Aadat se majboor has some experimental sounds with the regular Salim-Sulaiman pop pattern. The tune is catchy and the song sounds quite nice. Easy on ears. Salim-Sulaiman-Benny-YRF is a success again.

The next, Jazbaa sung by Shilpa Rao, has some nice lyrics and Salim-Sulaiman give some simple sounding music for this one, though the choice of instruments doesn’t sound that simple if you listen with attention. Salim’s backing vocals might remind you of Fashion or any other of their songs as well. Still, the song is overall a nice one and the hardwork the composers have put in is clearly audible.

Vishal Dadlani and Shweta Pandit’s poppy Thug le has a bit too simple tune in some parts, and even though the song is made to be catchy, I didn’t feel the song would last long. The lyrics aren’t Amitabh’s best either. Okay.

Salim finally enters with a full-fledged song called Jigar da Tukda, sung with Shradhha Pandit. The Punjabi song with a lot of pop in it, Jigar da tukda is interesting and should be a hit considering the amount of publicity YRF would give it.

Fatal Attraction, the theme, which has Salim in it with an unknown female voice which sounded like Sunidhi Chauhan’s at some points, and which hit me like Marjaava at 1.58 mins, is okay. The remix of Aadat se Majboor sounded nice too, though didn’t like Jazbaa remix much.

Frankly, in Ladies v/s Ricky Bahl, Salim-Sulaiman seem to have tried to do something more than their regular even though staying in their favorite region. So there is something new, a little new sound, but still the signature of Salim-Sulaiman is there. I’d say nice, because the album is definitely good, but yeah, I am still waiting for the duo to be less techno and rely more on melody some time, like they did earlier, in Dor and Aaja Nachle. Hope they’ll come up with something ‘that’ nice too.

The next track, Khuda ke liye, is again quite templated and very typical of Salim-Sulaiman, but is lovely nonetheless. Shraddha Pandit’s voice is innocent and sounds nice. The song might not be too fresh, but is certainly worth listening to.

The next, Kailash Kher’s Qawwali’ish Bismillah is one track that sounds a little blank except for Kailash’s vocals in the beginning but as the song proceeds, it grows on you and sounds soothing, relaxing. Definitely like.

Habibi Habibi by Mitika and Benny Dayal gets a new start with the wind instrument, while the song later goes on to become an Arabic sounding number, just like the name says. Benny Dayal quite surprises with his vocals here. Never thought he could sound Arabic. Nice, fresh one from Salim-Sulaiman.

Aazaan theme sounds more like the background music of the climax scene though, and doesn’t make too great an entry in the soundtrack.

Overall, Aazaan is a nice soundtrack from Salim-Sulaiman. The album has only four original songs, but all of them are worth a listen, and then for people like me who were complaining that the duo are getting repetitive, have got some variety as well. What more can one ask for!

Tarkeebein, sung by Benny Dayaal, even though not bad, and quite good on lyrics, sounds quite a Pocket mein Rocket. Now all I’d say is that you have just two pockets. So even if this rocket can be adjusted, there is no room for more. Please get us something new, Merchants.

It’s Shreya Ghoshal. Saying this because when Adha Ishq starts you for once are quite convinced it’s Sunidhi. But it’s not, at least by the album cover. Frankly, I loved the song, and except that it’s almost Shukran Allah in the background, I think the song is just wonderful. Well done composers and awesome job Shreya. But Salim sir, try changing the voice a bit or change the styles, like you did in the title song. Will be liked more.

Dum Dum Dum mast, sung by Benny and Himani Kapoor is something I liked again. Though the composition is not huge, the simplicity and the simple highs and lows given to the melody are quite likeable. Except for that characteristic beat, the arrangement quite fine and the way the lyrics have been given an upper hand, it’s just beautiful, a good thing.

Mitra. Though I am a fan of many songs of his, Amitabh Bhattacharya for the first time sounds like a full fledged singer and I’d like to give the credit to Salim-Sulaiman, for giving him the beautiful song. Part sufi style, part rock, part typical merchants, Mitra is something that you’d like to listen to. Amitabh Bhattacharya almost goes into Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan way of singing here. Like like.

