DJ Munks.com

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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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Last movie that Sohail Khan produced was Partner –> super hit music !!

Last movie Puneet Sira directed was Jai Veeru –> Few hit songs !!

Last movie music director Dabboo Malik [Anu Malik's brother] worked on was Kisse Pyaar Karoon & Team-The Force –> All super flops !!

Why did Dabboo Malik step into the hit combination of Sohail Khan & Puneet Sira is unknown to me.. But my expectations from the soundtrack of Kissan just took a plunge into cold water because of his presence…

Hum Tumhaare Hai Sanam & Kasoor are the only two hits in his career and that too ages ago. Why does he still keep getting work is something we will have to decide after we listen to the music of Kissan.

With a cast of the likes of Jackie, Arbaaz, Sohail, Dalip Tahil, gorgeous Dia Mirza & the cute Nauheed Cyrusi the expectations are high from the music of Kissan. Also, the topic of the movie caters to the majority population of India that is farmers. It thus needs to have a total traditional feel to the soundtrack with a lot of Punjabi influence so it can appeal to the millions of farmers working in their fields and have this playing on their radio sets in the background

Let’s find out what this 6 track album has in store for the international audience…

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Review

Track 1 – Punjabi Munde – This track implies a decent start to the album. It sounds like a number of Bollywood Punjabi tracks with a bit of english rap. The beat is almost similar to Sambhale from Ek-The Power of One but this one is better for sure as it is more catchy with the ”Punjabi Munde honde hain kamal” punch line. The difference is with the number of singers on this track. Labh Janjua, Shakti Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Siddharth Singh, Parthiv Gohil, Earl D & Dabboo Malik himself give their voice but none of them stand out. It’s like a chorus throughout the song !! Nothing extra ordinary about the performances, lyrics [by S.R. Bharti & Kanwar Juneja] or composition of this song but I guess the video will decide if this song turns out to be a hit. 7/10 .

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Track 2 – Humko Rehna Hai – A typical Bollywood romantic song with stars running around in the fields in their traditional clothes.. mannn I can visualise the full thing…. Well the composition, instrumentation & arrangement of this song makes it easy to guess the sequence. The lyrics by Panchi Jalonvi are basic but conveys the message adequately. Shaan & Shreya Ghosal sound totally like villagers with their pronunciations & thus sweet in a way. It is not a hit song but not a bad one either. 5.5/10.

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Track 3 – Jhoomo Re Jhoomo – Yet another multi-singer number for a festive village scene. Ad Boyz, Abhijit Ghoshal, Tarranum, Sujata Majumdar, Pavni Pandey & Dabboo Malik sing the below average lyrics of Panchi Jalonvi. Althought this song is groovier than the Track 1 in many compositional & instrumentation ways it lacks decent performances by any of the singers in the huge list. This song can play well in Dandiya & garba parties but lacks overall commercial appeal. 6.5/10 .

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Track 4 – Neeche Sari Duniya – This might be the main title song of the movie & is with a religious twist. It describes farmers & the hard work they do in very suttle words penned by Salim Bijnori. What makes this song special are the vocals of Room Kumar Rathod. He is just the best for such thematic songs with his deep voice. He is supported by Harshdeep Kaur with the chants & harmonies. I love the instruments used & their arrangement in this song. Credits to Dabboo for that.. 7/10.

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Track 5 – Waqt Ki Dhoop – This is a short sad interlude for the intense dramatic scenes in the movie for the turning point in the script. Toshi sings this with determination in his voice as if he is feeling those emotions. Very well performed as you can feel the character. Lyrics by Panchi are good too. The music is basic but the chorus is deep & soulful. Short & nice.. 6.5/10 .

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Track 6 – Punjabi Munde (Remix) – We couldn’t have had a Bollywood soundtrack without a remix !! But frankly we could have done without this average ‘sounding like million other remixes’ track… Brother number 3 – Amal Malik is responsible for this. But at least this can now be used by DJ’s in desi wedding sets. 6/10 .

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FINAL WORD

Simply Average – 6/10.

Well I can at least say Dabboo Malik can continue to get work in the industry as he can do a decent job unlike many others. But when it comes to doing something new or producing hits, neither HE nor this album go a long way. It’s purely an average listen with no big numbers. Lyrics, music composition & all vocals sound similar to many others that you have heard before. All songs are purely situational with relevance in the movie & thus at least make sense & are not out of place. Buy this OST only if you have a thing for early 90′s Bollywood sound.

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I dint really know about the existence of this project until the soundtrack came out. I have been listening to it for a week now thinking if I should review it or not. The variety and uniqueness of this OST persuaded me to talk about it. Amit Trivedi must have spent a few hundred days on making this 18 track album.. I sure could write a few 100 words giving it the credit and appreciation it deserves.

A multi faceted Anurag Kashyap decides to do a modern take on the traditional DevDas. As laughable the concept sounds, it is an extremely great idea and I sure am curious of how he must have developed the script and shot it. The cast doesn’t look very exciting but on the music front we have the very talented Amit Trivedi. He impressed the world with his highly acclaimed work on Aamir in 2007. Although not a commercial success, but truly a genius piece of work !!

When I heard “Dev D” for the first time I guessed it sounds like Amit’s work and I was very excited to confirm the same from the CD cover. Amitabh Bhattacharya & Shellee do a great job on the variety of lyrics in this OST.

