Reviewed by Mandeep Bahra
mandeep@indolink.com

There was a time when the "Rose Movies" banner was associated with brilliant music. THE TRAIN, KASME VAADE, JAWANI DIWANI, BASERA, YEH VAADA RAHA, PUKAR, JAWAANI, APNE APNE and INDRAJEET all had great music, even if the films weren't always that great. This was obviously due to the team of producer/director Ramesh Behl and music director R.D.Burman. Sadly, neither of these talented men are around today, but the "Rose Movies" banner continues to fly courtesy of Ramesh Behl's family. So does the music of ANGAARAY live up to the "Rose Movies" reputation? Well, not quite. Even the presence of two talented music composers like Anu Malik and Aadesh Shrivastava cannot replace the great R.D.Burman!

Comparisons aside, the music isn't that bad. The album opens with one of the most exquisite compositions I've heard in a long time! "Tanha Tanha" is composed by Aadesh Shrivastava and it overshadows every other song on the album. Aadesh has composed very low notes which make Alka Yagnik sound better than ever. Abhijeet also does a great job and the result is a song you'll want to hear again and again. The musical intro for the song seems to have been derived from the soundtrack to the Bruce Willis sci-fi flick, THE FIFTH ELEMENT, which was composed by Eric Serra. Interesting source of inspiration!

"Aande Aande" sounds like one of those old Kishore Kumar comedy songs, and the feeling of nostalgia is amplified by the presence of Amit Kumar. Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik lend support in this average number, also composed by Aadesh.

Aadesh Shrivastava's third song is "Hai Koi Meharban" which is a seductive creation that would probably sound better in a different female voice. There's no doubting Alka Yagnik's skill at holding a note, which she does commendably here, but her high pitched girlish voice is a real passion killer! Abhijeet, on the other hand, is the perfect choice for the song.

Anu Malik has only composed two songs for the album, one of which appears in two versions. "Yaaden Kitni Yaaden" is a sweet love song by Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik. Alka also gets to sing the solo version. The song is pleasant enough, but is a note for note rip off of Rod Stewart's "We Are Sailing"! Javed Akhtar's good lyrics are eclipsed by the plaigarism.

A wide variety of western songs are the sources of inspiration for Anu's other creation, "Rangila", which is sung by Alisha-wannabe Sunita Rao. Sunita is no Alisha, although her voice is pretty good. However, her voice is wasted on this song where the chorus tune is copied from the 70's hit "Angelo". I guess Aadesh emerges as the 'winner' on this album!

Rumour has it that Anu Malik was replaced by Aadesh Shrivastava because Javed Akhtar refused to work with him. Listening to what Anu has done with Javed's lyrics here, I really can't blame him!

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