Now that Karan Johar’s next product We are Family is coming, some of the details are coming out and I’m again getting a feeling that the music of the film will be same again. The typical that happens to be in his movies: one or two songs with a Sufi touch, one party song, like in a bar or something, maybe one philosophical, and quite surely a sad version, and definitely one theme. I think though that after MNIK, WAF also may have one rock-ish number as Suraj Jagan is there again.

For example, I know there is a song called Rehem-o-Karam in the movie and by the very words, I smell a Sufi song. Not that I don’t like Sufi songs but hasn’t he had enough of them in MNIK already? By the way, the song Rehem-o-Karam is sung by Vishal Dadlani along with Shankar Mahadevan. I wish Rehem-o-Karam turns out to be a rock number but chances look kind of bleak.

I know Karan knows what he is doing and I also know that the songs that come out will be wonderful, and at the same time hit, superhit. But I think this way, music loses, and at the end, we lose.

Anyway, all I can do for now is anticipate and guess, until the music release, which is reportedly scheduled for first week of August, though I was expecting end of July, guessing 28th. And all I wish is that I’m proved wrong, and KJo and SEL bring us the best music we have ever heard. Amen.

Update: Here is the detailed soundtrack of the movie.

1. Ankhon Mein Neendein – Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shreya Ghoshal, Shankar Mahadevan (5:02)
2. Dil Khol Ke Let’s Rock – Anushka Manchanda, Akriti Kakkar, Suraj Jagan (03:57)
3. Reham O Karam – Vishal Dadlani, Shankar Mahadevan (05:47)
4. Hamesha & Forever – Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Tara Waaliya (04:51)
5. Sun Le Dua Yeh Aasmaan (Theme Slow Version) – Shankar Mahadevan (03:53)
6. We Are Family (Theme) – Dominique Cerejo, Clinton Cerejo, Neuman Pinto, Vivienne Pocha (02:48)

The album starts with Jab Mila tu, which is quite like Dostana’s Jaane Kyun. That way, the song cannot be called very fresh but sounds fine, and will be stuck to our tongues the way Jaane kyun did. I think.

The second song of the album is one of the best, or probably the best, Bin Tere (how many songs are called Bin tere, any idea?). Well, the song, sung by Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan and Sunidhi Chauhan is a wonderful piece of music and definitely worth a listen. Go for it.

The third song of the album is a peppy title song, bas pyaar ka naam na lena, I hate love stories, sung by Vishal Dadlani. Very, very tongue sticking,though I don’t think it’s one for longer times.

Bahara is the next song of the album. The song came as a surprise to me as I had not expected Sona Mahapatra in a Vishal-Shekhar album. I wonder if she has ever worked with the duo. Well, Sona is not the only singer in the song, in fact she is more in the background while the song is actually sung by Shreya Ghoshal. A medium-fast-paced song with a touch of folk. Definitely a good one again.

They had one king of rock with them. But they brought in another one. Yes, Vishal Shekhar call in Suraj Jagan for their next number Sadka Kiya, with Mahalaxmi Iyer. Frankly, Sadka is probably the song I have loved the most till date and the more I am listening to it, the more I am falling into the song. A song that keeps itself light, has beats something like Falak tak (Tashan), with Suraj going high in places, in a way that you would love. The best part, on top of the wonderful music and singing, there are those great lyrics, sadka kiya yoon ishq ka, ke sar jhuka jahan, deedar hua. M lovin’it.

If this was not enough, here is more in remixes, no, reprises and mixes and remixes. The first to come up is Shekhar with a reprise of Bin Tere. Now there’s only a guitar (I hope I didn’t miss anything) and Shekhar’s voice. A real reprise, with hardly any background music. One of the toughest and the best things Shekhar has done. Kudos boy.

Now, a chill mix, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan singing what Shreya and Sona sang earlier. Definitely good work by Rahat and worth listening to song, but I think I have fallen for the original version already.

At the end there is a remix version of Bin Tere, which doesn’t sound bad.

