Music: Sajid-Wajid
Lyrics: Jalees Sherwani, Shabbir Ahmed
Sajid-Wajid are to Salman Khan what ‘aloo’ is to ‘chaat’. Unfortunately it’s the frozen ‘aloo chaat’ you need to microwave and rarely tastes good. Three of the four moves the brothers composed for this year have ironically starred or had traces of Salman “Angry-immature-childish” Khan. GOD TUSSI GREAT HO and HEROES failed to leave an impression, HELLO was the only above average album.
KHALLBALLI brings Jalees Sherwani and Shabbir Ahmed’s lyrics to another Wajid and Sajid film (they’re trying to break Anand Bakshi and Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s record). Also the film does not star Salman Khan. Matter of fact the movie is drenched with junior artists and comedians from older Govinda movies (how can you go wrong with Aasif Sheikh and Rakesh Bedi?).
The movie offers an “unlimited” amount of “fun” so one cannot expect a masterpiece that may forever be etched in the halls of Indian Music. The duo start with the title song ‘Khallballi’ with Wajid and Neeraj Shridhar on vocals. The singers do an exceptional job but are drowned with a music heavy track, neither Neeraj or Wajid stand above the composition. The catchy riff and fast pace make it a very enjoyable listen.
In trying to relinquish any hopes of forming a successful album, ‘Zhala Menu Zhala’ fits in perfectly! A number reminiscent from an old Mithun movie has a healthy dose of Marathi mix and some newer arrangements. The song is no way a plea to bring back this type of genre, but rather a nice throwback to the good ole’ days of the 80s. Wajid, the lone singer, seems to be having more fun than the listener.
‘Bhuri Bhuri’ brings out the romantic side of the unlimited masti filled soundtrack. Neeraj Shridhar and Sunidhi Chauhan remain calm through the length of the song, giving a more sensuous, R&B feel. In contrast to the singing, the rhythm stays somewhat fast. Sounds like something out of a Justin Timberlake CD, but not as good. Some of the added rap is inane and comes as being comical rather than “kool” (…we gonna have fun, keep it bangin’, you can ride on me like a sturdy wagon…?). It’s okay I’m fine in my beat up wagon.
Consisting of a bigger arsenal than the Russian nuclear program is the hidden stockpile of qwwalis titled ‘Yeh Ishq Ishq Hai’ (thanks a lot Sahir and Roshan). Sukhwinder along with Shadab Sabri and AD Boyz lend their voices for this qwwali number. Sukhwinder’s rich voice works well with the composition, but in the end the track only comes out to be a little better than average.
To lighten up the mood and to keep with the consistency of the film, ‘Zari Di Kurtiyan’ sounds more forced rather than spontaneous. Lyrics such as ‘Disco Dandiya’ (somewhere a producer is probably planning to make a film by that title) don’t exactly keep you roped in for the entirety of the piece. Once the king of playback singers, Udit Narayan must agree to songs only when sober. Khajida Haider fades quicker than the memory of this song after the four minutes and twenty-seven seconds.
Since everyone these days is a club hopper, remixes are the appropriate way to fluff up albums. RBN.COM remixed ‘Bhuri Bhuri’ and ‘Khallballi’. To alleviate the curiosity RBN.COM is indeed a website but not the remixer’s (unless if the people who did the remix were lawyers…you never know with Bollywood).
In a nut shell the album went from ‘good’ to ‘hmm okay’ to a very sarcastic ‘wow’ to ‘hey look Sukhwinder’ to (a more sarcastic) ‘wow’ to remixes. Overall, there’s no substance and Sajid-Wajid disappoint once more after HEROES. Key tracks: ‘Khallballi’
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
