| . |
One of Bollywood's underrated music duos is the duo of Dilip Sen-Sameer
Sen. The two have demonstrated a skillful mastery of a wide variety of
songs, whether it's the highly folksy "Goriya Re Goriya Re" from Aaina, the
ghazal-like "Pardesiyon Se Pooch Pooch" from Kartavya, the very melodious
"Dil Ne Dil Se" from Haqeeqat, or even the fast-paced "Poster Lagva Do" from
Aflatoon. Their catchy compositions in Aaina, Aflatoon, Ziddi, Salaakhen,
Yeh Dillagi, or even Anari No. 1, have made them one of Bollywood's unique
composers. In Arjun Pandit, they again bring together a wide collection of
music.
The first track is entitled "O Priya", sung once by Kumar Sanu and Alka
Yagnik and again by Hariharan who replaces Sanu. Of the two male singers,
Hariharan unsurprisingly surpasses Sanu in vocal ability. His voice is much
more attractive and soothing. On the other hand, Sanu sounds nasal, which
he blames on a yoga exercise called 'neti-kriya' where water is taken up one
nostril and removed from the other. The result - a nasal twang which
impedes Sanu's ability to keep the listener's attention. Overall, the duet
is slow, but very sweet. (By the way, I have yet to figure out why Akhtar
has chosen 'Priya' instead of Juhi's character's name of Nisha in the film).
The next track is the highly popular "Kudiyan Shehar Diyan", sung by
none other than Daler Mehndi. Mehndi is nicely accompanied by Alka Yagnik,
who although sounds sweet as usual leaves the listener wanting for a more
Punjabi Jaspinder Narula. The song is a Punjabi one (Surprise! Surprise!),
but is not as unique as the ones produced by A.R. Rahman in Taal. For some,
Mehndi's song will be more attractive because of its' more traditional
Punjabi beats and lyrics. Its' less sober feel, as compared to 1999's
Punjabi-dominated Taal, makes this song more energetic and one to which many
will have fun dancing.
The third track really deserves no mention as it is the worst track on
the album. "Gher Ghaar Ghagro" has poor lyrics intertwined with insipid
English lines. The singing by Jaspinder Narula makes one wonder how someone
with such great talent could be wasted in this song. The only plus point is
the music, which still manages to be catchy.
"Pagal Pagal" is another solo - this time by Lalit Sen, who has become
a mandatory showcase for his brothers' soundtracks. The lyrics are much
better than Narula's solo and the music is above average, making this track
a bit more memorable. Unfortunately, the song could have been more
appealing had it been sung by the current hot favorite, Sukhvinder Singh.
Finally, the last two tracks are duets - the first entitled "Kahan
Jaye Koi" and second called "Pyar Ke Geet". The former is sung by Shankar
Mahadevan and Preeti Uttam, who sounds like a conglomeration of Kavita
Krishnamurthy and Chitra. Her beautiful rendition of this song makes it one
of the best on the album. Shankar's voice is perfect to accompany Preeti in
setting Javed Akhtar's lyrics to tune. Akhtar's lyrics in this long live up
to his reputation as one of Bollywood's more poetic lyricists. The second
duet, sung by Abhijeet and Alka Yagnik, is also good, but not as attractive
as the Mahadevan-Uttam duet. Alka Yagnik's voice is too saccharine to
ignore, while Abhijeet does a decent job of keeping up with her.
Incidentally, I think his voice is much more suited for tunes like
Jatin-Latit's "Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaaon" from Yes Boss and Rajesh Roshan's
"Tumhe Kaisa Main Bataaon" from Dastak.
Interestingly, T-Series has utilized a unique marketing strategy to
sell this album, especially on CD. It has a large, hard cover and comes
with a free CD of Aflatoon. Even the pictures of the beautiful Juhi Chawla
that grace the album's cover are an added bonus to the music, making Arjun
Pandit a worthwhile buy. |
. |
out of 
Comments!