DJ Munks.com

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On the occasion of Eid Arbaaz Khan has started his own production company with wife Malaika Arora Khan under the banner Arbaaz Khan Productions and out comes their first movie with brother Salman Khan and debutant director Abhinav Kashyap who has also written the story of DABANGG. Dabangg seems to be a jolly good movie similar in some aspects to Salman’s last years hit Wanted but with a funny side to it where he is a corrupt police officer but savior of the poor and thus goes by the name Robinhood Pandey!

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Dabangg Trailer

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Dabangg has a really big cast including the likes of Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Anupam Kher, Om Puri, Mahie Gill and producers Arbaaz Khan & Malika Arora themselves amongst others. They also have new girl Sonakshi Sinha on the block in the lead role. We’ll have to wait to see how good she is on the screen.. And to support a multi starer movie like this Salman Khan decides to bring his favourite music duo Sajid-Wajid on the job who have done his recent movies including Veer and Wanted. Supporting them with their hand written lyrics are Jalees Sherwani who does most of Salman’s movies, Faaiz Anwar who has written some amazing music like Jab We Met and Lalit Pandit on a song too. So we have a handful of people contributing to this album. To say the least it is a music multi-starrer!

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REVIEW

Track 1 – Tere Mast Mast Do Nain – Start off with one of my favourite singers in the current crop who takes classical to the next level right in the first 30 seconds.. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan sings Faaiz Anwar’s lyrics to a catchy classical composition by Sajid-Walid. The instrumentation and feel of the song is purely simple like many other Rahat songs but that’s what we love anyway.. don’t we? It is still different in many ways with some really good vocal harmonies to check out. Very romantic and works very well for Bollywood music lovers in the UK. It is perfect for an evening radio listen. 7.5/10.

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Track 2 – Munni Badnaam – A typical bad boy at a drunken village girl dancer feast song.. If this is confusing then think Bedi Jalayle or Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo and you will know what I am talking about. Mamta Sharma sings to the lyrics and music by Lalit Pandit. A total carefree fun song with some really crazy lyrics.. not the kind I have ever heard anything similar to before. Very crude but funny.. just a total classic in many aspects.. “Item ye aam hui tere liye.. Mein Jhandu Baam hui darling tere liye..” You will hate it on the first listen thinking what rubbish is this .. But then listen to it a couple of times and sample the video on a music channel to see Malaika Arora looking super sexy and you will start loving this total party number.. ! Can’t wait to play this song in my next party. Definite dance floor burner.. 7.5/10.

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Track 3 – Chori Kiya Re Jiya – Two soulful voices of Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal can come togerther only for a really good romantic song.. and this is the one..! A blend of traditional village hindi with modern singing & lyrics style gives this song a different texture. Sajid-Wajid give it a modern acoustic guitar feel with a simple 2 x 2 beat. Jalees Sherwani keeps the flow of his pen very smooth and so the lyrics are just perfect for such a song. The only thing this song lacks is that extra special touch to make it listenable on a repeat. So I would classify it as an average song. 6.5/10.

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Track 4 – Hud Hud Dabangg – Talk about extra special touch and this song has it.. A clear differentiator the moment you hear the first line and its composition. Never heard anything like this before with some really innovative lyrics by Jalees and a genius composition by Sajid-Wajid with extra-ordinary traditional instrumentation touch. Cant hear a single modern instrument in there even though I am sure they used a few at least. But the best part of this song is Sukhwinder Singh’s vocal rendition. I would give him an award for the best singer this year without a second consideration for this song. Check it out and you will agree. 9/10.

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Track 5 – Humka Peeni Hai – Wajid takes on the mike himself with our UK boy Mater Saleem and Shabaab Sabri for another classic village style fun song this time with a drunken theme on a all men party. And guess what it works.. The use of Harmonium with Dholki and Matki on a digital beat is totally fearless by Sajid-Walid that gives you a really different texture to the melody of the song. The beat is soo cool that your feet and shoulders will move automatically. So let it go and enjoy Jalees Sherwani’s exciting lyrical party. When listening to this song you can’t help but feel the excitement and fun in the song that takes you to the scene of a village party. Brilliant. 8/10.