Labh Janjua’s name in Band Baaja Baaraat is something that people would just expect. Baari Barsi is something like what you would expect from the name, but not all that. The song is not all Punjabi style but also has some desi comic mode as well as Salim’s groove part. The highlight of the song is Harshdeep’s non-Harshdeep rendering in desi-mood, but somehow I felt she was given a bit too much time, in a very similar tone. Still, I have to see how much the song is liked in future, which will quite depend on the video.

Whatsay about the 2 minute theme of Band Baaja Baarat? Okay. Actually good. Quite.

Ainvayi, the first song, appears in a Dilli Club mix too, quite regular. Not bad though.

And the last thing, Dum Dum (Sufi Mix) is sung by Sukhwinder and Himani. Well, now I know I was right when I thought I could spot some Sukhwinder like voice in the original version. Well, a usual remix, and nothing Sufi about it, and almost nothing good, except Sukhwinder’s voice.

Overall, Band Baaja Baaraat sounds like a usual album in the series that YRF and Salim-Sulaiman have been creating for past some time. The songs are not bad, but then you won’t remember about most of them after a few days. Still, not a bad thing for short term. The only bad thing about the album is that Salim-Sulaiman, coming after such a long break too, sounded quite repetitive.

Best ones: Mitra, Aadha Ishq, Dum Dum.

Update: OK. It’s pocket mein Rocket but m loving it. especially for the lyrics. so add Tarkeebein too. Probably over dum dum.

The album surprisingly starts with a Pritam song, Mera Jeena hai kya, sung by Neeraj Shridhar. Interestingly, the song is a bit different from their typical songs as this one seems aligned towards rock. I wonder why Pritam didn’t get KK to sing this one. KK and Nagesh Kukunoor has already been an old hit jodi. Good one but could be better.

Then the next, Dilkash Dildaar duniya comes which is again a Pritam composition and sung by Shaan and Tulsi Kumar. A beat-based song with a nostalgic feel. Shaan is fine but I’m not coming to terms with Tulsi very well. Okay song.

The third song, Rabba comes from Shiraz Uppal. Somehow, I don’t like Shiraz Uppal very much with lower notes. Shiraz is a guy who is best when he sings with his full throat. But here he sings more on lower notes and goes high only for ‘Rabba ye kya hua, Rabba ye dil gaya’ there too not so good I had expected. Some good lyrics and certainly not a bad song, but was expecting more from Shiraz. This is just okay.

Then comes the already heard Zubeen sung ‘Ab mujhko Jeena.’ The song starts somewhat like Summer of 69 but then it moves to a fast, inspiring type song. Can’t say much about the song as I’ve heard it way too much already. It’s even been my ringtone for a long time. So all I can say is the song is definitely good.

Next song of the album, Shukriya Zindagi, that starts on a lovely note and as Shafqat starts singing ‘chhan ke aayi to kya chandni to mili’ in an easy mood, you know you’re going to get an inspirational treat from Salim-Sulaiman and Shafqat. Beautiful lyrics by Mir Ali Husain in continuously second song.

As Shreya Ghoshal starts rendering Pal mein Mila Jahan, in her soft voice, with almost nothing playing in the background, you think it’s a sad version of some song, but then the song proceeds, and after a tough job done by Shreya, instruments appear in the background. A really good song and some superb singing by Shreya but I don’t know how many will have patience to listen to this song. Try to listen to the song anyway.

Finally, Chala Aaya Pyaar brings in Mohit Chauhan. A quite slow, deep song with some romantic lyrics. Somehow after ‘Pal mein’ the song sounds a bit sad as it seems to mix with its predecessor, but as Mohit comes towards the higher notes in the song, you start liking it. Good use of percussion, loved the tabla in the song. Go for it, but it may need some patience before you fall for the song.

Shankar Mahadevan is a choice of many composers when it comes to deep songs, and even more when there are less instruments in the background, as Shankar has got some awesome power in his voice. Therefore, after Raajneeti’s Dhan dhan dharti re, he gets to sing another earthy song with less instruments and more singing. And the song is none other than Shreya sung Pal mein mila Jahan’s male version, but Shankar gives the song much more power than Shreya did. I guess people would like this one more, if they have enough patience to decide.

After this, the album has five remixes but I wouldn’t even hear them as of now, after listening to seven songs already. Oh, btw, there is one sad version of Shukriya Zindagi which is again a wonderful listen for those who appreciate one minute long instrumentless pieces. Cuz I was a fan of Aashayein slow version and always played the song after the slow version.

