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Pyaar Impossible, Badmaash Company & Lafangey Parindey.. 3 average movies on the box office this year by Yash Raj Films. They need a big hit to make up before this year ends. Will Band Baaja Baaraat (BBB) be that big hit? Who knows.. we will find out on the 10th of December. What we know is this movie launches two new careers. Director Maneesh Sharma is the new man behind the camera while lead actor Ranveer Singh is the new face in front of the camera. He is the son of actor Sunny Deol if you don’t know that already. Thus the man has some big responsibility on his shoulders considering his fathers & grandfathers fantastic reputation on the big screen. Lets hope he can make it work on screen with Anushka Sharma in a movie about weddings in Delhi.

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Winter time in Delhi is the season of weddings. For a movie on that theme & based in that city, the expectations are really high on the music front as it should be able to deliver the music that will be playing at every party of every wedding in this peak season. The guys who producer Aditya Chopra can close his eyes and trust to deliver big hits is the pair of Salim-Sulaiman. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi & Aaja Nachle are couple of the big names of their handy work. Joining them are Amitabh Bhattacharya writing the lyrics and the projection of debutant director Maneesh Sharma. It will be interesting to hear what Delhi sound can this album bring to the market in peak wedding season. Let us listen..

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REVIEW

Track 1 – Ainvayi Ainvayi – Quite a tune.. Salim Merchant voices this song himself with Sunidhi Chauchan. This is after a very long time that I am loving Sunidhis work in a song. Her vocals are bang on with the perfect texture & tone in a song style that suits her perfectly. Salim kicks butt too.. The music is a really good mix of the Punjabi tumbi start & blends into a modern deep base beat pattern. The music is funky and works in the growing & evolving Delhi music scene. It is not a style of music that you would have heard in Bollywood. The lyrics hook line Ainvayi Ainvayi is soo damn catchy & will stick in your head & your tongue for a long time just after the first listen. The lyrics are proper Delhi talk & work very well. This is still not the traditional Bollywood dance songs & so will take some time to grown in the market.. and even longer in the super traditional UK Asian music market. But for the music innovation I give it 7.5/10.

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Track 2 – Tarkeebein – The brilliant voice of Benny Dayal that Rahman once discovered is still one of the most smooth voices in the industry. Salim teams up with Benny on the vocals and they sound unique & fresh together. A good partnership on some fantastic lyrics by Amitabh. Really love the flow of the lyrics on this song which talks about ideas, confidence and the fight to excel in this world. This could be the anthem of the college kids this year. The music is really cool with a unique beat pattern with some exciting mix of sitar & harmonium on this modern mix. Like this song. 8/10.

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Track 3 – Aadha Ishq – The queen of romantic Bollywood songs – Shreya Ghoshal gives this song some effortless vocals. The mix on her vocals does not seem right at some points but I guess that is just me… Salim-Sulaiman cannot get that wrong. The music is an average traditional romantic composition. Nothing flashy about it.. but the highlight of this song are the lyrics. The title hook Aadha Isha has been very well placed in by Amitabh delivering a beautiful song. This song will easily find it’s way to the radio waves but will not rock the boat a lot here in the UK as it lacks stunning music & vocal work. 7/10.

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Track 4 – Dum Dum – Another Benny Dayal number this time with Himani Kapoor who has not been around for a long time. She does well but does not create a lasting impression. The lyrics are catchy but the music composition is not. Although Salim Sulaiman do a lot with the music with fantastic instrumentation & creative use of bass guitar & percussion, it still lacks mass appeal. It sure is a different & good song but something about it does not stick and create an impression. I think it is the arrangement & composition. That is why probably it has been placed in the middle of the album as it could not make place anywhere else in the OST. 6.5/10.

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Track 5 – Mitra – The creators of the song jump on the mic here as well. Lyricist Amitabh & Salim sing this song quite well. It is an easy going number for some background listening in your car after a tiring day at work. A song about separation & loosing your friend but with a rather bright composition. It is not a dark song that will make you cry & thus I like it more as it is a contract of emotions on the music & lyrics front. Something really cleaver & well done by both these boys. It is very situational & the music has a good use of synths & keyboard work with guitars. Must listen song. 7.5/10.