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Track 6 – Tere Mast Mast Do Nain (Duet) – This is just track 1 on a repeat but this time with Shreya Ghoshal taking over the mike for some of the lyrics. She does an excellent job like she normally does so no complaints. I kind of like the duet more than just Rahat’s solo version as it gives more depth to the feelings in the song. 7.5/10.

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Track 7 – Munni Badnaam (Remix) - Remixed by a female DJ – DJ Megha sounds like a good way to go but even though she does a good job with it you will rather go with Sajid-Wajid’s original desi dance version. The western touch with an electro feel and double synthetic beat looses the whole purpose on a village street song. It’s just a contrast of ideas but Megha still makes a point about her DJ abilities. 6.5/10.

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Track 8 – Tere Mast Mast Do Nain (Remix) - Designer Hippies vs the Bombay Bounce impress me with their ability to look at remixes in a different way but disappoint at certain points in the song. Their arrangement skills and keyboard synths are just a good combination on the right song but they go a little too further with sound effects in an over adventurous spirit to impress. A song is still definitely worth a listen. 6.5/10.

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Track 9 – Humka Peeni Hai (Remix) – Fried Brain Music.com remix this favourite of mine to a good standard. I can imagine the number of difficulties around remixing a song like this but he does a decent job although the song doesn’t fit a UK dance circuit song. It is difficult to place in a traditional or an electro set. 6/10.

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Track 10 – Dabangg Theme – Salman Khan voices this robin hood themed Spanish flavoured music that Dabangg represents. Its different but sounds like you are listening to a movie trailer. That is what probably this track was mixed for. 6.5/10.

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FINAL WORD

Pretty Good – 7/10

Dabangg surely has the bang factor in the typical Indian village style mixed with the Bollywood flavour and the Salman Khan cheesy fun factor. It has style and innovation by Sajid-Wajid in songs like Hud Hud Dabangg, Humka Peeni Hai and Munni Badnaam while romance takes centre stage in Tere Mast Mast Do Nain and Chori Kiya Re Jiya. Kudos to Jalees Sherwani for some exciting lyrical arrangements in a total gaun style. The music of Dabangg definitely has the potential to work in the western market event though it has the total Indian village touch to it. That’s its differentiator. For those who that factor does work too well for .. for them there is always the Salman Khan factor !! Music available on T-Series.

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UK PREMIERE ON THRUSDAY 29th JAN ’09. WORLDWIDE MOVIE RELEASE ON FRIDAY 30th JAN ’09.

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I saw the trailer of Luck By Chance at the Ghajini Premiere in London and I instantly built up really high hopes from this movie. The colourful clips, the texture of the shots, the cast, the music.. it all seemed so well put-together in that one minute trailer… And guess what.. LBC does not let you down !!

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The members of the Akhtar family are known for their talent and effortless brilliance in the Indian film industry. Zoya Akhtar joins the family trade in style !! She has the eye for attention to detail, the sanity for a good story, the elegance for a good script and the touch to sparkle every shot. At the same time she has the class that  every Akhtar has including Shabana Azmi.

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PLOT

This Bollywood movie is about “Bollywood“. Its different from the others made in this genre in story style where it gives you an insight into every character and their little life story.

The movie is mainly about 2 aspiring actors played by Konkana Sen and Farhan Akhtar who want to get somewhere in this hugely notorious industry. Farhan Akhtar falls in love with Konkana during his struggling days. He gets lucky and then plays a little crooked to get the lead role in a movie being produced by a huge Producer [Rishi Kapoor] & his wife [Juhi Chawla] launching his brother as a Director [Sanjay Kapoor] with a new female lead [Isha Shervani] who is the daughter of a famous old Bollywood queen [Dimple Kapadia] which happens when the Superstar [Hritik Roshan] drops out of the movie to do another Karan Johar film.

His life and personal commitments change to favor his career. He leaves Konkana & his friends behind in a circle of lies till reality hits him and he decides to come back to the people who loved him when he was nothing.. only to find they have moved on and left him alone to his stardom.

