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People are always running in Priyadarshan films in the climax. Remember Hungama and Hulchul?
In his latest comedy, Bhagam Bhag, as the title proclaims, everyone runs throughout the film. Why? Because the story revolves around a theatre group on the run.
This one is kind of special because apart from Priyadarshan regulars like Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Jackie Shroff, Arbaaz Khan and Rajpal Yadav, it brings the original King of comedy back from hibernation -- Govinda. Leading ladies Dutta (Lara) and Datta (Tanushree) keep the glamour quotient going.
And now for the soundtrack helmed by Pritam.
The album kick starts with the mellow yet catchy Tere bin. Full marks to Kunal Ganjawala, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghosal for their seamless rendition of the same. The romantic number, featured thrice in the album, emerges as a breezy winner. Tere bin could happily do without a lousy remix, and DJ Amit's unimaginative rehash proves that.
When carnival music meets 1950s style loony singing, it's a marriage of rhythm and mischief. The beats of Signal are a catchy combination of both. Remo Fernandes's crunchy enthusiasm gets sufficient help from a sizzling Suzanne. This vivacious Signal is surely traffic stopper material. Even so, DJ Amit's remix shakes but not stir.
Like the name suggests, the title song, Bhagam Bhag is swift as it gets. This typically Pritam ditty bears hints of Chocolate's Halka Halka and Pardes' Mehbooba. But the most-frequently-featured-track-in-the-album strategy rather works in Bhagam's favour as it slowly and steadily grows on you. Its Raaga remix by DJ Phukan takes it slow and easy but the Press Play Mix by Nikhil Chinnapa and DJ Nawed is wild.
Jojo and Sohail Kaul's snappy performance make a vibrant outing of this otherwise run-of-the-mill techno-rap Chal ud chale-Run run.
Riding on drama and high-octane arrangement, Afreen is part-techno and part-filmi interspersed with giddy doses of Opera-style singing thrown in between. Hardly ever appetising, this eccentric bhelpuri is best remembered for its gimmicks, not melody (or its absence). The Afreen remix begins and ends on a hyper-assertive note thanks to its overbearing and forceful pace.
Figures of speech are flippantly played upon to create the cumbersome Aa khushi se khud khushi karle. In addition, a blaring Sunidhi Chauhan and a rasping chorus are not exactly rewind and play material.
Bottomline: While Bhagam Bhag looks like a fun proposition, Pritam's score is mix of lovely and lame creations.
Rediff Rating: 