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Track 6 – Baari Barsi – Finally the wedding Punjabi number we have been waiting for. A salute to Salim Sulaiman & Amitabh for what they have done with this song. The traditional lyrics of Baari Barsi has just been totally transformed into a modern spin off with a bold pop RnB beat with a very cleaver use of shenaai & dhol. It still has the classic fast typical Punjabi clossing of the song which will surely get you up on your feet. The lyrics are very interesting and new. It still incorporates all the family members in the rhymes and gets them up to very modern phrases. Vocals by Harshdeep Kaur & Labh Janjua are brilliant. It is absolutely fun when Labh Janjua says “buggi wuggi” instead of “boogie woogie”.. lol. Check this song out as you hear it in the next wedding you attend. Fabulous work. 8/10.

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Track 7 – Band Baaja Baaraat (Theme) – This is soo the new sound of Bollywood.. and the new sound to be of Indian weddings. A complete modern version of your traditional brass band at a baaraat. It is brilliant & perfect creative musical mix by Salim Sulaiman. Love this short 1:55 duration piece. The instrumentation & arrangement of the various instruments & effects is just genius. It is experimental & learning for music producers around the world. 8.5/10.

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Track 8 – Ainvayi (Dilli Club Mix) – This dude Abhijit Vaghani brings in a new sound to remixing all together in Bollywood. He seems to be re-inventing Bolly remixes. He is producing some really classy remixes that have spirit & essence and have not been done just to fill up the CD. This is quite an upbeat & the name clearly describes what sound is working in the Delhi clubs these days. The vocals have been re done by our UK boy Master Saleem of Kangna fame with Sunidhi. The effects & rhythm of the song is bang on the money. This is to be my next favourite mix song for the London parties. 8/10.

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Track 9 – Dum Dum (Sufi Mix) – Ok now.. this mix does not really work for my. It is by Abhijit & in his support he surely has done something different & unique with the original with new more powerful vocals by Sukhwinder Singh. But the song in itself and the whole idea just does not work. The sufi side of it is not even clear.. It completely misses the trick. I rather don’t like this song at all. 5.5/10.

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FINAL WORD

Very Good – 7.5/10

Except for one composition of Dum Dum, rest of the songs of BBB are pretty cool and right there where you would call it a good album. All credit goes to the innovation, creativity and pure musical talent of Salim Sulaiman and the beautiful lyrics of Amitabh Bhattacharya. The performances by the singers are good as always with a come back by Sunidhi Chauhan. The OST lacks a huge range & variety of music but it delivers on the expectations for a wedding centric movie. For the UK market the album will actually pick up & make the best use of its potential when the next wedding season kicks in the summer. Till then it will be slow & steady rise in popularity for this OST & it’s Punjabi numbers Ainvayi Ainvayi & Baari Barsi. Tarkeebein & the theme song are my personal favs. Buy this album. Music on YRF Music.

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Yash and Aditya Chopra are famous for romantic movies under their banner Yash Raj Films. Recently they have started experimenting with other genres and been extremely successful everywhere. Now they are trying to get a mix of genres with romance in the true Mumbai ishtyle. Lafangey Parindey is the story of a Mumbai street biker and fighter who comes across a blind girl who loves to skate dance. He teaches her to see and she teaches him to love in between their rough lives. Yash Raj have put their faith in an extremely talented director Pradeep Sarkar who made the hit – Parineeta for this challenging project. The trailers look good with a strange on screen combo of Neil Nitin Mukesh and Deepika Padukone. Will their on screen chemistry work is something we will have to wait and see but their typical Mumbaiya accents sure do work well.

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I would imagine a movie based around the streets of Mumbai will have the Marathi flavour to its music but that is something we can find out now. What I am also very curious to find out is if ad jingles composer R. Anandh can create a hit OST on his debut music direction work. He atleast has real good support on the lyrics side with Swanand Kirkire who has written fantastic lyrics for movies like Parineeta, Lage Raho Munnabhai, Rajneeti and 3 Idiots. Let us listen and find out if this 7 track OST works for the UK Bollywood listeners.

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REVIEW

Track 1 – Lafangey Parindey – Mr. Anandh brings along a new singer to open his first Bollywood OST project. That is quite brave.. but affective. Ronit Sarkar has a good voice with a pop-rock texture to his voice that works well in the setting of this song. Very urban Mumbai with good instrumentation in this composition. The fun element in the chorus with “Dhing-ra-k-ding” takes away the seriousness of this song that talks about the life of the streets of Mumbai and gels in well. The harmonies & range in Ronit’s voice are worth noticing. He is definitely a good find. The lyrics are good but sound familiar. Not the best song to start the OST but being the theme of the movie I guess they didn’t really have much choice. 7/10.

