Also, after taking a look at some more reviews, I think it would be better to mention that I have not heard Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya and hence the review is from the perspective of a person who has NOT heard the original album, and listening to all the tunes for the first time.

Full Review on New Happysing.

Read Full Review here.

The music of Agneepath is supposed to released in 10 days still, but the promotional tracks are out, somehow the thirty second previews were enough to make me write a review, based on promo track, so you can call it a preview as well.

Kamsin kamariya saali ik thumke se lakh maare, note hazaaron ke khulle chhutta karane aayi. Well, Chikni Chameli, featured on Katrina Kaif, is not just interesting with lyrics, its music is attractive and more than everything, Shreya Ghoshal’s singing is surprising. Gonna wait for the song.

Ajay-Atul. Roop Kumar Rathod. A song that says ‘sehme hue sapne mere haule haule angdaiyaan le rahe, thehre hue lamhe mere nayi nayi gehraiyaan le rahe, zindagi ne pehni hai muskaan.’ Seriously, do you need to know more? Again, I am waiting for the album!

Deva Shree Ganesh is one song that is a little regular, probably because of the subject as well. Reminds me of Don’s bappa moriya, and probably not as zealous, but can’t be sure about the latter in a 30 second preview again.

What again beats me is Sonu Nigam’s Abhi mujh mein kahin. Sonu’s singing is getting worth songs after some long break it seems. Recently he sang a nice song in Lanka and now this. Lovely.

Shah ka Rutba sung by Sukhwinder seemed to be Dabangg pattern from the name, but the song has a different flavor and goes more in Azeem o shaan shehenshah in terms of lyrics, and the music is a little qawwali’ish. Not too great from the promo, but definitely a like.

Gun Gun Guna ye gaana re sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and Udit Narayan seems to be a break from Sunidhi’s recent series of (mostly average) item numbers, as the song sounds like a light number. Also, Udit Narayan, who does not feature in the promo track should be something to cheer as he is not generally seen in albums nowadays and lately I have started missing his voice to some extent.

So all in all, Agneepath looks like something that can be bought on the day it gets launched. I don’t think anyone’s going to be disappointed. And yes, Ajay-Atul are definitely here to stay.

For Full Review, Check HERE.

The album starts with Iltija, Rishabh Srivastava’s song from his debut album Iltija. The song on the Bhatt pattern is an okay composition and sung okay too, making an okay though a little unevenly spaced start.

The next song Aap ki Aahat, composed by Toshi-Sharib sounds like the beginning of Bhatt-camp-song again as the beginning seconds remind me of aye kaash, kash yoon hota, but then the young Sabri brothers get into a different mood as they compose a slower tune for Sonu Nigam to sing, with some interesting lyrics as well. Nice one, something that Sonu Nigam sounds nice singing.

Sheet Lahar, composed by Gaurav and sung by Shreya, is a slow, nice composition with simple lyrics. The slow pace of the song may not appeal to all and definitely not one for ‘quick listening’ but if you give it time, lyrics as well Shreya’s singing would appeal to you. Nice job by Gaurav Dagaonkar.

The next song is again by Gaurav Dagaonkar, and is my favorite from the movie. Yup, it’s KK singing, where the irritation claimed by the lyrics can almost be heard in his voice. Barham hain hum is something to listen to, definitely.

Qubool, the next, is a regular Toshi-Sharib song, sung by Toshi, but then the song has an added dose of good lyrics, that too in prayer to god, making the song nicer to listen. Liked.

Sheet Leher comes in a different version, this time sung by Tia Bajpai, and sounds okay.

The last one from the album, Sunidhi Chauhan’s Hai Rama Rama, composed by Toshi-Sharib, doesn’t seem to be any purpose more than being yet another item number in the movie.

Overall, however, the album is good, with Gaurav Dagaonkar giving some good numbers while Toshi-Sharib give more or less their average, which is good, to say the least. Do listen to the album especially for Sonu, Shreya, n KK’s songs.

