Reviewed by Anish Khanna
anish@indolink.com

Although trends come and go in the land of Bollywood, one trend that has managed to show at least a certain amount of staying power is the "shaadi"-mania. Every movie nowadays has to at least stick in one wedding song/situation (case in point: Dil Se, PTHHT, JPKSHH, etc...). The latest in the trend of wedding flicks is "Mehndi". Although the story is hackneyed (the bahu rising against her sasural's zulm's, atyachar's and what not...), the presence of "Aati Kya Khandala" Rani Mukherjee is bound to at least hold our attention. As for the songs - they are, for the most part, situational numbers that will best be enjoyed on the screen rather than over the walkman.

The album opens up with the bidaai number "Baba ki bitiya", where Anuradha Paudwal elaborates on the saat vachchans associated with each phera. Not bad at all if you are into this kind of songs....

"Ye Meri Sasural" is a fun number where the heroine goes off on her in-laws and should prove to be an enjoyable visual treat. Sadhna Sargam and Poornima are joined by a ghost from the 80's - Shabbir Kumar (?!?!), the self- proclaimed Rafi clone, who actually is in good form in this number (he was always my least favorite between Anwar, Shabbir, and Mohd. Aziz).

"Tum To Pardesi" is an average, run-of-the-mill mujra by Kavita. Nothing to write home about.

"Mohabbat Main Duniya" is actually the only love song on the album, and it is a fine one at that. The beat and lyrics are pleasant, and Udit/Sadhna are in top form here.

Now, here's a warning: I love parody songs. And this album has one that is very, very good. On top of that, the parody has my favorite of the Rafi clones I mentioned earlier - namely Mohd. Aziz, who is somebody I sorely miss. I had to listen to this number several times, as it had me in splits, and I just can't get enough of Mr. Aziz.

"Dulhan Koi Jab" and "Sach Pucho" are two pro-dukhi aurat songs by Sadhna Sargam and Kumar Sanu respectively. The two singers do a good job with the social-themed songs.

Overall, this album is definitely not a bad one. Like I mentioned before, the songs are very much suited to the situation and should be more appealing on screen. And since Ms. Mukherjee has become a favorite of mine, I definitely am looking forward to this! Let's wait and see!

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