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Track 2 – Man Lafanga – Now this is a really good composition with fantastic lyrics and the best vocals of Mohit Chauhan. His voice gives feeling to any song to put him in. The acoustic guitar sounds unique in many respects throughout the song. The basic simple beat and rhythm gives it the easy going pace of a good romantic song in the making. The lyrics are just perfectly placed and are brilliant as a man talks about his recluse heart that he has no control on and it does whatever it wants when it comes to love. Plus this song grows on you the more you listen to it and is addictive-ly fun. Press repeat!! 8.5/10.

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Track 3 – Dhatad Tatad – Shail Hada comes along after a long time and impresses you with this vocal quality on this song. Anushka is here too and seems to be quite in demand these days. The typical Mumbai street fun angle of the song comes out clearly with the title phrase throughout the song. This song will be this year’s hit for all Ganesh Chaturthi dances in Mumbai. It surely has that fun quality in lyrics and music that the Mumbai audiences will love.. but here in the UK not so much It is very street and an average listen. 6.5/10.

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Track 4 – Nain Parindey – This song starts off with a beautiful piano piece that sets the tone of the song in a pure and blissful way. Shilpa Rao just makes that better.. She is a brilliant voice and has sung some excellent romantic, ambient and lounge songs. This is yet another beautiful song to add to her list. Kirkire’s lyrics are just perfect, poetic and meaningful. R. Anandh keeps the music simple and blends it just right to give it that soulful feel that makes this song one of the best on the OST. Worth every penny. 8/10.

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Track 5 – Rang Daalein – Rock star Suraj Jagan is probably the best rock voice in Bollywood these days and definitely the most talented. You must even remember him as an actor in Rock On! He was the lead singer of the competing band & director of MTV later in the film. He sure knows how to make a song his and that too very effortlessly. His vocals are just bang on. The music is a good rock composition with good use of bass guitar and electric lead guitar solos. The surprise element is the mix of dholki and Scottish pipes in the chorus. Check that out.. you will like it. The lyrics are not the best but work for a rock song. 7/10.

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Track 6 – Born To Fly – After a long time we hear an instrumental theme music based track in an OST. And it is a good one. The orchestration is well conducted and has elements of excitement, climax, pace and harmony to it. It uses inspiration from Rang Daalein, Dhatad Tatad & Lafangey Parindey songs on the album to blend them all together. 7/10.

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Track 7 – Man Lafanga (Club Mix) – Remixed by Joshilay who call it a club mix but it doesn’t work. Atleast definitely not for the UK clubs.. or even for radio for that sake. It just does not have that effect or feel to it. Joshilay have just used a deep bass line beat and looped it all over. It does nothing for the song and thus just frustrates you once you have heard and become a fan of the original. Ignore. 5.5/10.

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FINAL WORD

Pretty Good – 7/10

Well not the best of OST’s to hit the Bollywood music scene this year but it sure has 2 good songs including Man Lafanga and Nain Parindey. The others are average or above average but far from being bad songs. Thus Lafangey Parindey is overall a very listenable album that people with Mumbai roots will definitely appreciate and like. R. Anandh does a reasonably good job for his first Bollywood album with a good range of singers. He introduces Ronit Sarkar who has the potential to be a good lead singer. Swanand Kirkire does well on some lyrics but could have done much better considering his past work. What is really missing from this OST is a range of songs and versatility. The absence of a good dance tune could possibly affect its radio & TV airplay with no demand of the movie songs in clubs. And these are big parts of what go into making a hit film these days. Album available on YRF Music.

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Adi Chopra is back with a bang with New York after the super hit Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi last year. He is not only producing but has also written the story of New York. This time he puts his faith in director Kabir Khan’s work who’s last movie was an average – Kabul Express.

Yash Raj Films has a reputation to maintain… & doing that is not easy in the hugely diverse Bollywood industry. When the first few details of New York came out we thought it will be a fun.. college buddies type romantic movie based in New York. Perfectly sane to expect that as romance is the natural preferred flavour of Yash Raj Films.. and the fun element is the immediate guess with a cast of John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh & Irrfan Khan. Then the posters, trailers & interviews came out highlighting the missing twin towers that got us wondering if it is an action movie about 9/11.

