Reviewed by: Anish Khanna
anish@indolink.com

I have yet to see a score from Rajesh Roshan that can be categorized as "bad". True, some of his tunes are better or worse than others, but he is definitely one of the more consistent music directors we have in Bollywood. His new score for the forthcoming Akshaye-Urmila film "Kudrat" is again a mix of the better and "not-so-better" of Mr. Roshan's lot.

The controversial number that might have Mummy getting irate at Chunu and Munu for singing it is "Ab Tak Hai Puri Azadi" (also known as the "Pen Di Takki" song!). Now this is a common, relatively benign Punjabi gaali, but I think the shock value of using "Pen Di" anything is what gets to some of the people out there. Abhijeet and Poornima do some of their most spunky and all- out fun work here ever, making the song definitely a catchy one and the album's chartbuster.

My only problem with the romantic "Aaj Hoke Rahe Apna Milan" is Priti Uttam, who definitely does not match up to Udit Narayan in the number. Although, I have liked her work in the past, she sounds very "airy" and out of breath here. Maybe this is her attempt at being soft, but it fails miserably. I much prefer the other number in this genre, "Deewane Do Dil Mile", where Udit and Alka breeze through the song effortlessly and with the perfection of the pro's that they are.

The song for the break up of the lovers (which is mandatory in every love story) is "Humse Mohabbat Mein". Truthfully, I must tell you that I enjoy Kumar Sanu's voice a lot more now that he isn't singing for every single movie that comes out. Too much of even a good thing makes it go stale quickly, but he has become more of a treasure now that he has reduced his assignments a bit. Sadhna Sargam is my favorite for these types of numbers and forms a great compliment to Sanu.

Pop star Shweta Shetty does the fast-paced and mildly catchy "Main Hoon Albeli", which is my least favorite of her film numbers thus far. I assume that Urmila will be dancing to this tune, and perhaps that will give the number the extra boost that it needs. The other fast-paced song is the love duet "Ishq Bhala Kya Hai" which is a run-of-the-mill number by Vinod Rathod and Alka Yagnik.

The album ends with the gem - "Tujhe Dene Ko" - which is a showcase for the untapped talent of Abhijeet. The man is definitely underrated and brings a great amount of style and range to the number. Kavita Krishnamurthy, on the other hand, is a bit jarring in her higher range, a fact that the singer admits herself. So why do music directors force her to do the soprano act?

Well, one thing I have learned over the years of listening to Rajesh Roshan is that you don't really ask "why?", because you won't get an answer. The trick with listening to him seems to be to pass over any of his "less-than- brilliant" numbers and cherish the numbers you like. I'm sure you'll be able to find your fare share of both in this album.

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