Overall, I Hate Luv Storys seems to be a soundtrack which is better than plain good. A few songs may remind you of things here and there, but overall, almost every song of the album is good, which is a big deal. Well done Vishal-Shekhar.

My Picks: Bin Tere, Sadka Kiya.

Yes, it’s Vishal again, singing the new song, and probably that’s one more reason I feel Jaane Kyon more n more in the song, though, the beginning visuals and sound both remind me of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. By the visual looking like S-E-L I probably mean to say it reminds me of Lakshya.

OK. I think I have confused you enough. So here I summarize.

1. I didn’t find much freshness in the song.
2. I liked the song anyway.

If that too doesn’t make things clear, here is the song for you.

Btw, that mis-misspelling was deliberate.

I wonder if there could be a better start to the movie, or say, the trailer too. Imran Khan’s much awaited I Hate Luv Stories, Oops, Storys (It took me months to write The Pursuit of HappYness, n yes, it’s LUV storys here, not even LOVE).

“Love jaisa kuch nai hota, it’s like.. Bhagwan”, “Tum Raj ko apna bhagwan maanti ho, usme rab dikhta hai?” sound good coming from Imran Khan in the movie and I think you can expect more like that in the movie. And then, to top it all, Vishal Dadlani sings a catchy, foot-tapping “Mil gaye jo chhora chhori, hui masti thodi thodi, bas pyaar ka naam na lena, I hate Love Stories.” Hopes from Vishal-Shekhar’s music going up again. Enjoy the trailer.

Now that the movie has been in limelight for quite some time, and Hrithik has not done a film for years now, expectations from the movie, as well as it’s music, have to be high. This is Anurag Basu’s next venture after his superfantabulousmusical Life in a Metro, doesn’t help lessen the expectations. So here is a review of an album with sky high expectations.

The album starts with KK’s Zindagi do pal ki, a song that is very much expected from Rajesh Roshan and is sure to be a hit within a matter of days. You can find traces of na tum jaano na hum in the song too, though not very easily identifiable ones. A typical but absolutely lovable piece of music from Rajesh that sounds all the better in KK’s marvelous voice. Do listen to the song if you haven’t yet.

The second song of the album, Dil kyun ye mera, sung by KK again, is even more promising, if only you give it some time to place itself in your mind. The song, which starts from the slowest and lowest notes, has interludes in rock mood, somewhat like Metro. KK is flawless again and I am immersed into the song for days now. It’s time you do that too.

The third track of Kites, Tum bhi ho Wahi, is interesting even before it starts as you wonder what are the two rockstars, Vishal Dadlani and Suraj Jagan, going to do when they come together for a song. The song starts on relatively low notes with some interesting beats and goes up to become a rock piece slowly. Rajesh Roshan’s instruments in the background are so very usual of him but sound good. The song is almost instantly likeable, good on music, well sung, worth listening to for lyrics and hence a fairly good thing overall.

At number four comes the most interesting song of the album, simply because it bears the name of Hrithik Roshan, who is singing something for the first time. And along with an absolutely wonderful Suzanne D’Mello, Hrithik does a great job singing Kites in the sky as you find yourself listening to the song and not just Hrithik Roshan. Be ready for some Spanish words there too. Quiero volar…

The last song of the album is Fire. Sung by composer Rajesh Roshan, Vishal Dadlani, Anirudh Bhola, and Anushka Manchanda, the song surprises you when you don’t hear a word until two and half minute into the four and half minute song. So Fire is more or less an instrumental as even the words in the song sound more music than lyrics. Somehow the name of the track and the music there make me feel that Rajesh Roshan was trying to make something Rahman’ish and the result of that process is ‘Fire’. Anyway, the piece is almost as good as Rajesh Roshan could make. No, wait, I think Kaho na pyaar hai had better instrumentals.