And now.. finally after 2 months of Bollywood strike the movie comes out with a totally different angle ready to surprise us all.. It’s not about 9/11 per say.. it’s not a fun romantic movie.. Its a serious drama about the after effects of 9/11 and their influence on 3 young Muslim life’s.

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PLOT

NEW YORK opens with Neil Nitin Mukesh [Omar] being detained by the FBI for moving guns & bombs in a cab owned by his company. He has no idea what is going on as he is totally innocent & is being framed by the FBI officer Irrfan Khan [Roshan] who wants him to go undercover & get back close with his old time college buddy John Abraham [Samir] who is a terror suspect. Omar cant believe this & the movie hits flashback to his college days when he had come from India & met his classmates Samir & Maya [Katrina Kaif]. They were really good friends & it all lead to a love triangle.

This is where you would think this is a romantic movie.. but.. eh ah.. Nope.. it is not. Omar just walks away from Samir & Maya on 9/11 while they get married. 7 years later he is now back in their life as an undercover FBI agent to prove that he & his friend Samir are both totally innocent. He must now stay with them in their house and discover the truth about what happened to Samir post 9/11 that led him down the wrong way. He must gain Samir & FBI’s trust & fight time before it is too late to stop Samir from doing another 9/11 level disaster.

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REVIEW

Sounds interesting doesn’t it..?? Well it is..

It is not too creative but is realistic. New York doesn’t highlight the fun element of the city that it is most commonly know for.. but the misery’s of the selected few who were tortured post 9/11 on grounds of their name, colour & race. Its the story of 3 young Muslim students caught in the after effects of 9/11 with the US governments desperation to show that they are doing something to stop such a thing from happening again in the future. It also shows the good aspects of Muslim immigrants like Irrfan Khan who want to make a change & stop all Muslims being categorised as terrorists. Neil helps him in this endeavour to prove a point that it is wrong to judge or categorise people of specific communities based on their race. What makes people go the wrong way are their circumstances & the decisions they make.. not their religion.

The movie has a good message no doubt.. but the best part is that it comes from a very young cast who deliver the message very well with some very mature performances. The script is absolutely focused & to the point with no twists & turns & beating around the bush in typical Bollywood style.

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MOVIE

- Very good performances by John, Neil, Katrina & Irrfan. I finally have some respect of John & Katrina as actors!

- Good tight script with a straight forward story line & no confusions or use of unnecessary casts to fill up scenes.

- Has a good message to the story where there is no villain. The enemy is time & circumstances.

- Direction is accurate where Kabir Khan looks in full control to get what he wants from the script & his actors.

- Although based in New York the film is not flashy at all and must have been shot with a very small budget.

- The characters are well defined in the story & the focus on each character is perfect in proportions.

- Thus Aditya Chopra does a fab job with story writing & production. Hats off to him & Sandeep Srivastava for the screenplay.

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LOWLIGHTS OF THE MOVIE

- For a powerful subject & script like this, the dialogues are absolutely boring & non-dynamic.

- The songs are a total waste on the OST. Hai Junoon is the only decent song.

- Background score & sound design of the movie are purely average.

- Cinematography & locations are purely average for a shoot based in New York. It could have might as well be shot in a designed studio set.

- Few downsides in the story ending that I don’t agree with & consider them to be hurried script decisions. For example.. I don’t see why a  wife who knows her husband is involved in terrorist work will not try to talk him out of it for their child’s sake. Also, I don’t see why a devoted family man will make a wrong decision to end it all for his family.

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FINAL WORD

Very Good – 7.5/10.

Except the above few technical sides of film making, New York is handsome movie package. UK audiences should be able to relate to this story in many ways because it is very similar to things that happened here post the London tube bombings. The movie is realistic and brings out the human side of a deep agenda of harmless innocents being dragged into criminal investigations because of the wrong doings of certain inhuman people in the community. It does not show the law & order agencies to be at fault for creating terrorists out of innocent people.. but how wrong individual decisions of people exploited by the system leads to revengeful acts.

New York is a good watch. It is modern mature cinema for the thinking audience & thus a must watch for all generations.

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Yash Raj films is back with Aditya Chopra producing NEW YORK with a highly commercial cast of John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh & Irrfan Khan. The movie is directed by Kabir Khan who’s last directorial venture Kabul Express was a flop with average reviews & a couple of decent songs on the OST. But with New York your expectations are bound to be higher as it is first of all a Yash Raj movie.. then has the hottest cast in Bollywood right now.. is based in the most glamorous city in the world.. plus it has Pritam doing the music.. All in all it has commercial written all over it !!

