Reviewed by: Tanmeet Kumar
tanmeet@indolink.com

What happened to Rajesh Roshan? After fantastic albums like KOYLA and KARAN ARJUN, he is composing musical duds like MAIN SOLAH BARAS KI and now GHULAM-E-MUSTAFA. MUSTAFA is a little better that MSBK, but just barely. The first side starts out with TERA GAM MERA GAM, sung by Kavita Krishnamurti and Hariharan. It is the best track in the album and is sung beautifully by the two singers. Both Kavita and Hariharan’s voices are soft and soothing; they sound great together. The lyrics are good; the song is repeated as a "sad" rendition. The next song, HO MUBARAK TUJHE, is a great number that sounds like a "qawali" and has good lyrics. It reminds me of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It is sung very well by Iqbal and Afzal Sabri.

Side two is what ruins the album. The music and lyrics of the songs on side two are mediocre. The first song on side two is LADKE IDHAR BHI and is sung by Preeti Uttam and Udit Narayan. The song is nothing to boast about; the singers are not impressive. The second song, SARA SAHAAR AAJ JAGEGA, is an okay song that has good lyrics but lacks a solid tune, marring the song. Still, it is worth listening to at least once because of Sunita Rao, who renders with ease. The last song, DUM DUM DAMKE PE CHOT PADI is not even worth listening to. It is the worst song on the album. The annoying lyrics were all the warning I needed to stay away from that track. Even the singers, Alka and Udit, do not fare well in singing this horrible track. All in all, MUSTAFA is an okay album. The album is worth buying for the first side but I suggest that you stick to the tape and not the CD. Hopefully, the movie, starring Nana and Raveena, will be a good one.

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