DJ Munks.com

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Dharma, Sony and UTV Motion pictures come together for Mr. Karan Johar to do a remake of Stepmom!! Why why why..! Lol.. I am only kidding. I do understand that really good English movies don’t quite reach Indian villages and the people who don’t speak English, but then this movie is nearly worthless for the International Bollywood fans. Thus for the UK Bollywood fans all there is left to see in We Are Family are the performances of Kajol, Kareena and Arjun Ramphal with debutant director Siddharth Malhotra’s vision.

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“Ain’t no mountain high.. ain’t no valley low.. ain’t no river wide enough baby..

If you need me call me.. no matter where you are .. no matter how far.. no problem baby”

We don’t have Marvin Gaye in We Are Family but we certainly do have the best of Shankar Ehsaan Loy on the music with Irshad Kamil and Anvit Dutt writing the lyrics. What I am curious to find out if the OST of We are Family has any inspirations from the Stepmom OST as that truly is some soundtrack. Let us hit play and find out what this 10 track album has in store.. (last 4 songs are bonus songs so lets check out the first 6 for We are Family)

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Track 1 – Aankhon Mein Neendein – The song opens with what you would imagine coming out of the Aisha soundtrack with serious similarities until Rahat Fateh Ali Khan & Shreya Ghoshal’s soulful voices fill your ears. The arrangement of the song is catchy at the start but then goes into sounding like an average Bollywood song. Some good instruments used like the mouth organ solo. The overall music feel of the song is similar to the sounds of Kal Ho Na Ho and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and thus lacks true identity. The lyrics by Irshad Kamil are pretty complicated and not that you will pick up on your first listen except for the chorus.. and thus it will take a couple of listens to start liking this song. 7/10.

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Track 2 – Dil Khol Ke Let’s Rock – Elvis would probably kill himself if he listens to this. Sure it is not bad for Bollywood but this song is suicide in the international markets. Totally inspired by Jailhouse Rock and written by Anvita Dutt is what is playing the most of TV these days.. but I am still to develop a liking for this song. The Dholki twist in the bridge of the song is pretty cool but overall the song fails to impress musically and lyrically. Even the vocal performances by Akriti Kakkar, Anushka Manchanda & Suraj Jagan are purely average. 5/10.

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Track 3 – Reham O Karam – This song comes as a surprise after an average and a nearly average song. Pure Shankar Mahadevan vocals can blow anyone away. They are just perfect and can swing your mood and calm your nerves within a minute of listening. This is what you call God gifted talent!! Vishal Dadlani has been singing a number of really good songs and seems to be promoting himself as a singer now and not just a music director.. he is singing for his competition music directors now! Good for him.. and for us since this song is something else. They lyrics by Irshad are very good but not catchy again. The music is nearly not there and is not required as Shankar fills up all the airwaves but when there is then it is with the rock theme with some exciting orchestration and electric guitars. Must & totally recommended listen. 8/10.

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Track 4 – Hamesha & Forever – Sonu starts off this song with some good piano work and harmonic chorus. The mastering could be off in this song as the music seems to sound louder than his vocals. So technically not the best. Again with the lyrics.. the beauty of words comes across through long phrases rather than rhyming words and thus misses the real click that usually works with the audiences. It’s a decently good song overall but I won’t recommend it. SEL (Shankar Eshaan Loy) seem to be loosing it with what really works with their listeners. 6/10.

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Track 5 – Sun Le Dua Yeh Aasman – Bela Shende is a name that has come up after a long time after Jodhaa Akhbar & Paheli. She does another acoustic song to piano which actually sounds really good as far as the music arrangement and her vocals are concerned. The lyrics for a change do work! The sad feel of the song is very situational and I guess works in the background in the movie when she about to die. 7/10.

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Track 6 – We Are Family Theme – Well now we know why there is excessive use of piano throughout all the songs in this movie since it is part of the theme. This is where SEL excel.. in creating good theme musics for situational movies. They never fail to impress in this category and this could well win them an award in the music department.. Musically this song is that good.. Check it out. 8/10.

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Track 7 – Noor E Khuda – Bonus Track from the movie ‘My Name is Khan‘.

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Track 8 – Aaj Kal Zindagi – Bonus Track from the movie ‘Wake Up Sid‘.

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Track 9 – Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehan – Bonus Track from the movie ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna‘.

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Track 10 – Kal Ho Naa Ho – Bonus Track from the movie ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho‘.

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FINAL WORD

Above Average – 6.5/10

Just a little above average for this OST because of the disappointment that it brought along.. With names like SEL, Irshad Kamil & Karan Johar I was expecting this to be something new that would thrill. But every song is almost predictable with SEL deciding to play safe all across the OST with nothing new in the CD players. No big track to hit the dance floors and all they could come up with was a copy of Jailhouse Rock. The lyrics are good but they don’t click. The vocals are good but fail to totally impress except really good vocals in Reham O Karam and Sun Le Dua Yeh Aasman. hus I won’t recommend you buying this OST but surely get the above two songs. Music on Sony Music.

