DJ Munks.com

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Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a class apart. You have to admit that when you read names like Devdas, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam & Black next to his name credits. The man is an artistic genius and his vision & direction is exemplary. The colours, cinematography, artistic camera work, fantastic performances with a good story are some of his strongest points that he brings to the table. Guzaarish looks to be another classic piece of work from him starring supremely talented actors Hrithik Roshan & Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead roles. It shows similarities to Black in look & the disability concept where Hrithik is a disabled magician now pleading to be put to death. The concept is very interesting and I am sure the movie is the one to watch for at least excellent direction & acting by both the stars.. if nothing more.

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Ronnie Screwvala usually always spends his money wisely. Co-producing a movie like Guzaarish under the UTV banner is a big risk in a market that is recovering from recession & thus not taking risks with non-mainstream movies. He must have immense confidence & faith in the script of the movie and most importantly in Sanjay.

Sanjay has taken multiple roles in this movie.. Producer, Director being his usual roles.. but he is the music director for the first time for a full OST. He has done this before in his last movie where he successfully created a massive hit with his first composition – ‘Thode Badmash‘ from the movie Saawariya. He has now composed the full OST of Guzaarish with no help except for the lyrics of Vibhu Puri & A. M. Turaz. You ofcourse don’t know these 2 names as Vibhu is a newcomer and Turaz has never made a hit song in his 3 year career so far.

I am quite excited to hear this OST and see if Sanjay can bring the same emotions, his classic unique style & untapped vision in the aural domain as he quiet easily delivers these characteristics in the visual domain.

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REVIEW

Track 1 – Guzaarish – In his first project Sanjay has decided to at least play safe with his singers and use his most reliable vocalists who have delivered hits on his past projects. He gave K K his big break & K K gave him Tadap Tadap in HDDCS which is by far one of the most powerful songs in Bollywood & one of the most difficult songs to sing. But KK takes a rather softer touch to his vocals in this song. He gave Shail Hada his big break in Sawariya and he is here too but contributing mainly with background vocals. The lyrics by Turaz are brilliant. The song is purely artistic & theatrical with clear sad elements. Violins by Suresh Lalwani are just brilliant with some excellent guitar work. Kudos to Sanjay for the composition in the opening track. Watch out.. this song almost makes you cry. 7/10.

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Track 2 – Sau Gram Zindagi – The piano melody at the start of the song sets the tone of the song with the soothing voice of Kunal Ganjawala. The vocals are good and brings out a different aspect of Kunal’s performance capabilities but it is not the best of him. But the choice of taking him is evident as there are English lyrics towards the end and Kunal does them very well like many of his other songs. The whistling is great too & adds more definition to the song. The song is a recipe in a sing song fashion and explains the main characteristics of 100 grams of life. Very well & carefully written by Vibhu Puri. The orchestration in the second bridge is of Rahman calibre and shows the amount of effort & detail Sanjay has put in doing his first music OST. The overall composition is almost like a ghazal. I still love it. 7.5/10.

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Track 3 – Tera Zikr – I would like to credit musician Tapas Roy who plays the Odu on this track almost effortlessly. The music in the first 30 seconds of this number is very exciting and truly innovative in the Kashmiri style of music. The arrangement by Sanjay is fresh & noteworthy for any aspiring musician. Shail Hada finally gets his song as the main vocalist and he does not disappoint at all. It is almost like you have been waiting for him. He literally makes you welcome him. This song is probably now one of my all time favourites!! It is a piece of genius. The lyrics by Turaz are absolutely simple but gorgeous. I could kiss his hands for writing this song. You will fall in love with it. These lyrics make Shail’s job very difficult & you thus have to applaud his work when you have heard the full song. The instrumentation variety & arrangement is fabulous. A very unique set of instruments blend together over different ranges taking your mind & heart up the mountains. Even the use of Rakesh Pandit’s high pitch voice is a perfect fit to the song. I cannot find enough words to prise this song. Must hear!! 10/10.

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Track 4 – Saiba – After the Kashmiri mountains Sanjay now takes us to Goa & it’s Portuguese musical heritage. The Spanish guitar & bongo-Congo arrangements with Accordion give a good variety & range to the OST so far. The vocals by Vaibhavari Joshi, Fancois Castellino & Shail Hada are good for this Goan style of song. The lyrics are average & thus so the overall composition of the song. It is simple & thus nothing much worth noticing except the instrumentation. You can miss this & you won’t miss much. 6/10.