Overall, the album is not bad, but not very good either. While no song is actually bad, only a few, namely ab mujhko jeena, shukriya zindagi, pal mein mila jahan look upto their level. Mohit Chauhan and Shiraz Uppal are a bit below their own set standards. The biggest problem is that few songs in the album catch you instantly, though I hope many of the songs will sound just perfect in the movie as background.

All I’d say is, I had some more aashayein from aashayein.

But then, in the second half the movie moves ahead and we get to see some great performances, especially from Amitabh, who makes a perfect mathematician in the movie. There are some good dialogs too, one of Ajay Devgn about ‘better luck next time’ being my favorite. Talking of performances, all the students of Amitabh, who are majorly new faces, have given quite good performances, in the limits of story and direction.

The major drawbacks of Teen Patti are, the writing, that makes the movie go up & down, and with the exception of Amitabh, and to some extent Madhavan, you do not get a clear picture of anyone’s mind; and the direction, that falters so badly at some points that I wonder if there are some Priyadarshan scenes lined up ahead. Adding the two, you get that the movie is not smooth as it should have been. But the person who makes up for it all, not all the times though, is the one and only Amitabh Bachchan. The end of the movie, especially the part where it all comes to Amitabh and Ben Kinsley, is definitely the best part of the movie.

By the way, I count on Amitabh as the mathematician and would not comment on the logic or way they use to earn money in the movie. Whether that is something beyond logic and practicality is not under the perview of the review.

Talking about other things, music is mostly made for the movie and works in its place. But then, you go home with a Neeyat that is definitely kharab. Salim-Sulaiman’s background is good too. Choreography shows its color in Neeyat again. Cinematography is interesting with all the effects added to numbers though it reminded me of Taare Zameen Par’s beginning scenes.

Overall, Teen Patti is a could-be-good, average movie. The reason I say average may be my high expectations from the film but a cast of Amitabh and Ben Kingsley does deserve that attention. Still, both Amitabh and even Ben in his small role deliver good performances. Watch it if you want something new and are not afraid of getting bored in search of that new.

…and finally Naresh Kamat, the guy who sang ten on ten with Anushka and Mahua in Pyaar impossible and has been there in many films as background vocalist, gets a full fledged solo song for himself as Intezar mein Chhupa. The song is almost rock n quite rocking. Naresh goes quite low n high on notes in the song and while he has been mostly good, he seems a bit uncomfortable with low notes, but the way he turns at the words Intezar mein Chhupa, I just loved that part. Overall, I liked the song, and more because of Naresh’s singing. Hope he does even better in future.

Salim Merchant is a surprise with almost every album nowadays. This time Salim sings a foot tapping number as Teen Patti ke Ghulam, and though there is not much special with the song, especially after singing a number like Ali Maula (Kurbaan), the song adds as one more good and different to the budding list of songs sung by Salim. An average song that, given time, may stick to tongue.

The next number is a full fledged English one, Life is a Game sung by Sonia Saigal, with added dialogues by Amitabh. I’m not very keen on listening English songs mostly but still liked the song. The song talks about life’s philosophy in the language of the film as it talks of equations, mistakes and probabilities too. Okay by me.

The next track is a remix of neeyat. The good thing about the remix is that Sunidhi’s voice hasn’t been much experimented with and so I find the remix fine.

The remix of title Teen Patti by Salim is OK too but I somehow felt that the original number is more danceable which kind of ends the purpose of the remix. Could be better.

The remix version of Naresh Kamat’s intezar mein is more beaty but somehow I didn’t like it much, probably because the songs has more background music than words. Just OK.

The Hindi version of Life is a game is more interesting than it is good to listen. The song has both Hindi and English words and the singers, Sonia and Anushka Manchanda, sing the Hindi and English lines almost without changing the tone. Good to listen. Can work well in background too.

The last song, summertime an the live, is another completely in English number sung by Joe Alvares. The song is probably a Jazz and I quite liked it. (though I am not very sure about the genre) Try the song, you may fall for Joe’s singing.

Overall, Teen Patti is more movie-oriented than ‘musical’, but it sounds good. In fact, after Kurbaan, Rocket Singh and Pyaar Impossible, I was expecting something good from SS, wondering at the same time what they can deliver in an Amitabh Bachchan-Ben Kingsley starrer thriller. But they do well once again. Keep going like that guys.