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Sikandar seems to be a very offbeat movie with an intense subject to potray. The film is based in the picturesque setup of Kashmir with the sensitive subject of influence of terrorism on school children. Sikandar is a thriller about a school kid who finds a gun lying on the road on way back home & how that changes his full life. This will surely be an intense film & stars Parzun Dastur [Tussi Na Jaao Sardar kid of KKHH.. ] along with Sanjay Suri and R Madhavan. Sikandar is written and directed by Piyush Jha and produced by Sudhir Mishra.

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For such offbeat, intense & small budget movies, the music is usually not much to look forward to. For a non-commercial movie the music will never be commercial !! Plus offbeat movies like this usually use music as a tool to add narrative to the script or use as a background score. Thus the expectations are not sky high. One only expects the music to be soothing, meaningful, have some kind of a narration & with good instrumentation reflecting the culture of the Kashmir valley.

The music of Sikandar has some big names associated with it including the likes of Prasoon Joshi and Shankar Ehsaan Loy. Lets find out what the album truly delivers…

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REVIEW

Track 1 – Dhoop Ke Sikke – It is said that superstar lyricist Prasoon Joshi saw this movie and was so inspired that he went home & wrote a lovely poem. Producer Sudhir Mishra loved it soo much that he decided to use it as a song in the movie. Shankar Ehsaan Loy worked on the music .. and the final outcome was this song in the voices of Shankar Mahadevan & Anusha Mani.

The song is true to the hype as the SEL boys always make magic when with Prasoon.. like they did when they made Maa for Taare Zameen Par. The lyrics are brilliant and the music has the soothe touch to a soft rock rhythm. The lyrics sum the scenic beauty of Kashmir with suttle references while it talks majorly about the innocence of a child and how the society influences their future. It sure is a good listen & I love the start with Anusha’s vocals. 8.5/10 .

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Track 2 – Gulon Mein (Serene  Version) – This kind of an OST would sound incomplete without the vocal touch of Mohit Chauhan [last heard on Masakali from Delhi-6] . The lyrics of Neelesh Misra are truly serene. They are deep, touching and thought provoking. The music by Justin-Uday is soft and easy to the ears. Its majorly acoustic with some great guitar work. A must listen track all in all as Mohit pulls the spot light off Shankar from track 1. 8.5/10 .

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Track 3 – Arzoo (Naat) – This is a traditional song sung in a purely religious style by a village boy named Mehrajuddin from Aru in Jummu & Kashmir. His style portrays raw talent and has the depth & recitation style of the mountain valleys. There is no music & his vocals carry the track thru for 2 minutes in style. 7/10 just for this tenagers voice.

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Track 4 – Allah Hoo – Justin-Uday are on a roll here and show their true talent after giving music for Hijack. Allah Hoo is a true Sufi ambient track. The music is simple & thus pure and soothing to the ear. I cannot imagine the music to be any better on this composition than it already is. They let the vocals by Yash Narvekar and Hrishikesh Kamerkar do all the talking and they do it in style. These 2 new singers are here to stay as no music instrument is better than the human voice. They both are gifted. Must mention lyricist Kumaar does an excellent job as well. Simple.. but Great listen !! – 7.5/10 .

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Track 5 – Gulon Mein (Upbeat Version) – The lyrics by Neelesh Misra have a different voice this time with KK giving it a rock touch that he brings with him to most of his tracks. The vocals are average though. Sandesh Shandilya [who's previous work includes movies like Chameli & K3G] does a decent job but nothing extra ordinary or worth noticing. Is he loosing his touch..? But thank God he has kept it simple and not made a remix out of it.. The upbeat version is not really upbeat except for the soft rock composition style. 6.5/10 .

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Track 6 – Manzaraat – Finally we get a Kashmiri song in theme with movie but the sound is totally different than the soft rock & sufi feel in the album so far. It sure adds variety to the OST but fails to impress as Shilpa Rao’s vocals, Justin-Uday’s music & Kumaar’s lyrics are all average. At times it sounds like Bhumro but doesn’t get close to the quality of that song. 6/10 .

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Track 7 – Chaal Apni – This is a romantic upbeat number with a Kashmiri compositional touch again to a modern digital beat. I would have called it to be average but the more I have heard it, the more I have started dis-liking it. I have come to a point where I can’t stand it. The music by Justin-Uday just doesn’t work and the singers Hamsika Iyer & Hrishikesh Kamerkar fail to impress here. Please end the album at track 6. 4.5/10 .

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FINAL WORD

Niche, Average – 6.5/10 .

As expected, it is not an OST for the masses but for the niche classes who enjoy sufi, lounge and soft rock. I would give it a higher rating & call it “Above Average” but the OST lacks any kind of commercial value and stays totally focused around the script of the movie. But the songs are good individually. The lyrics are deep and beautiful for the first few tracks. The singing renditions are brilliant by the maestros. Buy this album if you like to experiment with your music and like the calm of chillout music. If you are a commercial junkie.. then stay away from this soundtrack.. !!

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