Music Review:Not Good Not Bad - Too Similar To Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahaani!

The album, on the face of it, is an equitable mix of emotional, romantic as well as groovy tracks and yet Pritam manages to deliver a set of tunes that fail to invoke any sort of empathy or even a real sense

 

Not Good Not Bad - Too Similar To Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahaani!

 
Film:

Phata Poster Nikhla Hero

Producer(s):

Tips Industries Pvt. Ltd.

Director:

Rajkumar Santoshi

Cast:

Shahid Kapoor, Ileana D’Cruz

Music:

Pritam

Lyrics:

Irshad Kamil, Amitabh Bhattacharya

Rating Of Tracks:

No.	Song	Artist	Rating
1	Tu Mere Agal Bagal Hai	Mika	3/5
2	Main Rang Sharbaton Ka	Atif Aslam and Chinmayi Sripada	2.5/5
3	Hey Mr. DJ	Benny Dayal, Shefali Alvares	2/5
4	Mere Bina Tu (Duet)	Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Harshdeep	2/5
5	Dhating Naach	Nakash Azi, Shefali Alvares, Neha Kakkad	2.5/5
6	Janam Janam	Atif Aslam	1.5/5
7	Main Rang Sharbaton Ka (Reprise)	Arijit Singh	2.5/5
8	Janam Janam (Reprise)	Sunidhi Chauhan	2/5
9	Mere Bina Tu	Rahat Fateh Ali Khan	2/5
10	Janam Janam (Sad Version)	Atif Aslam	2/5

Album Rating:

2.5/5              

Details:

"Phata Poster Niklla Hero" is an upcoming comedy film by acclaimed writer-director Rajkumar Santoshi who also directed the – now cult – comic caper "Andaz Apna Apna" and more recently the slapstick entertainer "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahaani". Santoshi is also renowned for making intense dramas like "Ghayal", "Ghatak" and "Damini" (two of which won Sunny Deol his national awards) and is one of the few writer-directors in Bollywood who display remarkable prowess in switching between genres with an effortless ease. Here’s a brief review of the music from his upcoming Shahid Kapoor starrer.

"Main Tere Agal Bagal Hoon" is amischief - laden peppy song sung by the very popular - and in this case, highly effective - Mika. The melody has a ‘Goan’ flavor and the lyrics work their ‘tapori’ charm to ably help this energetic number. You can’t help but love the good - natured buffoonery of Mika’s vocals that help create a happy feeling about this otherwise generic template by Pritam.

"Main Rang Sharbaton ka" is a sweet romantic song that can’t help but betray its origins from one of the many tired templates of Pritam Chakraborty. I sound repetitive in stating the same observation about Pritam’s albums time and again but the tracks keep getting more mundane by the passing album. Atif Aslam’s vocals are, as usual,electronically tampered with to provide that picture-perfect sappy feeling of romance and also gloss-over his apparent inability to hit the correct notes with an expected level of consistency.

"Hey Mr. DJ" is as wannabe as the title suggests – a rare feat of honesty. Pritam eagerly flaunts another one of his formulae that I’d like to call ‘Gym Cardio meets Disco’ and gives us a run of the ‘treadmill’ song that leaves no impression whatsoever. Benny Dayal and Shefali Alvares are barely recognizable under all the modulation-heavy vocals.This song would be best served cold with a glass of protein shake just before the workout.

"Mere Bina Tu (Duet)" is a sad romantic song struggling to find its identity between contemporary and classical. To its credit, however, the arrangements are simplistic and honest and let the best element of this number work its charm on an otherwise average melody – Rahat’s voice. Harshdeep’s vocals are endearing as always but crafty vocals alone do not a good song make.

"Dhating Naach" is the quintessential item number of this album. The dhol and techno loops envelope this spiritedly sung number that may serve as a good musical option to let your hair down if ‘tapori’ beats is your flavor of choice.

"Janam Janam" is a love song directed towards mothers. The tune and lyrics ensure that there is no room for subtlety(to be fair, none is promised anyways). Atif Aslam does the usual and helps create a saccharine sweet ode to mothers. The melody, however, never rises above the usual thereby limiting the appeal of this otherwise well - intentioned song.

"Main Rang Sharbaton ka (Reprise)" is the same song as the one before but sung by the very versatile Arijit Singh.His flawlessly textured voice does appeal to your senses but cannot rescue this number from the caverns of boring ville.

"Janam Janam (Reprise)" is SunidhiChauhan’s take on the same song from before. There is not much change to be noticed except the singing prowess of Sunidhi and there are definitely better songs to sample that.

"Mere Bina Tu" is the solo version of the same track from before. It may highlight a different narrative highpoint in the actual movie but here it sounds just the same as before except for a more pop-rock-ish feel.

"Janam Janam (sad version)" is self-explanatory by its name itself. There is not much to write home about except for an honest and conversational feel to the words.

Verdict:

The album, on the face of it, is an equitable mix of emotional, romantic as well as groovy tracks and yet Pritam manages to deliver a set of tunes that fail to invoke any sort of empathy or even a real sense of hooplah either. Tu Mere Agal Bagal hai is the stand out song of this album by a long distance and benefits immensely from the carefree crooning of Mika.

Overall, this album is a classic case of the right ingredients mixed in the right proportion still not resulting in the right effect. Ditch the template, Mr. Chakraborty.

Ref:boxofficecapsule