Overall, Kites is a likeable, and to some extent lovable album with some typical and fabulous and some not-so-typical but likeable songs. I am already in love with Zindagi do pal ki and dil kyun ye mera, and my guess is after watching Hrithik dance on them, I’ll be loving tum bhi ho wahi and fire equally. Kites in the sky is more of a sophisticated thing that sounds better with every listen. So almost entire album is good, and though it’s not as good as Anurag’s last directorial venture Life in a Metro, it sounds better than Krrish for sure and I can say that for me, the music of Kites passes with flying colours.

Overall, the song, tum bhi ho wahi is quite foot tapping from the very start and quite likeable at the very first listening. Here are the lyrics of the song.

Tum bhi ho wahi, hum bhi hain wahi
Baat phir ye kyun, ab lagti hai nayi
Kya hua galat, aur kya sahi
Dono saath hain, sach to hai yehi

Yaadein bahut si reh gayi peechhe kahin
Ye pyaar ab aage hume kheenche kahin

Ke door tak bechain hai sab raaste
Iss haal mein tu muskara mere vaaste

Tum bhi ho wahi, hum bhi hain wahi
Baat phir ye kyun, ab lagti hai nayi
Kya hua galat, aur kya sahi
Dono saath hain, sach to hai yehi

Ab din dhale chaahe jahan ab shaam ho
Parwah kya ab chaahe jo anjaam ho

Woh aasmaan, ho ya zameen
Humne likha pyaar ko har kahin
Sheeshe ka hai har ek pal, iss mein chupa hai apna kal
Toote na ye sambhalo ise
Sheeshe ka hai har ek pal, iss mein chupa hai apna kal
Toote na ye sambhalo ise

Tum bhi ho wahi, hum bhi hai wahi
Baat phir yeh kyun, ab lagti hai nayi
Kya hua galat, aur kya sahi
Dono saath hain, sach to hai yehi

The second song, Paathshala or Ye Sama Khushnuma, is sung by Vishal Dadlani in his typical style which has almost become his trademark as he is singing songs in quite a similar manner, except some songs like Dhan te nan or Barso yaaron. Not that the song is anything less than it should be or Vishal’s voice less than anyone else for the song. The composition is fine enough and Vishal sings it with the energy it requires. Good one, though nothing great.

Not even a minute into the song, and I knew I loved Lucky Ali and the song, Bekaraar. Hanif Shaikh composes a good song and Lucky Ali sings it in his typical-lovable-enviable-fan-followed voice taking it to all the highs and lows Hanif gives him in the composition. Though the song has just one Antara, I loved the song enough to listen to it twice to fill in for an antara. With that you know how’s the song. Don’t you?

Mujhe Teri Aankhon ki Gehrayi mein Doobne de. Mujhe teri baahon ki jannat mein khone de. Tulsi Kumar is not that bad, but somehow I don’t really like her voice. Anyway, Mujhe teri aankhon ki is a not-that-slow kind love song sung by Tulsi and Hanif himself with nothing really special but the melody is pretty fine and the song is easy on ears. A simple song that will take on you if you give it time to do so.

Aye khuda, teri marzi ke aage kya hoga hai pata, tu jo chahe waisa samaa ho teri razaa, tu jo chahe tapti dhoop mein aye khuda, khilta hua gulistaan hoga, tune banayi raahein, tune banayi manzil, hum le chale hain apna kaarwan, I can’t stop typing the lyrics but I have to, because it’s a music review. Well, I am loving yet another song in the album, from the very first time I heard it, in that soulful voice of Kailash Kher. Kailash sings Hanif’s tune in a way he sang Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s ya rabba, without going too high and going for a slow rendition instead. Interestingly, while Hanif Shaikh has been successful in coming up with a tune that can be called a successor of S-E-L’s Ya Rabba in some way, there seems to be absolutely no repetition and the song doesn’t sound old like KCK’s kaisi hai ye udasi chhayi. Kudos to the composer for that. A job well done by Kailash Kher no doubt.

Paathshala theme isn’t bad either and the chorus there reminds me of childhood serials like Chhutti chhutti and school chale hum ad campaign. A fweet little theme. Forry, Sweet.