Fast forward to December 1, when I got an email from office mail room saying there was a Flipkart for me and I should come and collect it (that’s what they wrote). While going, I suddenly realized it was the pre-ordered book (I still didn’t remember the name), and then after having scribbled something in the mail register I proceeded to remove the great Flipkart packing.

No, I am not a blurb reader, but those who did read the blurb in the office almost immediately queued themselves up for the copy. And then I had to make them read the absolute first page of the book, which I found interesting.

And then, through my busy schedule (you claim your schedule busy when you work Saturday, of course) I kept turning the pages of the book, which was happening quite fast and the book was over (with this schedule, surprisingly) in just two days.

That was the story of my well spent hundred and five rupees.

Yep. I did like the book. The beginning of the book was funny, and that again means the absolute first page which is Judy Balan’s introduction. After that, the first two acknowledgements made me a bit impatient and I simply moved to the last one, to find what I had expected. And then, the book started.

The Prologue was nice and made me think I was going to read yet another Chetan Bhagat novel. The first page of the first chapter, however, made me a little afraid that I was in for yet another round of the exact same things I had read in Two States. But thankfully, my fears never got realized.

No, not that the story or the way Judy tells the story here are different, but the book, simply is not what Chetan’s book was. It’s not the same two people that were there in that one, and then, the similarities are more the ones which make you laugh, than the ones which make up the real story of the book.

Now before my review goes completely haywire, here are the points that I noticed about the book.

• It’s a page turner. Simple and entertaining.
• In case you had any doubts even after the first one, here I say clearly, It’s funny. At least I found it so.
• Characters of the book are interesting. Though Judy doesn’t describe them specially, their traits come out with the story going on. Liked that.
• A few things (not many, really) are simply impossible to believe to have happened in reality, but they have been added to make things funny and mostly they pass.
• Near the end things go a little too dramatic, but by the time you close the book, things are again mostly sane and real, so you don’t feel cheated, at least.
• Overall, I totally liked the book, though it’s not something I’d read again, hopefully. Yet, I’d like to read the author’s next.

In short, Two Fates is something really good for a first novel and would not disappoint you if you like light reading. That’s all I have to say.

PS (with Spoiler alert): I do not think anyone who went to IIM may not know who O’Henry is. Hope I am right.

Jis jagah khatam sabki baat hoti hai is again a patterned one with Neeraj Shridhar, SIddharth, Mauli, and an almost chorus, and sounds quite like an Abbas Mustan movie song, but works fine.

The second song, Jhoom jhoom jhoomta tu ja, is not just a different one for Pritam, but a lovely one and a well chosen voice. The song has a little Turkish-Arabic touch, a hint of belly dance numbers, but still the tune doesn’t get all alien. Reminds me of Hawa hawa a bit too. But what I loved here was Ritu Pathak’s voice whose voice has been used by Pritam before but not so well.

The third one, however, did not sound that interesting to me. Yashita Yashpal’s Ho gayi tun has a tune that might sound addictive, but not so soon. Not on my list for now. Maybe promos or more listening change the opinion.

The next, Isko Buddhi Do Bhagwan, is a hit material, though quality might not be the aim here. The lyrics are too simple and so is the tune, but it’s Url (Earl)’s Abhishek Bachchan like voice that might do the trick here. As for Shruti Pathak, it’s probably her voice’s worst use till date.

Enter Pritam and Mohit, with Shreya, to make you go mad, again, like always. Dil ye bekaraar kyun hai, tujhpe aetbaar kyun hai, kyun hai ye khumaar kyun hai.. whatever. The whole point is that Pritam can do it with Mohit a hundred times and still get amazing results. God knows how. Just do listen. They do it for the umpteenth time.

Siddharth Basrur’s version of Jhoom jhoom goes with a very different style when compared to that of Ritu. While the first one was all about ‘nice’ singing, this is almost about mad singing. I mean Siddharth seems to be singing a song that was made for Atif here, and interestingly, still manages to sound good. Catchy and yet looks like it’ll have some good shelf life.