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Track 5 – Jaane Kiske Khwaab – This is very short & sweet song. It says a lot with a beautiful concept in a matter of 3 minutes with K K’s vocals. An acoustic guitar, cymbals & piano are all to accompany him. The words by Turaz are simply beautiful and touching. They say a lot in a few lines. The composition by Sanjay is good. A good listen. 7/10.

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Track 6 – Udi – This is a situation party song again with a Spanish dance music inspired tune. Probably used for one of magical performances situation in the movie. The rhythm is a good mix of Goan & Spanish musical styles but lacks the click factor to catch on. You won’t latch onto this song & sing along. The vocals by Sunidhi are good but do not show her full potential and talent. Lyrics by Turaz are average. 6/10.

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Track 7 – Keh Na Sakoon – This is another acoustic guitar & piano based song with very soft vocals by Shail Hada. The artistic flavour of this song is again in its composition & lyrics. “Keh Na Sakoon main itna pyaar, seh na sakoon itna pyaar.. itna pyaar karta hoon“. Such a deep & beautiful thought penned by late Jagdish Joshi & Vibhu Puri. The sad & loving expression is well reciprocated in the vocals and music of this song. The piano work by Jarvis Menezes is excellent. 7.5/10.

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Track 8 – Chaand Ki Katori – You will immediately notice the powerful & classical vocal style of Harshdeep Kaur make an impression on you. Her vocals go to a higher pitch with every line of the lyrics. She hits every note perfectly & then eases into the next note pitch. The vocals are very beautiful. The lyrics by Vibhu Puri are deep and very interesting. Concentrate on every word and you will notice the different aspects about life that Vibhu has covered in this song. Musically Sanjay uses a deep bass Flugel horn which I don’t think I have ever heard in a Bollywood song. It fits in very well with the vibe of the song. Great arrangement. 7.5/10.

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Track 9 – Daayein Baayein – Another K K song with lyrics by Turaz. Unlike most sad songs in this OST so far, this song takes you to a happier place under the sun. It does not have the dark indoor musical feel which comes with a good amount of strings and high pitch K K voice. The lyrics are happy & talk about happy lovely memories. Very good variation to the OST but as a standalone song it is not the best or a catch number. It is quiet average. 7/10.

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Track 10 – Dhundli Dhundli – The album ends with a very different and poetic song. It is still very artistic in every aspect and is also situational to the movie. The pitch keeps rising as this song has the pleasure of Shankar Mahadevan’s voice with some high pitch violin. The lyrics by Turaz are very well framed to the situation and are a story in itself. Musically this is a big violin orchestra work. Sanjay has conducted and executed it a perfectly grand and intricate style. This is a very well thought and well executed song. It has a system & different levels that it reaches on the music & the vocals. It is not a job of an amateur but a genius. 7.5/10.

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FINAL WORD

Very Good – 7.5/10

Sanjay Leela Bhansali likes to do things in an artistic larger than life way and this is very clearly noticeable in his music as well. For a first time music director he has done a fantastic job. You can easily compare the music of Guzaarish to international world music albums and you will not be able to undermine Sanjay’s work. He truly has the calibre to be the next Rahman.

What this OST & Sanjay’s style lacks is mainstream variety in the music styles. Whether he is capable of producing something like that is what needs to be seen to make him the next Rahman in Bollywood land. His attempt in Guzaarish is purely situational and is quite versatile within that domain. He does not explore beyond that. Most songs are average as they are within the same delivery style and thus limited. But there is definitely no bad song in there.

The vocal performances by K K & Shail Hada are the highlights with some phenomenal lyrics by Turaz and Vibhu Puri. Both should have really bright futures from hereon. I also have to give credit and mention all the musicians of Guzaarish as the instrumental work is very good. Sanjay deserves all the credit for managing this to the dot. For sure buy the album available on T-Series.

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Yet another comedy with Akshay Kumar & ‘Remake Specialist’ director Priyadarshan. These two can’t seem to get enough of each other. Well they used to make a great team in the good ol days of Hera Pheri but recently they seemed to have lost it with movies like De Dana Dan that was beyond plain rubbish. Khatta Meetha seems to be rather fun where Akshay Kumar is a road contractor with the name “Sachin Tichkule” and thus this time the fun is on the corrupt government & diplomatic functioning of the Indian public sector departments. Based in Mumbai the Marathi angle is quite clear and Priyadarshan most commonly uses the music style of the city where the plot is based around. Also, common to Priyadarshan movies is the fun angle clearly evident in the songs. So I am expecting totally senseless, slapstick Marathi songs.. lol.. That doesn’t sound too good does it..? But let me assure you, Priyadarshan very un-commonly does surprise you at times as well. Let’s hope this is one of those times.

