Chennai Express: Music Review

Music Director: Vishal-Shehkar
Starring: Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone

So, after my Chennai Express: First Look Review I have come back to you with my music critique. Vishal-Shehkar has produced soundtracks for recent popular Shahrukh Khan films, so its  not surprising they would be the composers for Chennai Express. Chennai Express' songs, for the most part, are a ride to South India.

Chennai Express unfortunately begins with One Two Three Four sung by Vishal Dadlani and Hamsika Nayr, This song begins with Tamil verses and flows in to Hinglish for the remainder of the song. This song starts well, and is definitely catchy, but when the English verse "One Two Three Four, Get on the Dance Floor" comes in the song gets very odd. Especially when they say booty shake. These immature lyrics could have easily been done before, but there was a reason why no one else tried this. 2.5/5

Chennai Express redeems itself with Chinmayi Sripad and Gopi Sundar in Titli. This romantic duet song begins beautifully with Tamil verses and continues in Hindi with Tamil slicing through. Its ethereal instrumentals almost give it a magical touch. Chinmayi's and Gopi's smooth voices transition well with each other. Titli is reminiscent of Chandni Chowk to China's Tere Naina. Refined and delicate it is winner all the way. Officially obsessed. 5/5

Four! Booty Shake Booty Shake!

Tera Rastaa Chhodoon Na unites Amitabh Bhattacharya and Anusha Mani for a romantic number. This song plays a little on Titli's beats, but its a little fast paced. Bhattacharya sounds uninterested, while Mani excels. This song is purely situational, so it might go well with the film's narrative, but its not good to listen alone. 3/5

Next is Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari  featuring Sunidhi Chauhan, Arjit Singh, and Neeti Mohan. I'm glad to see Arjit Singh-Sunidhi combo.This song is not bad, but it sounds like it should be in a musical. It's cute, and definitely one of the better tracks of the album. Arjit Singh and Sunidhi's voice coincide with Shahrukh and Deepika's. 4/5

The fourth song is Ready Steady Po, primarily featuring Vishal Dadlani and a handful of singers. This song falls into the obscure desirap/electronica/dubstep category. This song is mostly rapped in English and is at the most mildly desi flavored. Its almost like a unbearable second theme for the movie.What were they thinking here? 2/5

"Our soundtrack is disappointing."
"I know. It's sad, isn't it?

SP Balasubramanyam returns to Bollywood with the song Chennai Express. This song starts off horribly, but when Jonita Gandhi's voice comes in it picks up pace a little. I was astonished that this song also had dubstep and a lot of English verses inside. The only good part is the hook "Chenai-ai-ai-ai", and there is nothing more to say. SP's voice has definitely aged. This is supposed to be the theme for the movie, and it's exactly what it is. 2.5/5

Dubstep comes back once again in Titli (Dubstep Version). This song doesn't compare to the original version of Titli, but can work for dubstep listeners, as it ties the major elements of dubstep together with all the right Bollywood elements. 4/5

Chennai Express Mashup is just a deranged swirl of all the songs in the soundtrack with yet another dubstep twist. There is nothing good about this. At moments it gets loud, unbearable and headache inducing. It will most likely be playing as the ending credits are rolling. 1/5

Chennai Express' soundtrack ultimately fails because of its overwhelming use of dubstep and English verses. The soundtrack could have been better if they stuck more to the Indian roots instead of trying to tackle multiple genres. I expect better from Vishal-Shehkar.

My Picks: Titli & Dubstep Version, Kashmir Tu Kanyakumari

Check out my other reviews!

Did you like this soundtrack?
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Chennai Express: First Look

Director: Rohit Shetty

Starring: Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone

Shahrukh Khan + Rohit Shetty Comedy= No. So far, it looks very dismal. The director of Chennai Express, Rohit Shetty, has brought us the Golmaal series, the fourth of which is slated to release in 2015, and other disasters like, All the Best and Sunday. So keeping the ridiculous action scenes in mind, imagine Shahrukh Khan doing these stunts. Now, look at the poster above. This is how they want to market Chennai Express, by gathering the largest, scariest South Indian men and having them stand around sunglass wearing Shahrukh Khan and Deepika.

Anyway, lets forget for a moment that Shahrukh Khan is Deepika's elder by about twenty years and focus on Chennai Express itself. From the trailer (link below) it seems like a combination of Jab We Met and Veer Zaara. Shahrukh needs to disperse some ashes so he travels from Mumbai to Rameshwaram to do so. On the train ride, he meets Deepika Padukone,  a spunky South Indian, who annoys him to that point that he falls in love with her. In between we have plenty of Salman Khan-esque fight scenes, lots of South Indian men, and exploding cars. I love Shahrukh Khan, but from what I've seen so far...I can already assume this one isn't going to be good.

