You can listen to the soundtrack here.
The high point of item number Isak Sa Meetha is Bhojpuri singer Kalpana Patowary‘s vocal brilliance. Her previous outings in Hindi have been mostly duets and hence she went sort of unnoticed, but this one is pretty much her solo act and she makes the most of it. The song as such is a middling affair, the arrangement devoid of anything innovative, but being the kind of song it is sure to get atop the charts and therefore I am hoping will give Kalpana her a deserved break in Hindi. Of the two remixes, the latter version fares better with its yesteryear disco-ish packaging. in its entirety Saude Bazi slightly reminded me of Tu Jaane Na from Ajab Prem.., and the chinese violin hook I have definitely heard somewhere before, but all these can be forgotten in the beauty of the song. Beautifully arranged by Pritam and wonderfully sung in its two versions by Javed Ali and Anupam Amod (famous for winning MTV Video Ga Ga contest in 2001), Saude Bazi leaves no question regarding the pick of the album.
The only interesting thing I found about Mann Ki Mat was that the title line seemed to me a revamp of the line Chor Bazaari Do Nainon Ki in a different raag and tempo (well it could be just me. 🙂 ). Otherwise it is a pretty much insipid folksy track sung by Rahat Fateh Ali, the melancholic mood fuelling the boredness. But having said that it is way better than Sasural Munia that follows, an ultra-banal dancey track that quite comprehensively wastes Shreya Ghoshal‘s vocals. Ramkatha which brings up the rear of the soundtrack has an interesting arrangement, Pritam trying to deviate in places from the normal Ramleela orchestration (the first 2 minutes especially), and Sukhwinder Singh doing a lively rendition. But the situational nature of the song is such that would prevent you from going past a few listens. Nevertheless the elements of innovativeness in the song make it one of the better tracks of the album.
After a wonderful score for Crook, this is pretty shoddy job from Pritam, only one song really rating up to his usual standards.
Music Aloud Rating: 5.5/10
Recommended Tracks: Saude Bazi, Ramkatha, Isak Sa Meetha