Overall, Paathshaala is a good, worth listening to and worth buying album with some wonderful and some good songs. The songs may be a bit old (I do not know if they really are old but with some songs, I felt like they have a 3-4 year old touch) but they sound fresh and a bit different from what has been out in the past some time. One more good thing about the album is that on a quick listening, the remixes also don’t sound bad. So my say is that Paathshaala is most certainly worth a try and actually worth a buy too. School chale hum… aur aap?

Dekho Raste mein is a fast, peppy, but nevertheless romantic number that sounds good with KK and Shreya singing wonderfully. Though I feel the song would have sounded better had it been a bit slower. (I have tried the song at 90% and it does sound good) Anyway a lovable song. Go for it.

The second song, Hum Tum aur Ghost, comes with the so-typical-of-him voice of Vishal Dadlani as he sings the title song with Shankar Mahadevan. The song has a likable melody but the pace again sounds overcoming the melody as Vishal-Shankar sing Hum-tum-aur-ghost at such a speed. Still, the music in the song is worth listening to and the sound manages to remain above average.

Banwre se poochhe banwariya or Baawre se poochhe baawariyaa, the third song of the album, is sung by Shaan and Sunidhi Chauhan while almost the entire team of S-E-L has been roped in to give chorus sounds and has been credited on the cover too. The song is a fun piece, and quite catchy, something like man ko ati bhaave saiyyan, though not exactly similar.

And the last original song of the album is the one I had started my album with. And interestingly, Kal tum the Yahan IS the best song of the album. Dominique in her wonderful, wonderful voice teams up with Shankar Mahadevan to give this slow, soft song with beautiful lyrics. Must listen.

Talking of remixes, the remix of the title song is quite usual, while the remix of Dekho Raste mein is quite interesting to listen to, more so because it sounds a lot like Pump it up of Chance pe Dance. The last one is the remix of Kal tum the yahan which makes the slow song a bit fast paced one. Didn’t like that one much compared to the original.

Overall, Hum tum aur Ghost is a good album with some likable and sweet songs. Though, while I liked three out of four songs (all except title), I still had more expectations from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy after KCK. My advice, get the album anyway. If nothing works for you, put kal tum the yahan on repeat n keep listening.

I wanna fall.. fall in love: This number has some typical boy-girl talks between Sonu and Sunidhi in some strange Hinglish lyrics, courtesy which you remember that there is a song like that in the album. Passable again though.

Khaan ka Gyaan: is a semi-non-musical (can’t say semi-musical) by Salman Khan where Salman tells you why he didn’t/won’t marry. Surely it’s not worth listening to twice but for once you can. On your own risk, that is.

Magar Kuch to hai: It sounds quite close to Alka’s Tum aaye, and somewhat like Pyaar ki Dastan (Luck by Chance), but Sonu and Shreya’s Magar Kuch to hai has some melody that still has appeal. A song that reminds me of old times but still likable even with all the ‘inspirations’ I talked about. Try the song.

Prem ka game: The Indian crazy frog is here again to sing with Nishant Pandey who gives us some Gyaan in a saintly indifferent voice (now that was an exaggeration) wrapped in techno-tunes. Another song that is okay. Can work IF advertised well (like Bamulaiza, remember the song now?), less chances of the latter anyway.

Tum hi Mere: Javed Ali comes to sing this Pritam-ish song of the album. A typical beat-rhythm song that is so much similar in composition and arrangement that you may feel you have already heard the song before. In fact there is a specific sound after every line/part that sounds very familiar though I am unable to rightly place it. Anyway, you know what I mean the song is like. Average.

Zabardast: Another soniye-jaaniye-hiriye song in Sonu Nigam’s voice with none other than Vishal Dadlani for supporting vocals. Below Sonu’s other Soniye-hiriye songs.

Overall Prem ka game is a strictly average album where Raju Singh delivers average songs almost consistently. None of the songs is absolute disaster and at the same time hardly any song crosses even the average mark. If there is anything worth listening to in the album, you have heard something like that before. So one word review: avoid.

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.