He has Pritam on his team yet again but with a new kid on the block named Shani. Last time their combo worked really well was not long ago with Marjani in Billu. This movie does not have the look of a big track but lets find out anyway what this 7 track OST have in store.

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REVIEW

Track 1 – Nana Chi Taang – It sounds like our dear Indian rapper U.R.L. kicks off this album with very good pronunciations for these Marathi lyrics written by Irshad Kamil. Kunal Ganjawala is back on a song working with Pritam that lacks class and flavour. I am quite disappointed with Pritam to open this OST with a below average composition like this. I know some Marathi and what the title means is “your grandfathers leg”.. that’s quite literally though!! It has the fun element but not really when you think about the fact that he is trying to impress a girl with these ‘heard before’ lyrics. Truly disappointing! 5/10.

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Track 2 – Sajde – Now this is a good typical Pritam romantic song that he gets right every time. You can never doubt Pritam’s calibre with Irshad’s lyrics when it comes to romantic songs. And on top of this when you get 2 of the best voices of K. K. and Sunidhi together it all comes alive. This song makes you see the video by just closing your eyes. Truly mesmerising and simply worth doing ‘Sajda’ of. 8/10.

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Track 3 – Bull Shit – Famous Pakistani pop singer Shehzad Roy features on this song and has even written the lyrics of this song. This is a really funny and truly expresses the currouption of the Indian politicians who could sell the country for a bit of money. The singing is true to the style of Shehzad and you can easily recognise him if you have heard any of his big musical hits. Speech within the song is another typical style of Shehzad and he delivers a fun song but it is not jaw dropping.. Music is my new name “Shani”. I am guessing he is probably the Pakistani pop singer and actor ‘Usman Shani’. His composition is good but average musically. 6.5/10.

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Track 4 – Aila Re Aila – Another Marathi influenced fun song.. but this time it truly is fun because Nitin Raikwar’s lyrics are cheeky & funny with amazingly powerful vocals of Mr. Daler Mehndi. He is just too good and can make you have fun even without any music. His voice and energy can just keep you going on the dance-floor. Kalpana Patowary’s vocals completely complement Daler’s vocals and credit is to Pritam to pick them for this song. Pritam’s music is very good too and has a place in Mumbai street parties. It appeals to the masses.. 7/10.

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Track 5 – Nana Chi Taang (Remix) – This is a good remix by Kiran Kamath but it is very difficult to like this song as a whole because of its below average lyrics and composition. But this remix is surely better than the original. 5.5/10.

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Track 6 – Sajde (Remix) – There is absolutely no need to remix this song and DJ A-Myth does not help the song in any way. The tempo is still the same rather with a reggae beat. I would surely credit him for trying to do a completely new job by recording new female vocals with Harshdeep Kaur but they don’t really work for me. Sunidhi compliments the lyrics and KK more. 6/10.

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Track 7 – Aila Re Aila (Remix) – Kiran Kamath has tried to do something with this remix which is frankly not very clear to me. I don’t really get what is going on in this remix. Probably I am too sleepy or bored or just plain inexperienced to evaluate this song. It sounds very confused with heavy keyboard synths for key bass and too many whistles. The original works better for me on this one. 5.5/10.

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FINAL WORD

Average – 6/10

Khatta Meetha OST does sound like a Priyadarshan movie soundtrack. It has the mix of fun and Marathi and romance but lacks innovation and songs that you would like to put on a repeat. Other than Sajde & Aila Re Aila all other songs are purely average and not even worth a second listen. All singers have performed well but the OST does not surprise you. Like I said.. Its not very common for Priyadarshan to surprise you. Let’s hope his next project gives us something more for the ears. I will not recommend for you to buy this album but surely do buy Sajde on the Internet and give it a repeat listen. Album on T-Series.

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Our talented UK boys are back after Singh Is Kinng with a chatpata mixture of music styles on this soundtrack called Aloo Chaat. Yup.. it’s RDB back in business in the massive Bollywood industry with their mix of Bhangra, Hindustani & RnB music styles… but this time with No Akshay Kumar around !!