Dil ye Beqarar kyun hai appears again, this time with Nikhil D’Souza singing the reprise. Pritam once again keeps him with more techno version, but this time his voice has been processed a bit too. Still the song does sound nice. And though the first choice still is Mohit’s version, I don’t think I’ll be listening to this version very less. Priyani Vani sounds okay.

And then the final, film version of Jhoom Jhoom comes from Arijit Singh, who sings probably his first solo here, and does it really well for a beginner.

As for the remixes, there are two, for the first song of Neeraj and Mohit’s Dil ye bekaraar kyun hai. None too special, though I was wondering if it was Nikhil’s voice in the background of the latter.

Overall, Players is once again a lovely album from Pritam where he mostly creates what he is an expert at, with one or two new things here and there. Dil ye beqaraar and Jhoom Jhoom are definitely the two to look forward to.

First thing, I saw the phone at Univercell, and they told me the phone was available for 33k and not 35k. My motive there mainly was to see what the difference was between S2 and Note, but I was surprised to see that beyond the ‘note’ features Samsung is talking about, the phone was nice, big of course, but somehow I didn’t have a problem with that, and I pretty much liked the things that the large size offered, be it the display, or the written input.

Yeah, being a blogger and Twitter addict, one of the most important things for me is a physical QWERTY, or at least that was what I used to think until two days ago. But with Galaxy note, I had some good space and good response to written input, and for the first time I was wondering about buying a phone which doesn’t have a physical QWERTY.

In short, as far as I could see, if you are okay with the size of the phone, compared to Galaxy S2, Note is worth the difference.

As for the prices, Univercell is offering the phone at 33k right now, with certain cards getting you 6 months’ Free EMI. Snapdeal seems to be getting it for almost 33k too, while Flipkart is offering the phone at 33.5k, with an offer that gives you a designer flip cover worth Rs 1799.

Buy SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE from Flipkart here.

Yes. With the movie, for which soundtrack recording is in progress, and names like Usha Uthup, Javed Ali, Najim Arshad, Kshitij Tarey are all set to be there on the covers, here is a chance for you or your band to share the space on the same cover with an original song of yours if you win the contest.

So if you are a musician looking for a chance, or a band, or know someone who might make it his or her big break, just reach Lorien Motion Pictures at http://www.facebook.com/lorienmotionpictures and get the details.

For any further details you may even tweet to @BhargavSaikia.

Shreya’s version of the song is more or less the same, except that Shreya’s voice sounds more serious, a little heavier, than her regular voice. Nice.

The next song is a discovery. Of a singer. K Niran is the name and the guy reminded me of KK from the very start even though the voice did not sound much like KK’s. The song, Baat ye kya, is a slow number with very light, background’ish touch of rock in the arrangements. Frankly, the song is lovely, and the singer sings really nice. Problem: Pronunciation, diction. Hope it’ll get better with time, hoping he sings more Hindi.

The Dam 999 theme, rendered by Suchith Suresan, Sivi Suresh, and Ousephachan (that’s the spelling he has used for the movie), starts with chanting of some Mantra, and then shifts from Sanskrit to English in one go. Nice, but I somehow find myself wondering how much it is for an average Indian listener.

Every Day, sung by Shakthisree and Ousephachan again goes in English, but this one is more regular, but with enough elements to keep one’s interest. Shakthi’s singing is nice, and more than that, nicely used. The arrangements are light but the overall number and usage of instruments is quite good. Do try.

Franco’s O My Queen is a slow number with a light clubbish feel to it. The USP of the song is Franco’s singing, though he reminds me of Usha Uthup. Probably more so because of Hai ye maaya. But anyway, if you don’t mind the language, listen to the song for Franco’s simple, but lovely singing.

