided you buy the album and give it a repeat hearing)

Saada Chirian Da is a beautifully written track and means a lot to those who do manage to absorb it. But sadly Rajiv’s voice is broken by a dialogue that manages to find place by the end of the track. The song takes you on a high and then suddenly deserts you the moment you hear a sobbing mother rendering her lines. And one’s left with a huge frown.