Let me clarify.. the story is NOT about Farhan Akhtar.. It’s about Konkana Sen.. Surprised..?? Its true.. I hate ruining stories so I will leave the details for you to discover when you watch this movie..

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REVIEW

LBC is a very light, fun, colourful, charming, artistic and aspiring movie with great music. Nothing too brilliant about the story if you notice… It has traces of many movies made to the tune of the Bollywood industry and aspirations + hardships of aspiring actors who will to succeed at any cost in this big intoxicating industry. But what is brilliant about LBC is how simple & light this movie is !! It has no action, few intense emotional scenes and full of light humour making it a great family movie. It shows the different aspects of movies and different characters associated with the industry. It brings out the stereotypes with simple character driven jokes about them that will keep you giggling throughout the movie. The full cast of the movie does a commendable job as fas as projecting their character is concerned but none of them out-stand and share the limelight from the other great actors in the movie. Everyone is equally good.

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MOVIE

- Special guest appearances by the best in the industry. The movie starts with Aamir Khan !! Other names include Sharukh Khan, Kareen Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Ranbir Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Vivek Oberoi, Manish Malhotra.. did I miss anyone..??

- Farhan Akhtar & Konkana get along brilliantly as the leads with style and quality acting.

- Rishi Kapoor & Juhi Chawla are hilarious. So is Sanjay Kapoor.

- Dimple Kapadia is intense, strong and charming even now..

- Isha Sharvani is cute and fits the bill well. Hritik is sublime and still very noticeable in his short role.

- The art work and cinematography are colourful and very pleasing.

- Music is the best with Shankar-Eshaan-Loy doing their magic. Even the background score & Sound design are great.

- Zoya has done a great job for her directorial debut and sure can write a good story. Farhan can write some mean dialogues too.

- The twist at the end in the story is totally unexpected and well thought. Also, no character or element of the movie feels out of place. Every thing in the movie fits well with each other like a complete jigsaw.

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LOW-LIGHTS OF THE MOVIE

- Some scenes of the movie seem a little stretched. You do notice 2 hours 40 minutes passing by.

- It is a slow movie, no doubt, and thus will let your attention go off the screen every now and then.

- A few strong emotions and challenging scenes could have made this movie more appealing.

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FINAL WORD

Very Good – 7.5/10 .

Its the second big release of 2009 after a disastrous Chandni Chowk to China and it is a HIT for sure. How big a hit is what we have to wait and watch. Must Watch..

Keep it for a relaxed evening after a quite dinner for light-feel-good entertainment. It doesn’t promise laugh riots but sure will make you giggle and smile every few minutes.. Kudos to the cast and crew.. !! It’s not Luck .. just plain Talent !

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I sooo love the start of this album that it’s difficult to move on….

Let’s start this review again.. [while I play the CD again from the start ]

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Simple fundamental… When Shankar-Eshaan-Loy [SEL] come together with Javed & Farhan Akhtar, history knows that the music is always ground breaking. Be it Dil Chahta Hai or Lakshya or Don or Rock On !! the result has always been pure harmonic melody in an innovative style. This time they had another Akhtar join their fabulous team. Farhan’s sister Zoya makes her debut as a Writer & Director thus making it a complete family movie for the Akhtar’s. The class & grace of this family is evident in the music of this movie and I am sure will very clearly be seen even in the movie when it releases..

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The film is about the struggle of an aspiring actor played by Farhan in his second movie as an actor along with some big names like Konkana Sen, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Kapoor & Hritik Roshan. Here is a spoiler :- We hear there are special appearances by Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salmaan Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty, Rani Mukherji, Karan Johar & many more to name a few !!

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Lets come to the music. As the movie is about struggle, love, relationships, fun & pain the music is about that as well. All these fundamentals work with a listener as everyone can relate to them in some way or the other. Javed Akhtar’s lyrics always deliver the message in the most soothing & perfect way.. and music of Luck By Chance is no different.

