out of

Producer: Paramjeet Baweja
Director: Harry Baweja
Music: Sanjeev Darshan
Lyrics: Sameer

Reviewed by: Alok Kumar
alok@indolink.com

Paramjeet Baweja has always had great music in his films, whether it be Diljale, an underrated score with excellent songs, Betaabi, which had great tracks from Vishal Bhardwaj like "Tum Mere Ho" and "Tumhari Khusboo", or Dilwale. Deewane, starring Ajay Devgan, Urmila Matondkar, and Mahima Chaudhary, is no exception. Sanjeev Drashan prove with Deewane that Mann was no shot in the dark. These boys are talented and are ready to give other music directors a run for their money.

There are are five excellent tracks featured on the soundtrack, the first being the title song, sung by Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, and Alka Yagnik, all three of whom rended the song beautifully. It's interesting to listen to rivals Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan sing together in this song, though who the two singers might be singing for, I don't know because Devgan is the solo hero in this film.

The second excellent track is "Churao Na Dil", sung by Udit Narayan and Kavita Krishnamurti. The song is very, very catchy and very well tuned by S-D. It has nice lyrics by Sameer (Who, for once, doesn't dissappoint), and, though I would have preferred to hear Anuradha Paudwal or Alka Yagnik sing in this song, Kavita's playful voice suits this melody, especially in the beginning, when she sings "Karoon kya dil yeh maane na, karoon kya dil yeh maane na".

"Aye Dil" is a slow love ballad with an excellent tune which comes in two versions, one sung by Hariharan and the other by Jaspinder Narula. The lyrics are very nice, and both versions are sung nicely by the two singers, though Jaspinder tries a bit hard at times to imitate Whitney Huston or Mariah Carey, an irritating habit also picked up by Sunidhi Chauhan (Listen to her singing in Gang's "Meri Payal Bole").

"Qayamat Qayamat" has an excellent blend of Latin sounds with Indian singing. The song is an instant rewind candidate. The acoustic guitars placed in the beginning sound very good. This fast-paced song is sung by Sukhwinder Singh and Alka Yagnik, who both sing competantly. Sameer's lyrics are passable.

Sukhwinder Singh really demonstrates his strong vocal abilities in "Ishq Da Gunjal", a nice song with Jaspinder for accompaniment. This is another fast paced number with Punjabi lyrics and a nice tune. The song doesn't reach the heights of the rest of the songs on the tape but it nice.

The last song on the album is Jaspinder Narula's "Sajna Ne Phool Marea", a nice song, but not one that I can listen to on a regular basis. This traditional ballad will, perhaps, be more appealing in the film. But the song is sung very nicely by Narula.

Overall, Deewane is a must-buy album with great music from Sanjeev Darshan. I'm eagerly awaiting future releases of theirs like Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke, another Ajay Devgan movie with Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta. The film Deewane looks very promising from the trailors, and if the film is anything like the music, then we can expect a sure-fire hit. I'd rate Deewane among the other top notch albums of 2000, like Refugee, Jungle, Kaho Na.. Pyar Hai, Pukar, Karobaar, Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya, and Dil Hi Dil Mein.