The movie starts in college, with Uday Chopra looking retarded (and at the same time geeky) enough to remind me of Auro of Paa. But then, his look changes, he becomes a man, but his heart remains that of a little boy. Just like his father Anupam Kher, or so Anupam claims. Uday plays a super-intelligent-idiot who does things that make you think so many times how someone can be THAT idiot. But then, that is what makes Uday’s character too. His chemistry (or entire science) with Anupam Kher is amusing in their first few minutes together.

The movie has some wonderful sequences and at times it may keep one hooked, but going with love and computers together is not an easy job and while balancing the two, the story fails to show the seriousness the computer demands. The end of the movie is probably its worst part and things happen way too simply to be believed in the end which makes the movie a mere OKAY from a possible good.

Pyaar Impossible has a small cast with just Uday, Priyanka Chopra, Anupam Kher, Dino Morea and Tanya’s character in the main roles. Uday is good, and so is Priyanka, but while I expected the movie to revolve around Priyanka’s character going by the songs and promos, the movie is all about Abhay Sharma, the character played by Uday. Anupam Kher is a natural, while Dino Morea is much more than a special appearance and he has played his character quite well too. The little girl is good though I do not want to think whether she could be six or not as told in the story.

Songs are another surprising element in the movie. While I expected the movie to be an almost full-fledged musical with five such beautiful songs, it hardly is a musical. Except the first song, Alisha, almost everything fits in the story while one song fits the story of the movie in itself. I loved the way songs are pictured. Especially the title song, Pyaar Impossible.

I guess the story that it was, it might have been better handled by a hardcore director like Shimit Amin, but there are points where Jugal does it well too. In fact, talking of direction, there are instances in the movie where I expected Jugal to fall for some typical YashRaj ways that defy common sense (like suddenly recalling things that you didn’t notice for seven years) but he chose logic over drama. I would praise him for that. Also, one more good thing about Uday’s story is that it’s not a bunch of coincidences. There is only one major coincidence that you can guess in the very start of the movie as the movie is not possible without that.

Overall, Pyaar Impossible is a movie that could be good but ends up being just good in parts and finally just okay; majorly because of its end. The movie is a one time watch but you would be disappointed if you have big expectations from the movie. My advice, unless you’ve been waiting for it, watch it on a DVD. That way you’ll surely get the value for your money.

So here is your poll.

First comes Vishal Dadlani. The guy has decided to set up some record or something. He sings for a rock band, Pentagram. He composes. He used to sing his compositions too. But this year, he has crossed many borders and sung for many composers, from Vishal Bharadwaj to Salim-Sulaiman. Interestingly, some of the best songs of the year belong to Vishal Dadlani this time. The list includes dhan te nan from Kaminey (Vishal Bharadwaj), barso yaaron from London Dreams (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy), and Kurbaan hua from Kurbaan (Salim-Sulaiman). Besides, he also sang Nazara hai (8×10 Tasveer) and Gadbadi hai (Rocket Singh) for Salim-Sulaiman this year. Never mind a superbly sung You May be (with Shekhar) for Aladin.

Like Vishal, even Shekhar Ravjiani was also called to sing ‘Ye Zindagi bhi’ in Luck By Chance, a Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy composed album.

Next comes Salim Merchant who has entered proper singing from giving background vocals for his movies. With Luck’s Khudaya Ve, Salim got himself recongnized as a good singer and came up with Ali Maula in Kurbaan, and even Pankhon ko in Rocket Singh. All these songs are good and have been sung with the expertise they need.

Dev.D composer Amit Trivedi also had his share and sang Nayan Tarse, and a well received Saali Khushi other than Duniya and Aankh Micholi in the album.

Composer-lyricist Piyush Mishra came up with Anurag Kashyap’s next, Gulaal, and hit hard with his ‘Duniya’.

Composer duo Sajid-Wajid were also not left and after doing Bang Bang with Salman in Hello, Wajid sang a beautiful Tere Bina for Vashu Bhagnani’s Kal Kissne Dekha, apparently the best song of the film.

And while Himesh Reshammiya kept all his songs as usual, Ashutosh Gowariker’s newcomer composer Sohail Sen was no less and sang nine songs out of thirteen for What’s Your Raashee, something quite big for a new guy.

Also, Shankar Mahadevan sang songs for Vishal-Shekhar in Aladin and one could hear him sing in both the movies released that day as he had sung a number of songs for his London Dreams too.