Nivedya and Nirmalya sing the kid song of the album: I walk away. The song has some nice, simple music and the singing is deliberately amateur. Frankly the song is not very effective with its music and singing alone, but listen to the lyrics as well, and the song is not that bad. Though I don’t expect it to be in the movie, if the song makes some part of the background in the movie, it may be more meaningful.

The last song of the album, Dakkanaga, comes from Ousephachan himself with Suchith and Shakthi. Now while the ‘Dakkanaga doogu doogu’ part of the song is superbly lovely, though the rest of the song is not at least as good as that particular part. Still, Suchith’s vocals are interesting and Shakthi’s singing is nice too except that she reminds me of Dhoom in certain parts. Can listen to the for Dakkanaga doogu doogu alone, and my guess is that the slow speed of the song, that is relative to dakkanaga, may keep it run long, provided the song gets enough promotion.

Overall, Dam 999 is a little confused, though interesting album. The songs have quality, but then how many of them will click with the audience today is still a question. Still, I expect good response for at least Baat ye kya and Dakkanaga. And then Mujhe Chhod ke is definitely good too. So try these three, and if you are good with English numbers as well, go for O my Queen and Every day too.

Well, I am not talking about acting, but like almost every Salman film, this time SRK starts the soundtrack of Don 2 with a dialog, that merges into the second track, Zaraa Dil ko thaam lo, beautifully sung by Vishal Dadlani and Anusha Mani. I mean Shankar Ehsaan Loy this time get a voice that sounds like that of a Don instead of Shaan, who sounded all nice, not too fit for a Don I’d say. The melody is nice even though SEL keep the arrangements much as in the previous Don. Nice start.

The thing that most interested me, however, was Usha Uthup’s mysterious voice singing na koi raat hai, na koi din yahaan, to start hai ye maaya. Shankar Ehsaan Loy come up with a nice melody again, though the arrangements have been kept very espionage-y, reminding me of Karthik calling Karthik where this job was entitled to Midival Punditz. Totally like. Precisely, it’s ‘more than background.’

Dushman Mera is again the mediocre sounding number of the album that may well turn out to be the ‘Aaj ki raat 2.’ The interesting part of the song is Shankar’s voice that does not sound ‘regular’ at all. Sunitha Sarathy’s voice with controlled frequencies and almost no background music, is wonderful in the beginning. Do not listen to the song for Shankar, at least not the regular Shankar. He just uses his powerful voice to put some simple lyrics very simply out there, like Kishore Kumar? I don’t know, but yeah, Shankar is doing things in an old style here. Good chances that his singing here will totally grow on you.

The King is back theme is a bit too techno, though and the surprise voice almost made me laugh. Listen at your own risk. Btw, the second half of the theme, with a little ‘emotional’ sound is nice too.

KK starts singing Don’s title song from where Shaan left it, but the arrangements here is what is interesting. The way drums have been used, it almost reminded me of Darshan Doshi and MTV and KK’s voice may sound a little too overpowering in the beginning, at least if you imagine SRK there, but then KK is one person whose voice can never ruin a song. At least never has something like that happened till date. For the rest, SEL have done some nice work with the slightly-slower version of Don title track.

Oh, btw, the lyrics kinda disappointed me in this one. I think Javed saab could do better on this one.

If there is one more thing in the album to listen to, it’s Don waltz. Believe me, when I heard Waltz for the first time, my first thought was that Bollywood is growing up. At three minutes and twenty eight seconds, which is the length of many of my favorite songs (or so I feel, somehow), Don waltz, a tune that sounds totally like the background music of an animation/cartoon film, is a new experiment that you’d probably love to listen to, at least for once.

Overall, Don 2 is almost all that was expected, with nothing new, but the old things have been packaged well and look nice, and not just from the outside. The variety here goes less than in Farhan-SRK’s last Don, but the quality is the same, or may be a little better. Go for it if you want to, because whether you want it or not, you almost know what it is, and you’re right in thinking that you know.