On the bright side, I can only hope that the music will be great. Chennai Express marks the return of singer,SP Balasubramanyam, to Bollywood. SP was famous for voicing Salman Khan songs  for films like Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Koun. We hear snippets on this his voice in the title through the trailer. The music directors behind Chennai Express the super duo, Vishal-Shekhar, but so far I'm not expressed from the song trailer for "One Two Three Four" (below). To put it politely the song is a major fail. "One Two Three Four" is in the form of a low grade item song. The dancing is simple and the song is unintelligent. I'm sure anyone could have thought of the lyrics "One Two Three Four Get on the Dancefloor". I can only hope the other songs are good. High hopes for SP's return.

Chennai Express is quickly sinking boat. Hopefully the music and the plot will be able to compensate for the poor trailers.

What do you think?
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Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani: Music Review

Music Director: Pritam

Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Kalki Kochelin, Kunaal Roy Kapur

Pritam is back with a new soundtrack, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani. This Ranbir-Deepika comeback rom-com gives leeway for Pritam to experiment. This soundtrack brings the energizing rhythm, while bringing cool, refreshing songs into the mix. Of course, we can always expect a few memorable songs from Pritam album (stolen or not stolen) and here is no different.

Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani begins with the dance number Badtameez Dil. I have to admit I was obsessed with the 1 minute and 45 second long trailer until the release of the full length song. The sound of the saxophone and the trumpets add a classy touch to the nonsensical lyrics.Words flow seamlessly into each other like aloo bhatt, puri bhatt, and  bollywood, hollywood, jollygood. There is lots of rhymes and alliteration, so once Benny Dayal's voice pulls you in it never lets you go. However, Shefali Alvaris' voice is not very pleasant when it comes in at the end of the song. It sounds electronic and autotuned, and does not tie into Benny's smooth word flow. To me it should have been Benny solo. Nevertheless, still a good song. 4/5

Next is Balam Pichkari featuring Shalmali Kholgade and Vishal Dhadlani. Shalmali's voice is a bit eccentric, but its just what it takes to kick-start the song, after the traditional beginning. This is fun, quirky Holi song, we have traditional sounds with violin and whistling. The lyrics are as fun as the beat, and Shalmali and Vishal make an amazing pair. This song is a winner all the way through. 5/5

Our Mohit Chauhan track is Illahi. The song begins with chanting and guitar. This is definitely the young man refreshing song of the album. Illahi separates itself from the first two songs. In the interludes, there is a chorus of children chanting "Na Na Na". Because of the chorus wouldn't listen to this song on its own, but I think this works very well in the movie. 3/5

Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani picks up again with Dilliwali Girlfriend featuring Arjit Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan.  This one has small touches of bhangra and has a desi tune with some English thrown in the middle. This sounds like a typical Pritam wedding song, almost like Soniye Ve Dhak Dhak from Kismat Konnection. Pritam seemed to copy his own style this time. Its a good track, but its really nothing new. 3/5

There are two versions of Kabira. Kabira (Original) features Tochi Raina and Rekha Bhardwaj. This song slow rock melody and both artists' voice are raw with pain. The second version, Kabira (Encore) by Hashdeep Kaur and Arjit Singh has much more soul. We have a more traditional song with a lighter melody in this outing. The chorus and Indian instrumental enhances the beauty of this song.  The encore is like a slow, peaceful ride through the countryside. 3/5 & 5/5

Sreeram and Shilpa Rao's Subhanallah is the romantic duet of Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani. Its a light, uplifting song about falling in love that borders on cheesy at
times. To me, it sounds like a re-creation of Shukraan Allah from Kurbaan. Nevertheless, its fresh and exhilerating, with Sreerams squeaky clean vocals. 4/5

Lastly, there is Ghagra our item number staring Madhuri Dixit. So we have a older woman's voice, Rekha Bhardwaj, and a younger man's voice, Vishal Dhadlani. This song begins slow, but picks up pace. However, it lacks the spice and flash that other item numbers have. There are some hooks, but more is needed to make this song a chartbuster. 3.5/5

In the end, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani has a few fantastic numbers, but most of the songs are lacking elements that will help them stand out from other songs like its kind.

My Picks: Balam Pichkari, Kabira (Encore), Badtameez Dil, Subhanallah

Issaq: http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/06/bollywood-music-review-issaq_21.html

Ghanchakkar: http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/06/bollywood-music-reviewsghanchakkar.html

Lootera:http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/06/bollywood-music-review-lootera.html

Raanjhanaa: http://bollywoodbegum.blogspot.com/2013/06/bollywood-music-reviews-raanjhanaa.html

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