BILLU BARBER – BOLLYWOOD MUSIC REVIEW UK
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
Aamir started it .. Sharukh follows… Remakes of South Indian films is becoming a trend. It was Ghajini first and now we have Billu Barber which is a remake of a Malyalam movie.. only this time we have the big name of Priyadarshan associated with it along with Sharukh Khan’s production house Red Chillies Entertainment. So when it comes to Sharukh’s name being associated with a project especially under his own banner than we know it has to be a commercial bonanza. The album is thus no surprise…
The man of comedies from South Priyadarshan is another commercial and masses man. Thus the obvious choice is to bring Pritam on board. He delivered some of the biggest hits of 2008 with movies like Singh Is Kinng, Kismat Konnection, Race, Jannat and many more. Forget the fact that most of his music is inspired or copied. The bottom line is he deliveres music that is loved by the masses and thus super-hit in all aspects. Hence a wise choice to have him on board in a movie that is packed with item numbers with the hot dusky beauties of Bollywood shaking it up with the King Khan himself.
But the question is… Does Pritam deliver yet again.. ?? Lets hit Play and find out…
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REVIEW
Track 1 – Marjaani – Pritam tries to re-invent an already used formula of Mauja hi Mauja in this song. 
Exactly same beat pattern and style with Punjabi vocals. It starts with an Arabic feel to it with prominent use of Udu. Very clean vocals by Sunidhi and Sukhwinder Singh. Lyrics do make sense.. it’s Gulzar after all. It has a prominent bass line that keeps up with the beat and thus a great club number. Very Bollywoodishly shot with Kareena and Sharukh and thus a sure shot hit for all parties. As a DJ I am already blasting this track all over UK. but cant compare it to Mauja can we ? It’s fair to give it a 7/10 .
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Track 2 – Love Mera Hit Hit – Neeraj Shridhar and Pritam are a great team. But what on earth is this song all about!!! Pritam just got a little tooo carried away and lost it.. Senseless lyrics, basic beat pattern, reverb’ed vocals, repetitive… but very catchy and good use of flute in it. I like the rap parts. What a relief to know it’s not Gulzar Saab’s lyrics. I would have been dead of shock.
This is one of those songs that if you listen twice, it will stick in your head and you will keep humming the punch line. Then you will abruptly stop and hate yourself for getting hooked on such a stupid number. It’s dumb, but somehow works in a senseless way. Another club hit with an electro bass. [ Hate it when I have to admit something good in a senseless thing :@ ] . 4.5/10 .
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Track 3 – You Get Me Rockin & Reeling – Now we are talking. Neeraj finally gets to do what he is best at. A light romantic number with all the elements to become a big hit eventually once they start promoting it after they are done with Marjani and Hit Hit. This song deserves all the raves for its western with Indian blend. The English parts are refreshing but sound familiar. Pritam finally proves a point on Track 3. A must listen. 8/10 .
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Track 4 – Ae Aa O – This sounds like a song written by Neeraj in his college days for his Bombay Vikings launch but failed to ever make it anywhere with it. Great vocals by K.K as always but the song doesn’t work. It’s neither catchy, nor great lyrically and hangs half way between rock and cool pop. The dirty guitar and KK are probably the only good things in this song. Just another college anthem.. but not cool enough. 6/10 .
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Track 5 – Jaoon Kahan – Sayeed Quadri pens this beautiful sad song and Raahat Fateh Ali Khan comes yet again to Pritam’s rescue. The song is very situational and relatable to the story of a poor barber faced with hardships and dis-ownment of his family and friends. Sad songs are an integral part of most Sharukh movies. This one not one of the best but I like it. 8/10 for the lyrics, vocals and to Pritam for trying something different for a change .
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Track 6 – Billoo Bhayankar – Gulzar comes back with this fun packed song which is my favourite on this album. Very authentic, traditional, rural and true to the flavor of the character played by Irrfan. It suits the movie title and I can imagine it in the climax and at all happy times in the movie. Kudos to Gulzar and the singers Ajay Jhingaran, Kalpana & Raghuveer who clearly outshine all the other regular pro singers on this album !! It reminds you of ‘Khaike Pan Banaras Wala’ from Don.. only peppier and more fun.. Pritam now has new found respect by me for his work on this track. 9.5/10 .
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Track 7 – Khudaya Khair – This is just the desi version of You Get Me Rockin & Reeling. Evidently more Bollywood with the same chorus like. The orchestration is good but nothing new or different. Pritam hasn’t done much here plus the vocals by Soham are ordinary. So much so they dissolve Gulzar’s lyrics. Listen to track 3 rather than this. 6/10 .
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Track 8 – You Get Me Rockin & Reeling (Video Edit) – It’s the same as Track 3. Things they would do to fill up an album and make the soundtrack look bulky. Dominic does the female vocals on this and they are good no doubt. But ignore this track. 6/10 for doing anything different except a female singer.
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Track 9 – Love Mera Hit Hit (House Mix) – DJ Amyth tries to rescue a messed up track with his House beats. He does rave it up no doubt.. but his best bet would have been to remove the vocals and keep the music for a simple House track. 5/10 .
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Track 10 – Marjaani (Kilogram’s Balkan Mix) – I usually like Kilogram’s mixes but not this one. Too much experimentation !! A Bollywood song with Punjabi lyrics to a house beat with a very prominent Arabic feel and a Spanish chorus bridge. Doesn’t work.. It’s Overdone !! Original is much better. 4/10 .
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Track 11 – Khudaya Khair (Reprise) – It’s a pleasure to hear Abhijeet’s voice after a long long time. His voice was used for Sharukh for such a long time but then he went low with so many new singers on the block. He comes back in a more acoustic version of Track 7 and does it so much better. The singing senior proves a point to the freshers. 8/10 .
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Track 12 – You Get Me Rockin & Reeling (Remix) - Oh come on !!! What would it take for Pritam to leave a good track along. DJ Suketu always does a good job & you don’t doubt his talent in this mix.. but why this track..?? The remix does no good to an already great number. 5/10 .
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Track 13 – Ae Aa O (Remix) – I never like DJ Nikhil Chinnappa & DJ Nawed’s remixes. This mix is no different. Plain useless. Waste of 5 mins of listening time. Mr. Nikhil please stick to being a VJ. 4/10 .
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Track 14 – Marjaani (Electro House) – DJ Sunil and Spinz do a much better job than Kilogram. Electro is the most popular dance genre in India at the moment and I can already see this mix being spun on a repeat. It’s a slow soft electro mix with a clean electro bassline and good playing around with the vocals. The Dj’s are not trying hard to impress and thus is pretty good. I recommend this mix. 7/10 .
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Track 15 – Love Mera Hit Hit (Remix) – Although it has Delhi boy NYK & DJ Chetas on it.. I still don’t want to listen to it. Just had enough of this rubbish track. Whatever they try with it.. It’s not going to work. Bass gives u a headache on this track. Not mixed well either. 3/10 .
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FINAL WORD
Overall Average – 6.5/10 .
1, 3, 5, 6, 11 and 14 are my recommended tracks. Rest are as easy as hitting the skip button on the remote. Well Pritam does answer my initial question. He surely has still got it.. but it is wearing out !! He has become inconsistent and is going all over the place in some songs but then comes back in a few. Probably, that could also be because of the Sharukh & Priyadarshan influence. You decide..
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and the sound design of the movie is pretty good.
