Aladin – Music Review

Amitabh Bachchan’s booming delivery of Hinglish rap alongside Anoushka Manchanda in Genie Rap is quite entertaining, despite that teeny weeny resemblance I felt with the duo’s composition Ab To Forever from Tara Rum Pum. And a major factor that contributes to the enjoyability is the inventive arrangement by Vishal and Shekhar. One instance I particularly enjoyed was that of the fleeting tabla beats at the end of each of the two lines starting from I do the grooves.. V-S had previously employed the tabla not very differently in AB Junior’s rap in Bluffmaster and there too the effect had been delightful. DJ Suketu does an equally commendable job on the remix, introducing a lot of Punjabi elements to good effect. Its a different matter that the remix is almost double the length of the actual song! Vishal and Shekhar have in the past confessed their being big fans of R D Burman, and have paid tribute to him in many of their compositions. And here in the pleasantly boisterous Tak Dhina Dhin they create another engaging track to add to that list. The arrangement is evocative of Pancham Da’s songs like Jahaan Teri Yeh Nazar Hai while incorporating some modern elements, Shankar Mahadevan at his exuberant best rendering the song alongside Shaan.
Amitabh Bachchan returns with Shreya Ghoshal, Sudhesh Bhonsle and Shaan in the frivolous and folksy O Re Saawariya which heavily draws from older Bachchan chartbusters of the same genre, the Sasur Ghar Jaana refrain especially standing out for that reason. That is not to say the song is not entertaining, the singers doing their part effectively. Not that entertaining however is its remix where DJ Suketu spoils things with the electronic loop running all through the song. The wait for a fresh tune in the soundtrack ends with the breezy You May Be, where the MDs hit bull’s eye with their arrangement. And coming in Vishal Dadlani’s throaty vocals, this track is undoubtedly the best one of the album. Vishal should try more such soft tracks in future, methinks. After that track its back to vintage mode, Vishal Shekhar spinning out another number a la yesteryear disco songs – Bachke O Bachke. By this time the old song influence factor is definitely not working, and the singers – Shankar Mahadevan, Vishal, Shaan and Sunidhi – are not able to mitigate the effect either. The soundtrack winds up with a jazzy track called Giri Giri. Though the orchestration is well done indeed, the rendition by Sanjay Dutt isn’t quite upto the mark. I have enjoyed Sanju baba’s singing in Kaante etc, but this one honestly I didn’t find that tasteful.
Almost a year since their previous release, Vishal Shekhar produce a soundtrack that is highly engrossing, but is severely lacking on fresh tunes. And for that reason, we give the album a rating of 7/10.
Recommended tracks – You May Be, Tak Dhina Dhin, Genie Rap