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REVIEW

First of all, if you are looking for some Pritam beats or Rehman orchestration or SEL fusion… then please turn away. This is not a commercial album. I will be shocked and traumatically excited if this album gets any commercial success cause that would mean a mass mature audience ! Listen to this album for the variety, fusion and a complete musical package to realise how global the Indian sound has become..

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Track 1 – Emosanal Attyachar (Brass Band Version) – I hated this track for the opening song when I first heard. I can’t stop singing it now !! It is the quiriest, most catchy, genuine, genius and innovative song in a long long time !! Sung in a typical traditional wedding brass band setup by a genuine band with the song sung by the true band singer and no established singer. The accent and pronunciations give it a typical street flavor. A super hit melody & must for all India wedding barat’s (Not the lyrics). This deserves an easy 9/10 .

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Track 2 – Duniya – Amit Trivedi brings back his Chakkar Ghumyo style from Amir to a faster funkier beat. Terrific lyrics and vocals of Amit but very close to the Amir feel. Not as original as track 1 but a great listen. 7.5/10 .

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Track 3 – Nayan Tarse – My favourite song on the CD. A 3min short, true easy listening brilliance. A rare fusion of traditional lyrics with deep vocals of Amit with an ambient music beat that goes rock on the chorus. Can you imagine & picture such a combo without listening to the track.. Do you imagine how vague that sounds !! A 9.5/10 to this brilliant piece of work.

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Track 4 – Pardesi – Another folk ambient chilax track fusion. This time with sitar’s, acoustic strings and claps. This singer named ‘Tochi’ makes a mark with his soulful voice. I so want to find all his work now. A nice soothing bass beat pattern. I don’t like the “That’s how we do it” on the track. But you have to listen to it – 8/10 .

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Track 5 – Saali Khushi – If you are down and feeling low this is the song which is going to wrap up your story for you. Song about missing good times in Amit’s voice yet again. A slow rendition to good lyrics. 7.5/10 .

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Track 6 – Paayaliya – 5 Tracks down and you can never relate these songs to the Devdas concept. This song brings the true traditional flavor of the concept in Shruti Pathak’s voice. A light song in Rehman’s compositional style but am sure Amit has done a better job at it. 7/10 .

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Track 7 – Mahi Mennu – How can a variety music album be compete without the punjabi element to it. Labh Janjua singing to good fusion of Dhol with a strong bass line is always good. A light average song. Can be easily missed as not very catchy. 6/10 .

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Track 8 – Aankh Micholi – A dint like this track. Nor the music or the composition or the lyrics or the vocals or the mixing of the track. Below average. Give it a miss. 4/10 .

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Track 9 – Yahi Meri Zindagi - A refreshing song with a light happy feel to it about being content of everything around. Aditi Singh Sharma gives it a global pop flavour. A fair track. 5.5/10 .

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Track 10 – Dhol Yaara Dhol – This Rajasthani number enriches the soundtrack. The texture of instruments and vocals is very soothing. Shilpa Rao renders this romantic song beautifully. Perfect song on a long romantic drive or a special dinner date. Do try to understand the lyrics.. that’s when you will relish this track. 7/10 to this one.

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Track 11 – Ek Hulchul Si – JOI gives some really good vocals here to a rock song. This rock does not categorise under the Rock On!! style but more of a Kings of Leon meet The Script sound. A very lively and catchy tune. Notice the classical tunes they play on electric guitars at the first solo. Recommended! 8.5/10 .

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Track 12 – Hikknaal – Labh Janjua back with a better Punjabi number. It’s got tumbi’s and authentic Dhol. Amit still has a long way to go when it comes to producing Bhangra stuff. Not for UK Bhangra lovers. 7/10 .

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Track 13 – Dil Mein Jaagi - Anusha Mani writes and sings this song only to a piano. It’s simply beautiful and very theatrical. It reminds you of the great music in Parineeta. Really good song. 7.5/10 .

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Track 14 – Emotional Attyachar (Rock Version) – If you are thinking this is going to be anything like the brass band version, you are in for a BIGGGGG Surprise !!! New lyrics (except for the punch line) a total hard rock musical and some really powerful vocals by Bony Chakravarthy. Think Parikrama or Metallica and you know what I am talking about… and imagine that with the chorus lyrics of Track 1.. Haha.. This is brilliant !! 8.5/10 atleast.

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Track 15 – Ranjhana – A 2 minute beautiful rendition of vocals by Shilpa Rao & Kshitij. It’s sad and you can feel the pain of the character. Very well done with just strings orchestra. 7.5/10 .

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Track 16 – Mahi Mennu (Sad Version) – Labh Janjua finally makes an impression with his vocals here as there is no poor quality Punjabi music by Amit to dissolve his vocals. Deep and resounding. 7.5/10 .

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Track 17 – Dev-Chanda Theme 1 – Theme music for the movie.. and very attractive. It’s sweet & charming. Its double bass all through with Pa Pa para & Ooooo ‘s all through. Amit shows he can keep it simple & yet beautifully smooth. a nice 2 minute piece for doing a little Ball dance in your living room with your sweetheart. 7.5/10 .

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Track 18 – Dev-Chanda Theme 2 - Another instrumental with whistles and violins. The melody is captivating. 7.5/10 .

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FINAL WORD

Very Good – 8/10 .

A brilliant variety album at the start of the year from a music director to watch out for.. Amit Trivedi proves his brilliance yet again after Amir. Forget commercial music if you have an ear for the niche then this is what you should shop for. Buy this CD and keep it at the top of your CD rack because you can listen to it in all possible moods.

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