But on the other side the agenda of the movie gets you wondering if New York is a commercial music hit maker.. If you don’t know what the movie is about.. have a look at the wallpaper above..

Cant spot it..?? Look closer…

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Yup.. so you spot the ghost of twin towers there & so you know the movie is about 9/11. Not really about the attack but the after effects on the life’s of 3 Muslim students in New York. I still expect the OST to be bright & fun with a few elements of romance & a few serious songs.. Lets find out if it actually sums up to our commercial value expectations..

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REVIEW

Track 1 – Hai Junoon – Doesn’t sound like the start of a commercial album.. Well maybe it’s not then..!! KK renders his soulful Yaaron style vocals but the overall performance is average all thanks to simple & average music composition by Pritam. It has the typical soft college rock style which might go with the movie story but is overdone & cliche in the music market.. Lyrics by story writer Sandeep Srivastava are good & hold the other elements together making it a fun listen.. but with nothing special.. 5.5/10 .

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Track 2 – Mere Sang – Another non-commercial song..! The flow of this album is telling me it is more of a off-beat serious style of a album rather than a fun up-beat Yash Raj type.

Sunidhi Chauhan sings this song using her softer tone & sublime style. It’s not the best side of her & sounds monotonous. Composition style & arrangement by Pritam are just about the same as Track 1 & million’s of other such songs. It lacks innovation.. not just on the music side but also on the lyrics by Sandeep. It’s a decent one time listen but you may not like to come back to it.. 5/10 .

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Track 3 – Tune Jo Na Kaha – Finally something different with still on the down-beat lounge style… n I like that style..   Mohit Chauhan’s voice does something to a song.. it creates a vibe & gives it the depth of feelings. A romantic ballad with good lyrics that are perfect for a chilled out evening, sitting in the balcony in moon light.. Try it   The composition is simple with a good arrangement of backing vocals, light string instruments & a neat flute solo. Overall the track works for me.. 7/10.

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Track 4 – Aye Saaye Mere – The Persian style of this song is the work of Pankaj Awasthi. He has composed & sung this song as well. It’s the song with a message that would play in the background half way through the movie in a sad sequence. Very situational with an intense vibe. The lyrics are by Junaid Wasi & are pretty good with a traditional poetic feel to it. It’s a good song but lacks commercial appeal because of it’s theatrical situational feel. Listen to the lyrics carefully.. “Na Koi Kaala Na Koi Gora.. Ik Rang hi Sabhi ko rang de“. 6/10 .

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Track 5 – Hai Junoon (Remix) – Remixed by Julius Packiam. I have never heard his work before but this is a good start. He plays around well with KK’s vocal harmonies at the start & concentrates on his vocals throughout the mix which is a good relief. The beat is simple & makes the original more fun to listen to. The song now has this energy that it needs to go with the feel & lyrics of the song. 6.5/10 .

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Track 6 – Mere Sang (Remix) – Julius does a decent job trying to revive this dead track. I dint enjoy the original at all.. but this is bareable. There is not much scope in the original to play around with & the best creative element that Julius could come up was to add a subtle tabla sample throughout with ‘Hai Junoon‘ shouts which mix well. 5.5/10.

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Track 7 – Sam’s Theme – Sam is John Abraham in the movie. The theme makes his character sound like a serious & troubled guy.. Doesn’t go very well with John’s glamorous girl man looks & charm. Sound like he is experimenting.. lol. Good in a way.. as we’ll come to know if he can act.. !

Caralisa Monteiro’s classic vocal harmonies are truly amazing while our remix man Julius Packiam shows he’s not just the one with beats. He can surely compose & deliver good theme music to the standards of Yash Raj films which is a common feature in most of their movies. I like this classic music piece as it has some really good orchestra work. 7.5/10.

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Track 8 – New York Theme – Electric guitar’s with tribal drums give this instrumental the intense feel that describes the movie for us.. NO it’s not a fun commercial film.. but rather a serious flick with a message to convey. Sounds like something I have heard before. 6/10.

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FINAL WORD

Average – 5.5/10

The soundtrack for New York is nothing special. It does not even have the basic elements of a Yash Raj movie. No fun dance tunes, no big romantic numbers & no Bollywood style biggies either. An off beat non-commercial album totally opposite to our expectations.. and it is not even outstanding in it’s off beat category. Ignore this OST as am sure you can do without it in your collection.

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