From then on, I was quite busy with the movie until intermission, and though the intermission looked a bit strange to me, it was most probably because of the initial few minutes I had missed. And while the movie was quite serious even before interval, it grows more so in the second half.

The story of striker is quite new, even though there are many old things shown in a new mould. It’s the same Bombay full of bhais, but the bhais and their bhaigiri isn’t shown more than the story demands. It’s the same guy who used to be victim of circumstances but this one has a mind even with that ’70s anger. Though there are certain things you don’t understand the reason of doing.

The best thing of Striker, though, is Siddharth’s acting. He is superb, and so is his friend, Zaid, Oops! Ankur Vikal. Frankly, it is Siddharth who fills up for some of the slackness of the script. Aditya Pancholi is okay and Seema Biswas is perfect in her small role of a mother. Anup Soni looks good as brother. Vidya Malvade is fine even though I did not understand how she can find her brother in the movie when no goons of Bhai can. Nicolette Bird looks awesome and you can do some good ‘Bird’ watching there. Padmapriya is good in her mute role.

But then, there is something lacking in the film, though I cannot rightly spot it. The movie has an at least above average story, wow acting, good cinematography, some wonderful dialogs, and some fine enough music. But I guess the direction lacks that finesse which makes the movie really great. But at the same time, the movie should be something because I was compelled to think that it could be ‘great’.

So overall Striker makes a good, at least watchable experience. The script of the movie is a bit slack at times but acting fills up for quite a lot of it. And while the movie may not look all that good, there are scenes that move you. In short, the movie looks like a good attempt by a newcomer, though it falls a bit short of the image Chandan Arora creates as the director of Main Meri Patni aur Woh.

The best thing about the album is that it has six different composers and still manages to be good. Something that is not really common with music albums.

Cham Cham Jani Raatein: is a composition of Shailendra Barve and sung by Sonu Nigam. The song, which is more of a qawwali, has a Sufi feel attached to it and Sonu sings the songs wonderfully. You need not listen to the song even twice to decide that. Though a second listening may be required to grasp Jeetendra Joshi’s beautiful lyrics. The most interesting part of the music in the song is the clapping sounds which create some wonderful effect of a moving and stopping music, a different kind of beats. A great work by both Sonu and Shailendra for sure.

Bombay Bombay Tararara Rappa: OK. After the first song, I search for Amit Trivedi’s composition which starts with some dialogs on ‘Bombay’. Amit soon comes into the Dev.D mode and delivers a good track. Nothing like iktara this time by the way. It’s a track full of dialogs like ek chalis ki last local and sounds have a glimmer of Aamir in them.

Aur phir Yoon hua: The next track I select is the one by Vishal Bharadwaj and Gulzar. Well, it would have been my first but I had heard the Sonu Nigam one in the promos so that came first and Amit Trivedi’s name has got a curiosity value attached, which grabbed me first. Anyway, the song Aur phir yun hua is a track that has a touch of O Sathi re of Omkara and goes almost on the same tracks, but sounds less romantic and slightly less effective. Anyways, Gulzar is good as ever and some of his lines, like phir nahi so sake, ik sadi ke liye hum diljale leave a good impact with Vishal’s soulful music. The try to add some background sounds near the end of the song doesn’t help, but doesn’t make any negative effect either. Overall, a good song.

Haq Se: composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja is a beat based song even though background is not much filled up which gives the song a good a good feel. A touch of South Indian music is anyway clear and since Yuvan sings the song himself with Siddharth, the rendition is a bit rough though words are clear. A good number nevertheless. May be a bit new for you if you have not been in touch with any South Indian songs.

Ajab teri karni maula: The next song on my list happens to be Swanand Kirkire’s composition and his own words in his own voice. The song has minimal music and it’s almost one Dholak that plays throughout the song, supported by probably a harmonium at some points. Overall the song sounds more like a wonderful piece sung by some street singer. All points for Swanand’s naturality.

Piya Saanvra Tarsa Raha: Finally comes the only song of the album with a female voice. The composition of Shailendra Barve is sung by Sunidhi Chauhan. The song uses Sunidhi’s voice for a slow rendition with some light background music and the easy composition starts moving almost completely on Sunidhi’s voice though more beats in the background support her later. In short, the song is a good one with some slow music and some good singing by Sunidhi.

Aim Laga Ungli Chala: Theme. Title. Rap. Blaaze. And you know what the song is. A fair song by Blaaze as he sings his composition, worded with Nitin Raikwar. The song will may work well in background in the movie. The song also has a rickshaw mix, oops, ricksha mix which has some added instruments and sounds better as a song and less like background.

Overall Striker is a good album by various composers, singers and lyricists. Interestingly, Chandan Arora uses all the composers almost perfectly to get a variety that was hardly possible with a single composer. A typical song of Amit Trivedi, a South Indian touch song by Yuvan, a street-smart rough rendition of Swanand, and a Vishal Bharadwaj-Gulzar combination can hardly be created by any one of them. Great work by Siddharth. Yeah, he is the album producer for Striker. (Thanks S Yellanki for that one)

Top Picks: Cham Cham, Bombay Bombay.

After Rang De Basanti, Siddharth is back to Bollywood with his next, solo film Striker. The film, set in 1980s, is a story of a guy who finds himself in the underworld as a result of his circumstances. The promo looks good and dialogs sound hard-hitting. The movie has an interesting cast and besides Anupam Kher and Aditya Pancholi, known television actors like Rajendra Gupta and Anoop Soni can be seen in the promo. Check out the promo for yourself. The movie releases on 5th February.