Other than these, there were a number of composers who sang a song or two for their albums, but one of the most interesting cases was of Amitabh Bhattacharya who sang no song for Dev.D where he had penned the lyrics for all sixteen songs. Still, he sang an Amit Trivedi composition penned by Javed Akhtar for Wake Up Sid, and it turned out to be one of the best songs of the year. If you haven’t got it yet, I’m talking of iktara, one of the biggest hits of the year. More interestingly, Amitabh sang iktara with Kavita Seth whose compositions were out at the same time in Yeh Mera India. And now, the guy is back to writing as he has written lyrics for one song ‘Just Do it’ for Chance pe Dance.

In short, this has been an year of singing composers, singing lyricists (Amitabh Bhattacharya, Swanand Kirkire, Piyush Mishra), singing actors (Amitabh Bachchan for one), and even singing directors (Yeah, Ashutosh Gowariker sang too, manunga manunga in What’s your Raashee). So peopl are crossing borders. And the future is all the more this way. If there is any doubt, listen to Lalit Pandit (of Jatin-Lalit) in Dulha Mil Gaya.

Alisha (Singers: Anushka Manchanda, Salim Merchant): My guess is you would have heard this song by now. But in case you haven’t, it’s worth listening to. Alisha is a soft, romantic song with some touchy and some tongue sticking music that you’d most probably love. On top of that Priyanka Chopra looks absolutely wonderful in the video of the song which is going to make the song all the more desirable.

Pyaar Impossible (Singers: Dominique Cerejo, Vishal Dadlani): With Salim-Sulaiman, Vishal Dadlani is more regular than regular singers nowadays. This time he sings a soft, lighter, not his ‘type’ song with Dominique and proves again that he is not just for rock songs. Though he has given a rocky touch to his voice at some high notes, he clearly has been all good with the softer parts of the song. Dominique Cerejo is good as ever, absolutely wonderful. I’d say music is good, but it’s singing of the two that makes the song all the more amazing. Though lyrics of song are not that good, I mean 8 on 10.

You and Me (Singers: Neha Bhasin, Benny Dayal): I must have heard Pocket mein Rocket a lot, because I can identify Benny Dayal’s voice now. Anyway, the song is good, but not a catchy number like the other songs of the album. Will take some time before it gets stuck to your tongue. Neha Bhasin has sung the song pretty well and Benny Dayal is equally good.

10 on 10 (Singers: Mahua Kamat, Anushka Manchanda, Naresh Kamath): My guess is, after Yash Raj’s effort, the song must have found some place in your mind. So don’t be surprised if you think the voice in the song is not as it is in the video you have seen. Well, in half the song it’s not. It’s not just Anushka Manchanda in the song but half the Viva, that is Mahua along with Anushka, and in the three and half minute song, more than two minutes are given to Mahua. She sounds good, but Alisha, that is Anushka’s voice, has been made the hot property of the song and has more glamor here. Naresh Kamath, who has been a regular vocalist in Salim-Sulaiman’s team gets a small piece in the song here where he matches Uday Chopra’s voice quite okay.

Ek thi Ladki (Singer: Rishika Sawant): I want to know where the song is there in the movie. A song sung by children, but certainly even the adults would like to listen to the song, for entertainment and even for inspiration. The girl who sings the song, Rishika Sawant, who was a participant in 9X reality show Chak de Bachche, has sung as good as any other singer in the album, probably better than some. Hear the song for the little talent.

Alisha Remix which comes next is a fine remix by Abhijit Vaghani though changes of speed are a bit confusing at some points. Still I wouldn’t rate the remix bad. Can give it a try if you’re into remixes.

Pyaar Impossible Remix is something where Abhijit has done something really good by not pressing Dominique’s voice under instruments. Instead, the guy has added effects to the voices of Dominique and Vishal. While Dominique’s voice gets more surround sound like, Vishal is added as background sound in some places. Try the remix. Liked it.

Overall, Pyaar Impossible is a good, contemporary album which should succeed in targeting its aim, the youth. The songs are well written and composed and the selection of instruments and voices has been really good. Lyricist Anvita Dutt Guptan may not be very good with words at some points but her mixture of Hindi and English words is completely natural, and hence great.

By the way, the word contemporary reminds me of Dulha Mil Gaya which sounds good but at least five years old. My guess is PI should get the benefit of being in their time while competing with DMG on January 8th.