When an album tom toms the presence of A R Rahman, it is natural to expect the unexpected.
The man has given us enough reason to believe he is capable of the extraordinary. But by Rahman's standards, Lakeer is plain, regular fare.
Lakeer, which marks the debut of child actor-turned-choreographer Ahmed Khan as director, is a modern-day Romeo And Juliet starring Sunny Deol, Suniel Shetty, John Abraham, Sohail Khan and Nauheed Cyrusi.
Rahman's Bombay Dreams -- due to open on Broadway in March -- influence is evident in Shehzaade. The beats bear striking resemblance to the remixed version of Shakalaka baby (which originally was composed for the Tamil film Mudhalvan or its Hindi version, Nayak) of Bombay Dreams.
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The songs that manage to catch the listener's fancy instantly are Nachley, Paighaam and Off ho jalta hai.
Daler Mehndi and Kunal Ganjawala's upbeat Nachley tends to grow on you after a couple of repeats. The tender notes of Paighaam has repeat value. Asha Bhosle and Sonu Nigam are at their naughty best in Off ho.
Channel [V] popstars Viva do a funky job of cheerleading in the wannabe track, Rozana.
All said and done, Lakeer is low on melody and tries to make up for it with a high dose of style and spunk.
Muskaan
71 minutes and 79 seconds! Unbelievably lengthy! That's the first thought that crosses your mind when the LCD displays the duration of the Muskaan soundtrack.
Produced by T-Series honchos -- Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar -- and N R Pachisia (Ziddi, Salakhen), Muskaan is a musical thriller featuring Aftab Shivdasani, Gracy Singh, Neha, Anjala Zaveri and Parvin Dabas, directed by Rohit-Manish.
Composer duo Nikhil-Vinay helm the score of Muskaan. Their earlier works include English Babu Desi Mem, Papa-The Great, Uff Yeh Mohabbat and Tum Bin.
Baring the first few songs -- Woh ho tum and Janeman chupke chupke -- which are somewhat catchy, this 11-track album is tedious and offers nothing new.
The pace is boring and the style is extremely Eighties.
In that sense, the album is consistent: it maintains a boring tempo throughout.
Contrary to its title, there is nothing to smile about here.