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Aloo Chaat is yet another Bollywood romantic comedy starring Aftab Shivdasani & the gorgeous Aamna Shariff. It is directed by Robby Grewal and Produced by Anuj Saxena. The trailers of the movie are hilarious and seems like a proper wedding drama family movie based in Delhi. It is set for release in the UK on 20th March 09. Although a small budget flick with no major names in the cast, it surely seems to have the fun element that a normal man craves after a long day at work.

The music is not completely the work of RDB trio but the title song is and thus so has RDB on the cover as the main producers. The other composers on the album are Xulfi, Vipin Mishra & Mehfuz Mahruf. Lets find out what’s the soundtrack like that is already up on all the charts.

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REVIEW

Track 1 – Aloo Chaat (Title Song) – RDB try to give Bollywood the British MC rap flavour in this song. Quite frankly I am not a big fan of such rap style RDB work. They are best when they stick to authentic Bhangra beats and desi mixes. This track is not bad work but I know it does not have a mass appeal in India. You will have the rickshaw drivers switching channels as soon as this song comes on radio. It’s for the cool college crowd as is very “street”. Hate the rap by Smooth but love the vocals of real life couple Manj & Nindy Kaur. They sound fresh and their self written lyrics are good too. Don’t see this song going a long way as it lacks the Bollywood touch.. but surely is something new for that market. 6/10.

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Track 2 – Dhadke Jiya – This song is all about Xulfi. He has written it.. composed and produced the music.. and sung it too. He does a better job as a singer and impresses with the lyrics. The music is average and is prominently acoustic guitar based. I like this song & think it is one of the better romantic songs this year. With the right promotion, this track is heading north on the charts for sure. For a full package man Xulfi & his soulful rendition – 7/10 .

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Track 3 – Aloo Chaat – I don’t get it why this track is not the title song!! It’s very Bollywood and super cool. Vipin Mishra does the music and lyrics while the tiny sufi superstar Kailash Kher blesses the song with his voice and unique style. Other than his amazing vocals, this track has a very easy going but funky beat structure & pleasing fun lyrics. The texture of the beats with the Punjabi shouts creates a great blend with the bass. The predominantely Punjabi lyrics are full of rhymes and funny at times. My favourite track on this OST – 8/10 .

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Track 4 – Boliyaan (Giddha) – Now that’s what I am talking about when I say “RDB are the best when they stick to Bhangra”. NO music director in Bollywood can deliver a track like this !! A proper Punjabi wedding Giddah song like none other. It’s got the traditional lyrics back with the amazing vocals of Nindy Kaur and Manj. Am only doubtful of how did they ever imagine Manj’s vocals to suit Aftaab :/   But what the heck.. it’s a great song & will be my fav for all weddings I DJ at for sometime. 7.5/10 .

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Track 5 – Life Is A Sizzling Aloo Chaat – Kunal Ganjawal sings to the beats of Mehfuz Mahruf and the lyrics of Syed Gulrez. All in all.. it’s a dud package. I think it’s the most boring & at points, annoying !! Skip it.. It lacks sensible lyrics, catchy music and dynamic vocals. 4.5/10 .

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Track 6 – Dhadke Jiya (Remix) – Nah.. nahhhh… DJ Moody & DJ Imti work hard to transform a good track into plain average. They just add a beat to the original song.. The worse is they add re-verb & flanging effects to the amazing vocals of Xulfi and ruin them. 4.5/10 .

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Track 7 – Boliyaan (Giddha) (2nd Version) – RDB doing a 2nd version of the original Boliyaan. This is a more appropriate version of Mehndi ceremonies. It starts slower and then picks up all the way to the top. This is also the version used in the movie. Nothing majorly different in this version except for the pace. 7/10 .

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Track 8 – Aloo Chaat (Remix) – DJ Moody & DJ Imti don’t do a bad job on this ‘already very cool’ track. It has a slight Electro pattern to it but does not truly classify as that. It’s an average regular mix style that you very commonly hear. Nothing original or different here. 6/10 .

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FINAL WORD

Average – 6.5/10 .

The biggest saving grace this OST has is that it does not have any totally rubbish track on it. It’s full of average & slightly above average tracks. This makes the OST buy-able as you wont be spending the money just for a couple of good tracks. Plus we have RDB on it which any day adds a lot of weight to the sale value in the UK market.

Boliyaan is the track that opens the door of Bollywood to folk Punjabi music… while Dhadke Jiya brings out the talented Xulfi in the limelight. Aloo Chaat is my favourite track & recommendation. This album is unique to the Bollywood music market & is recommended. Lets see what the movie is like now..

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