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REVIEW

Track 1- Yeh Zindagi Bhi – Its got a very groovy drum break beat start. Very catch & you will want to listen to it again & again just for that start. But wait for Shekhar Ravjiani & Loy’s vocals to come in cause they are equally brilliant with some amazing poetic lyrics typical to the Javed Akhtar style about life & a man’s aspirations. The chorus & bridge of the song are very catch & will get stuck in your head. You will be humming the harmonies for a couple of days atleast. Make sure you stop & listen to the lyrics once atleast as they are deep & meaningful. The repetitive background drum beat music works in favor of the song & thus I don’t see any downside in this song although you can hear a slight similarity to the ‘Taare Zameen Par’ soundtrack. I give this song a 9/10 .

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Track 2 – Baawre – After I finally managed to get past the continuous looping of track 1, the expectations were very high for the rest of the album. “Baawre” doesn’t disappoint you. The Rajasthani ensemble along with Shankar’s vocals is a classic blend of traditional with modern Bollywood music. Although the overall feel is traditional, the song has a very situational feel to it and you wonder what it will look like in the movie. What this album misses is a club tune. This song has the potential to fill that gap depending on how it is shot. Hritik Roshan dancing to the song in a Russian circus environment should do the song good. It will still not become a “Koi Kahe” as it lacks that class. The instruments, the composition, the lyrics, the mixing on this song is very good. I just don’t like the drop that comes in around 3 minutes into the song. This song gets a 8/10 .

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Track 3 – Pyaar Ki Daastaan – You have had a song about life, a fun dance number & now a romantic one. When you get to song 3 you know this album is a complete package with all moods.

Amit Paul delivers some very soulful vocals along with Mahalakshmi Iyer on this song. Lyrics are deep & very romantic with a strong Bollywood flavour to it. The composition is not very different from many other Bollywood romantic songs. Plus it is not very catchy but definitely a good listen. An average song. I would give it a 6.5/10 .

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Track 4 – Yeh Aaj Kya Ho Gaya? – A simple straight forward song sung by the melodious yet powerful Sunidhi Chauhan. A happy feel good factor with a complete live music ensemble. I can imagine the SEL boys performing this song live on stage. Live drums, keyboards & guitars… Minimal synthetic music.  Takes you back to Rock On !!. Great composition and has a light side to it. I like this song. I give it a 7.5/10 .

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Track 5 – Sapno Se Bhare Naina – If you liked track 1 on this album, you will LOVVVVEEEEE this one. This is by far the best song on this CD. You have to listen to this song atleast 5 times to grab all elements of this song viz. Lyrics, Vocals, composition, instruments used and the overall package of each element blending with other. Each element is so grasping that it takes full 5 minutes of the song to relish it. Pay attention to the lyrics from the word go & you wont get enough of it. The aspirations & dreams are picturesque through words alone. The music of this song also forms the background score of the film’s intense moments. It has a dark bassline for it’s start and then goes into a soft Drum n’ Bass beat pattern. Shankar’s voice makes you feel like you are walking on sky. It surely is the best overall work of SEL I have ever heard. I give it a 9.5/10 . Brilliant !!

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Track 6 – O Rahi Re – Another superb soft song. Shankar’s vocals on this song literally touch your soul. This song without any music & just his vocals is good enough to take you on a trip with the amazing lyrics at hand. I think SEL realised that & thus have kept the music to a minimal with an acoustic guitar & a simple beat. Its completely in the style of “Maa” from Taare Zameen Par. I would love to see Shankar perform this live on stage someday. 9/10 .

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Track 7 – Baawre Remix – If you want to do something different from the current trend… THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT !! With the Remixes trend in the market, the team of LBC haven’t kept remixes off nor have they gone the typical way of giving a song to DJ Suketu or A-Myth and the likes…

Midival Punditz are regarded to be the kings of Asian Underground and they make a come back here with a direct entry into Bollywood with this amazing rendition of Baawre. Truly electronic with vocal scatting being the main feature. The production of this remix is simply innovative & new to a style unknown to Bollywood. A rocking 8/10 for this remix.

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FINAL WORD

BRILLIANT – 8.5/10

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Shankar-Eshaan-Loy along with the Akhtar family make a statement and put a milestone at the start of 2009. It is sort of a like a challenge for all music teams to try and out do them. And frankly… I doubt anyone can come close !! You might have bigger hit songs in the forthcoming year but not an album packed with hits like this… Cant wait for this movie !!

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